Holy Friday

Last updated on: April 17, 2020 at 5:28 am by John Mark N. Reynolds

Holy Friday 2020-04-16T23:06:11-04:00 John Mark N. Reynolds

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

O Lord my God, I will sing to You a funeral hymn, a song at Your burial; for by Your burial You have opened for me the gates of life and by Your death You have slain death and hell.

-Synaxarion

The sun may rise first in the East, but Easter (Pascha) almost always comes later for the faithful who live in the area where Jesus lived. Every Friday is a little Holy Friday for all Christians, just as each Sunday is a commemoration of Pascha. The week is an image of the year and the year of Holy History.

Holy Friday marks the death of Jesus Christ, yet not for one moment was Christ defeated. He was in agony in the Garden, his friends betrayed Him, and He felt the pain of whippings and brutal punishment. Excruciating pain on the cross, the weight of the sins of the world, all of this was painful, but none was defeat. The God-man suffered and was buried. Each act was a blow against death and hell as normative for humankind.

The God-man harrowed the place of the dead, setting captive humanity free.

Thank you, Jesus.

The hard road from Bethlehem to Golgotha was hard. A preacher who says one can confess, pray, or shout away hardness has not read the command of Jesus to take up our cross and follow Him. Our crosses are little, small reminders of what He did, but they are not defeats. Our crosses, including obedience to our leaders who have told us to stay home on Pascha, do not save the world or even (in one sense) us. They are symbols of victory.

Lent reminds us that we need not eat when or what we wish. We can give to those with less and take time to pray. These crosses are painful victories, proving our freedom from some of our appetites.

Of course, life in this broken world presents us harder crosses. These are flung at us and many are very painful. Human life ends in death and death is not enjoyable. Victory, however, is now possible in death, since that death is not for us as death once was. Death was a one-way trip to the place of the dead. Now there is a chance for eternal life not as some disembodied shade, but in the new heavens and the new earth.

Death cannot win. That does not remove the pain of death and should not be read as a message to “cheer up” or make a better “confession” so to change the circumstances. If Jesus could weep at death, we can weep, even if we know, as Jesus knew at the tomb of Lazarus that death would not have the final victory. A test is hard, the school for souls is rigorous, victory is given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ.

His death is the promise of our victory. His death gives us hope and in that hope we carry on in this Holy Friday. The Day will come when all the images will pass away. We will see the saints face to face. We will be in the culmination of Holy History. The work finished by Jesus on the cross will now be experienced as finished by all of us. We need only look up from the stinking cadavers of death and hell and look forward.

Victory is His and He has made His victory accessible to us from love.

Spiritual Reflections

Previous Post

April 16, 2020

The Power of Music

Next Post

April 18, 2020 Now Our Lenten Work Is (Almost) Done (Holy Saturday)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Apologetics Art Culture Education On Books On Education Philosophy Politics Pop Culture Spiritual Reflections Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 July 2025 June 2025 September 2024 July 2024 June 2024 December 2023 June 2023 September 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What Christian group believes in continuing revelation from prophets?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Presbyterians Latter-day Saints Baptists Lutherans

Books by This Author John Mark Reynolds

See All Titles »