In what sense is this Friday before Easter "good?"
A man is mocked, beaten, tortured, and humiliated. Finally, he is lynched. The might of empire exercises its right to deal out holy terror on an innocent man. The violence is right because it is done. Countless such men and women have been sacrificed upon the altar of power before and since. With the exception of a very few, their names are lost to history. Their deaths were not good. But the name of this man has not been lost.
Indeed, the name of this man is among the most famous in history. He is Jesus. Christians call him the anointed one, "Christ." They even claim he's a son of God, even the Son of God, even God in the flesh. And yet he dies like every human, only more horribly than most humans.
In what sense is this Friday good?
The innocent man is lifted up—not exalted, but humiliated. He suffers. He cries out! He dies. The innocent man is crushed by the self-justifying violence of empire. The gears of earthly power turn as they were designed to do and deliver death upon him, Jesus.
The innocent man is lifted up. He dies. And yet his name has not been lost.
The gears of earthly power turn. More people are crushed, burned, eviscerated, gassed, starved, whipped, bombed, and lifted up. Their names are lost to history. The gears turn and the story about the man, Jesus, is told, and told, and retold.
The story is told, and told, and retold. The story about Jesus is told until it begins to harden into a wedge, or a wrench, or a diamond of Truth. The gears continue to turn but not so easily. The gears turn but with more effort. The gears turn but they are damaged. The gears turn and every person crushed within them becomes a wedge, or a wrench, or a diamond of Truth because an innocent man was lifted up.
The story is told and retold: an innocent man was lifted up on Good Friday. Blessed be the name of Jesus.