It is Finished. | Good Friday

Today we spend time with the death of Jesus. The Romans have mocked and tormented him, they have hung him on the cross, and they find Jesus dead before the others he had been crucified with. Death can be difficult to understand and cope with and we must also acknowledge that without Jesus’ death, there could be no resurrection. We must sit with the fact of death on Good Friday before we can know the joy of Easter.

One of Jesus’ last acts on the cross is to tell his mother and the disciple whom he loved that they are now a family. (John 19:26-27) Mary, mother of Jesus, takes this beloved disciple into her home not to replace Jesus, but rather to fulfill Jesus’ wish that they create a family. As LGBTQ+ people, many of us know what it feels like to find a family, a feeling of safety, acceptance, and stability, with people who are different from the people we grew up with. And this was Jesus’ final commandment from the cross - to create that kind of family. In the depths of our pain and grief, let us find the people who Jesus said would be there for us and let us look for the kind of family that Jesus is calling us into, even if that looks different from the family we grew up with.

From the other Gospels, we know that darkness fell over the land at the hour of Jesus’ death and whether that dark was literal, figurative or metaphysical, the people noticed. When the soldier penetrates Jesus’ side with his spear, blood and water come pouring out. In some ways, we can see echoes of Genesis through this dark and water. John reminds us at the beginning of this Gospel that Jesus was there at the time of Creation (John 1:1-5) and in his death is ushering in a new creation. For it was in and with the darkness that God created. In the dark parts of our life, we may feel God’s absence, yet we see here that it is only in the dark that God does God’s most profound creation. This is not a call to glorify the suffering in our lives, but rather to seek out the acts of creation God is starting in our dark.

There could be no resurrection without Jesus’ death. So as we enter into this Good Friday and Holy Saturday, let us remember that chasing the resurrection means we must pass through the difficulty that death can bring.

We have journeyed through scripture while engaging with different spiritual practices as we have walked the road towards the resurrection. Today, we turn to a time of prayer and reflection upon John 19:16b-37.

We encourage you to read through the passage slowly, twice. While using the name for God you feel most comfortable with (ex. Divine Love, Creator, Gentle Parent, etc.) and one supplication or request (ex. Give us peace, comfort our hearts, etc.), pray a prayer that is inspired by the scripture passage. You are invited to write that prayer down in your journal, on your phone, or on a post-it note, and pray that prayer throughout the day.

John 19:16b-37: 

So they took Jesus, and carrying the cross by himself he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. There they crucified him and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Many of the Jews read this inscription because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’ ”  Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”  When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top.  So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it but cast lots for it to see who will get it.” This was to fulfill what the scripture says,

“They divided my clothes among themselves,
    and for my clothing they cast lots.”

 And that is what the soldiers did.

Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.  When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.” A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the Sabbath, especially because that Sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. 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. (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth, so that you also may continue to believe.) These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, “None of his bones shall be broken.” And again another passage of scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.”

Here are some additional questions for you to ponder and journal about after you finish this particular spiritual practice, either now or over the next couple of days:

• The crucifixion scene is a complex mixture of political, social, and spiritual dynamics. How do these elements interact in this passage, and what could they be communicating about the nature of Jesus' death?

• When Jesus entrusts the care of his mother to the disciple he loved, what might this reveal about his concern for relational and community bonds? How could this story have resonated in the context of the new relationships and communities formed in the wake of his ministry? How might this story resonate within queer community?

• In light of this passage, how do you perceive the themes of sacrifice, love, and fulfillment in the story of Jesus' crucifixion?

Join our Lenten Reflections Group!

Would you like to engage with some of these spiritual practices in community?

Join our Lenten Reflections Drop-In Group! This group will be led by QCF Community Members Emerson Quadri (they/them) & Jessica Quadri (she/her) Wednesdays at 8PM ET. Join us for a time of reflection and discussion as we head into the Easter season.

Visit the link below to learn more!