Far too many in the church today want to tell you that following God will make you richer, skinnier, more powerful.
Good Friday grounds us in the truth that God does have a plan for your life; it’s just darker and dirtier than you’ve been told.
Over the last six weeks of the #LentChallenge, (download the free Gospel 40-day Reading Plan, here), we’ve journeyed through the story of Jesus through the lenses of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. You can download the cray-cray color method, PDFs, here.
Of all the accounts of Jesus’ final days, the Gospel of Mark arrested me. Even as I pushed forward in daily readings, I kept returning to the final chapters of Mark, basting myself in the final scenes of Jesus’ life.
Perhaps it’s because Mark writes as if he’s short of breath. Every. Word. Counts.
Perhaps it’s because Mark writes with such deep layers of meaning.
Perhaps it’s because Mark writes the words I least want to read but most need to hear.
Mark 14 opens with the chief priests and teachers of the law scheming. While they plot, Jesus reclines at a table appearing unaffected.
In this relaxed, La-Z-Boy posture, a woman approaches and shatters a jar, disturbing the entire room. She baptizes Jesus in the scent of sweet affection and wild generosity, an act of burial preparation few comprehend.
Then Jesus sends a pair of disciples to prepare for Passover.
Now look closer.
A woman sacrifices much with her alabaster.
A man sacrifices much giving up his upper room.
Jesus will sacrifice much for all.
All the while, God sacrifices His only Son so that neither you nor I have to live arms length from God.
Do you see the themes emerging?
Jesus soon gathers around another table, reclining again, with his friends. He takes, blesses, breaks, and gives to the disciples. Then the One who invites us to abide in Him promises not to sip of the fruitiness until he gulps it anew in the Kingdom of God.
Though the disciples respond in unison that they’ll never fall away, they’re picked off one-by-one. That’s when we discover the loneliest Scripture in entire Bible:
“Everyone deserted him and fled.” –Mark 14:50
Mark 15 picks back up on the scheming theme. The anti-Jesus numbers have mushroomed. The chief priests, elders, teachers of the law, and whole Sanhedrin are concocting big plans.
Those plans seem to be working.
Jesus. Bound. Accused. Interrogated. Beaten. Mocked. Pinned to a tree.
For six hours one Friday, Jesus crucified. What good can come of this?
Curtains rip. Women weep. Dead men walk. A Centurion converts. Darkness descends. No one can see clearly.
Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised; darkness and confusion often walk hand in hand.
The final days of Jesus’ life are marked by much preparation.
The religious leaders are preparing.
The woman is preparing.
The disciples are preparing.
Judas is preparing.
Jesus is preparing.
All the while, God is preparing the greatest caper of all time.
But remember, it’s not Sunday yet. It’s still Friday.
Most of us live our lives wanting Sunday apart from Friday. Sunday is joy and wonder and hope and resurrection. Friday is loss and pain and torture and death. Who wants that?
We quietly tell ourselves that God has a plan for our lives that doesn’t involve Friday.
If we just…
pray hard enough…
live holy enough…
give to others enough…
fill-in-the-blank enough..
then Friday might happen to others, but not us.
For millennia, we’ve been burrowing for routes under the cross, slinking for ways around the cross, and even developing schemes to climb over the cross. Some have even turned the cross into a jungle gym.
We want breakthrough without being broken.
We want strength without suffering.
We want power without paying a price.
Good Friday reminds us that while there are endless ways to skirt around the cross, there’s only one way through it.
Jesus beckons us to enter the cross, to walk through the crucible of affliction. The heart of those wooden beams transforms us by expanding our capacity for loving God and others.
Anyone can be a Sunday Christian. Today you’re challenged to become a Friday follower.
Will you take up your cross and follow him?
It has been a joy and a privilege to be part of the #LentChallenge with you. Can’t wait until next year.
What passage, verse, or word arrested you most during the #LentChallenge? Will you share in the comments below?
