Good Friday: God in the Raw

Friday March 29

Journey through Holy Week with daily reflections from the Rev Roddy Hamilton

Mark 15:21-24

They compelled a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross; it was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. Then they brought Jesus[d] to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it. And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take.

Reflection

As dawn breaks
It never really gets light
There is a bitter taste in the air too
Left by the lies of the authorities.

Betrayers and deniers
Have come and gone
The male disciples have disappeared
For now
The women, wait
Listening for tidbits
Worrying over rumours.

And there he is
Finally
God in the raw
Stripped of everything
Lumbered with a cross
And dragging its weight.
This feels like some diabolical carnival
With city watching
And empire, the backdrop,
Gently congratulating itself.

The word that spoke creation
Is now silenced and broken.
Who would listen to it anyway?

If you thought there could be a better way
You were wrong.
Don’t think it gets better - it doesn’t.
Don’t think there is a happy ending - there’s not.
God is being silenced
Love is being broken
Truth is being crucified
Again
And again

It is only going to get darker
And it is very dark already.

Prayer

May we simply travel with you today
Even if it feels we are going nowhere
An ever decreasing circle
That gravitates towards a cross on a hill

In all the accusations shouted
May we answer with silence
For there is no response
To what is done to the Son of God.
No response we can put into words at least.

So we move closer to you, O God
And find in the silence
All we need to say
And be
And know
Today