Roblog

Generally, Good Friday services are presented as somewhat somber, if not downright morose, memorials of the crucifixion of Jesus.  The Gospel accounts of his lonely vigil of prayer in Gethsemane, Judas’ betrayal, the fleeing of the disciples at his arrest, the sham trials, the beating and mocking and the cruelty of the crucifixion—all of these are recounted, often in a “you are there” fashion, woven together from Scripture and interspersed with melancholy music to picture for us the tragic reality of Christ’s suffering for sinners.

Though we cannot deny the tragic reality of the death of Christ, Scripture we never quite broods over it, either as an event of history or with a view toward its theological implications in quite the way we might think it should.  I don’t mean this in any way to diminish the central emphasis of the cross in Scripture:  the cross is that which shows the wisdom and power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18-25) and it is to be our “boast” in this world (Galatians 6:14). What we find, though, is that the Bible never sees Christ’s cross-work as the “end game.”  In a sense, one could say that Scripture even looks past the events of the crucifixion.  Consider this passage in Hebrews 12: « Read the rest of this entry »