Good Friday
1
This story is so sad.
There’s so much love and evil.
And fear.
Maybe that’s what evil is—
fear gone bad. Or mad.
Fear.
I really think that’s
mostly what this story is about—
FEAR.
Pilate was afraid.
The Pharisees and other religious leaders were afraid.
Everyone was afraid.
Jesus.
Was Jesus afraid?
Was Jesus afraid?
Mostly, I bet he was sad—
Sad because he didn’t have time to
help his disciples interpret what was happening.
Sad because he still had so much to teach them.
Sad because they hadn’t yet learned
the things he’d already taught them.
Sad because he loved them.
Sad because they were afraid.
Sad because he was lonely.
So.
Very.
Lonely.
2
It’s the halo I don’t get—
in every picture…
colored yellow, always yellow—
WHAT DOES IT MEAN, JESUS?
WHAT DOES YOUR HALO MEAN?
Does it mean that you’re God,
wholly divine and all that?
If so…that annoys me…
…and disheartens me…
If you’re not God,
then the pain you feel from the beatings,
the deprivations,
the unjust decisions and proclamations….
If you’re not God,
then the pain you feel
is very close to the pain I feel.
If you’re not God,
then this day is a day I can understand,
it’s a day that you can understand,
a day you can understand me.
And I need to be understood by you.
I don’t know why, but I do.
I do need to be understood by you.
Maybe for the artist,
the halo does mean you’re God…
But I choose to see it otherwise.
I don’t think you were God,
not that day—
If you were God on that day,
then what was the point?
I ask: What was the point?
No.
I don’t think you were God that day…
But still.
The halo.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN, JESUS?
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
I think it means God—
not you as God,
but God as God,
God, who tags along with those who suffer
because there is no other place in the universe
she’d rather be.
I think the halo-yellow-halo in every picture
isn’t a reminder of just how God you were,
but of just how close God stayed with you that day
until you died.
Even after you died.
If that is true,
Then we should all be wearing halos.
(4/6/2007)
reallifepastor 