Once I Was Blind, But Now I See: Good Friday
The cross of Christ is a tree that unites heaven and earth in an indissoluble bond. In it, God declares the depth of his love for man by dealing with the horrors of sin. In the cross, God’s mercy and wrath dance in perfect rhythm as we confront God face to face in the blood and gore that is Jesus’ body.
Reactions to the cross vary across the spectrum of humanity. Some react violently at the suggestion that God would reveal himself in such a manner. “There is no possible way that the man Jesus is revealing the one true God. God doesn’t die on a cross,” they may say. Others see the cross as a tragic end to a well-meaning but possibly misdirected first-century revolutionary. He meant well, but like all revolutionaries, he met a horrible end at the hands of the relentless, bone-crushing machine that was the Roman Empire. Still others pay little mind to the cross at all. They tattoo it on their bodies or wear it around their necks, but that is as much thought as they give to it. Then there are those of us who see the cross as the apex of God’s saving revelation. We glory in its shame. Each group sees the cross, but each group doesn’t see the cross in the same way.
As Jesus was being crucified, different people had different visions of the crucified Messiah.
The Jewish leadership, who conspired with Judas to have Jesus arrested and put to death, saw the cross as evidence of Jesus being a fraud. “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe” (Mk 15:31-32). Those cursed by God hang on a tree (Dt 21:23). If God doesn’t deliver him from the death of the cross, that means God approves of their verdict. They say they want to see him come down, and then they will believe. But would they? Time will tell.
The Roman centurion had a clear vision of who Jesus was. He declared, “Truly this man was the Son of God” (Mk 15:39). Throughout the Gospel of Mark, Jesus hid his identity (“the Messianic Secret”). The Father declared Jesus to be his Son at his baptism (Mk 1:11). The centurion is the first one since then to echo the declaration of the Father. The Gentile sees Jesus’ crucifixion for what it is: the revelation of the Son of God.
There are women there who see the cross from a distance (Mk 15:40). Their distance is similar to Peter’s “following at a distance.” Perhaps they don’t want to get caught up in the frenzy and wind up on a cross. We don’t hear them confess what the centurion confesses. We know they love Jesus, for they will later take his body and prepare it for burial. At this time, however, they can’t believe their eyes. “Was this really how it was supposed to end?”
The apostles are nowhere to be found, as Mark records it. They see the cross as defeat.
What do you see?
We have grown accustomed to the story that we sometimes don’t meditate on it too much. Do we see and understand what Jesus is doing for us? Do we see the wrath and curse he endured for our sakes? Do we see ourselves taking up our own crosses and following him
?