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| Calvary |
He died for me — as the propitiation for my sins:
I John 2:2 (KJV):
And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.Related reading at my friend Ed Bonderenka's blog site: What's so Good about Good Friday?
Music for meditation on this Holy Day (hat tip to Bunkerville):
Related listening at my friend FreeThinke's blog: J.S. Bach's The Passion of Our Lord According to St. Matthew.
Beautiful post. Thanks so much for the hat tip.
ReplyDeleteSuch an important day....especially to remember why such a very sad, painful, horrible day is called "Good!"
ReplyDeleteI was just listening to a Christian radio host broadcast nationally from Detroit and my wife Scherie had called in and I was surprised to hear her.
DeleteAnd right after that I heard another caller call in and ask "why is it called Good Friday?" similar to the comment by Z.
Well frankly it's good for us, and Jesus lay down his life for the joy that was set before him.
What did Jesus have after the cross that he no longer that he did not have before the cross? The church. Us.
So it was good for Him and good for us.
He won the battle on the cross. That's where he was Victorious.
I hurt for those who don't understand why it's called GOOD.
DeleteSt. Louis-born American expatriate poet, T.S. Eliot, who lived and worked most of his life in England, had a less-than-sanguine view of Good Friday as shown in this selection from his Four Quartets:
ReplyDeleteThe wounded surgeon plies the steel
That questions the distempered part;
Beneath the bleeding hands we feel
The sharp compassion of the healer's art
Resolving the enigma of the fever chart.
Our only health is the disease
If we obey the dying nurse
Whose constant care is not to please
But to remind of our, and Adam's curse,
And that, to be restored, our sickness must grow worse.
The whole earth is our hospital
Endowed by the ruined millionaire,
Wherein, if we do well, we shall
Die of the absolute paternal care
That will not leave us, but prevents us everywhere.
The chill ascends from feet to knees,
The fever sings in mental wires.
If to be warmed, then I must freeze
And quake in frigid purgatorial fires
Of which the flame is roses, and the smoke is briars.
The dripping blood our only drink,
The bloody flesh our only food:
In spite of which we like to think
That we are sound, substantial flesh and blood—
Again, in spite of that, we call this Friday good.
~ T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) - "East Coker" from Four Quartets
We call it Good, because it is in Eliot's view our only path to redemption.
DeleteA view hardly unique to Eliot!
DeleteAmen. Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
ReplyDeletethat is my VERY VERY favorite quote from other than Jesus in the whole Bible, Jerry....and Jesus' response was "Today, you will be with me in paradise." And all the thief had to have said was "remember me..." showing he knew who He was. So powerful it brings tears to my eyes even now. Thanks.
Delete________ HIS CRUCIFIXION ________
ReplyDeleteHe was a man who came to show the way.
It never was for him an easy task.
Sadly, politicians of His day
Cruelly sought His death. They’d never ask
Revealing questions in pursuit of Truth.
Undermining good they sought to hold
Crookedly to Power. Their uncouth
Initiatives to godliness were cold.
Freedom from corruption causes fear
In those who by coercion seek to rule.
Xiphoid, ego kills what should endear,
Instead of letting Self die to renewal.
On tiptoe oft we creep and hold our breath,
Not challenging the ones who cause His death.
~ FreeThinke - The Sandpiper - Sprng 1996
______ CHRIST IS ARISEN ______
ReplyDeleteCold He lay behind the heavy stone,
Hidden there with broken hands and feet.
Ruthless powers crushed His flesh and bone.
It looked to be the ultimate defeat.
Sadly, in the dawn Saint Mary’s three
Trudged toward the tomb wherein He lay.
Instead of death, an angel helped them see,
Startled, that the stone was rolled away!
A risen Jesus stood! He still drew breath!
Radiance around Him warmed the air.
In banks of lilies sweet we now see death
Stripped of terror. Life, eternal, fair,
Enjoins us all to claim His victory.
Naught could stop us save our vanity.
~ FreeThinke - The Sandpiper - Spring 1996
Beautiful music!
ReplyDelete