[re]imagine: 4/7/2023 Good Friday
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“But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out.~ John 18.33-34”
Tree of Life and awesome myst’ry, in your death we are reborn;though you die in all of hist’ry, still you rise with ev’ry morn,still you rise with ev’ry morn. —Tree of Life and Awesome Mystery, Evangelical Lutheran Worship #334
In one of the mystical traditions of the early church, it was thought that Jesus gave birth – literally – as he died on the cross, the birth marked by the blood and water that flowed from his side. But what, exactly, is born? I’m afraid, sometimes, of this ‘awesome mystery,’ and its implications because of what I sometimes begin to comprehend, even in the merest of glimpses.
You see, on the cross, Jesus died not just for the oppressed, but for the oppressors. Not just for the hungry, but for those who hoard. Not just for the weak, but for those who prey upon them.
What is born on the cross, then, is unimaginable love and forgiveness, but it does not come free. Its cost is suffering, death, and abandonment of all that is good. In order for this love to be born, Jesus willingly entered into the depths of hell to endure it all.
On this Good Friday, as yet we wait for the resurrection morning, we remember those who wait for salvation. Whose hope is dim, and whose vision is clouded with death. On this Good Friday we give thanks for the gruesome tree of life, and for the unimaginable love born from Jesus.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, you have called me to come and die, that joined to you in the waters of baptism, God might raise me to new life. Help me to believe in the power of your life-giving cross and strengthen me with hope that no matter what I face, you are with me and will bring everything to newness of life. Amen.
Week Five Devotions by Rev. Erika Uthe, uthe@seiasynod.org