Good Friday

Easter is such a contradiction. Christianity's worst day, and Christianity's most glorious day, all in the same weekend. The joy of the empty tomb never quite seems to erase an awareness of the horrors of the cross.

I sometimes wonder why an awful, painful death like crucifixion was necessary. Jesus came to die for us, but couldn't it have been a quick, painless death? Wouldn't that have served the same purpose?

It occurred to me that perhaps the nature of Jesus's death simply reflects why He came in the first place. We need God's love. We are capable of great violence. Just look around the world today. What humanity did to Jesus was a reminder that we are not a basically good race, with just a few blemishes. No, we are a fallen people.

Today we reflect on humanity at its worst, and God at His best.

And Sunday, we will say to each other "He is risen indeed!"