Good Friday: Short Reflections On the Seven Last Words of Christ

The First Word:  “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.” (Luke 23:34)

 If they only knew.  If they only knew they wouldn't act that way.  If they only knew they would do things the way I want them to.  If they only knew how much they hurt me.  If they only knew they would praise me.  If they only knew they would promote me.  If they only knew.  Jesus clearly understood that people sometimes do untoward things, not necessarily because they are evil but because they are ignorant:  they don't have all the--in this case--faith facts.   

On this Good Friday, how can we look at those who have hurt us and say,  "they didn't know."  "Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing."  "They didn't understand my circumstances." The cross is the most perfect symbol of love and reconciliation.  Jesus wants us to be proactive about reconciliation, even in the midst of hurt.

The Second Word: “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43)

Ours is an eschatological failth.  We understand, or we need to understand that our actions have eternal  consequences.  In the Kingdom, paradoxically "fully here, but not yet," eschatology technically means things concerning the end of human history and human existence. Clearly this was on the mind of "the good thief" as he pondered the end of his own existence.  

Just as we heard on Ash Wednesday "remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return," reflecting on the death of both Christ and the good thief calls us to examine our preparedness to move from this life into the next.  Early monks would, at times, greet each other with the words, "memento mori," remember you must die.  Are we prepared to die to self in this life so that we can live in the next?

The Third Word:“Dear woman, here is your son.” (John 19:26)

The presence of Mary at the cross adds both humanity and horror to the scene. We are reminded that Jesus was a real human being, a man who had once been a boy who had once been carried in the womb of his mother. Even as he was dying on the cross as the Savior of the world, Jesus was also a son, a role he didn’t neglect in his last moments.  

The third word might help us reflect on our familial relationships.  Who are we and how faithful and responsible are we in our own families; our immediate family?  The human family? Our church family?  Do we care for those who are vulnerable?

The Fourth Word: “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (Mark 15:34)

Here Jesus repeats the words of the psalmist (Ps. 22)

My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Why are you so far away when I groan for help?
Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer.
Every night you hear my voice, but I find no relief. (vv. 1-2)

This side of heaven, we will never fully know what Jesus was experiencing in this moment, but we have all experienced, I expect, moments of barren places and experiences where we wonder where God is.  

Perhaps this would be a good opportunity to reflect back on those times and see how, in fact, God and grace were present, as an antidote to despair in future times so that we might always remember that God and grace are, indeed, ever present.  Easter vindicates this for Jesus and it should for us too.

The Fifth Word: “I am thirsty.”  (John 19:28)

No doubt that while on the cross, Jesus experienced extreme thirst.  Instead of water though, he was given vinegar, a substance that would only increase his thirst. So often when we thirst, we too seem to be given vinegar by others increasing our pain, or we ourselves turn to poor substitutes to quench our thirst.   It is then that we might reflect on what is it exactly that we thirst for.  “As the deer pants after the water brooks, so pants my soul after You, O God.” Psalm 42:1.  What are we really  thirsting for this Good Friday, the real good which is God or the apparent good of cheap substitutes?

The Sixth Word: “It is finished!” (John 19:30)

When Jesus said “It is finished,” surely he was expressing relief that his suffering was over.  But not just that. “It is finished” meant, in part, “This is finally done!”   Voila!  Finito! There is nothing we can add to it!  How much we try to add though.  If we could only this or only that, then God would be pleased and grant us his favor.  No.  It is finished.  It is done.  God has "in Person" shown us his furious love, mercy, and compassion.  Everything else is midrash or commentary.

The Seventh Word: “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!”  (Luke 23:46)

Knowing that "it is finished" the God's work and love for us is completed in Christ Jesus, we can turn our will and our lives over to his care and direction.  This is an affirmative decision and action of the will.       

It is a decision that Christ chose before the beginning of creation and reaffirmed on the cross.  It is a decision that we may have made before, but do well to reaffirm today...and everyday.