Appearances. We, as human beings, often like to assess things and those around us by appearances. We see something that looks good to eat. We see a person who looks athletic. Another person looks very wealthy. We take our eyes, and we try to break things down and analyze. If you take it to it’s conclusion, however, when we see an appearance, and judge off of that appearance, there are two fundamental results from our analysis: we can either be spot on in our assessment, and we find things exactly as they appear. We can succeed. Or, we can make fatal flaws. We can misjudge by the way things look. All this goes to say: perhaps, in our life, there is more than what meets the eye. There is far more to life than just appearances whether good, bad, or indifferent.
Here we are at Good Friday. We go back thousands of years to that terrifying event, which threw disciples and apostles alike into confusion and darkness. They had been following their king and savior for so long, and suddenly, His mission and His adherence to the Father’s will has led them to this moment: He is being hung upon a tree, in utter shame and humiliation, and suffering to the point of death. This is no ordinary moment in what would have been expected for a Savior and a Messiah. In fact, if we look at the Apostles that day, they would likely point to the appearance of one thing at this moment- defeat. Something has gone horrendously wrong. Clearly, something has really been missed: God’s will couldn’t have possibly lead His Son to the Cross… could it?
That is truly the question: why would the will of God the Father lead His Son to the Cross? Why would this sign of shame and humiliation become something that far exceeds appearances?
If we go back to the first reading today, we are given a perspective from Isaiah about how Jesus, though He came far later than that prophet, was doing something tremendous, even through this moment of suffering, of affliction, and even of death. Isaiah reminds us: “Many were amazed to look at him, so marred was his look beyond human semblance, and his appearance beyond the sons of man—so shall he startle many nations.” This truly is a startling moment. Anyone who has watched any rendition of the Passion knows the full extent of how profoundly shocking this day is. The fact that Jesus- who is the Son of God, goes underneath so much torment, so much pain, so much suffering.
Yet, Isaiah reminds us of something else. Even in the midst of this cruelty, this hostility, and this total lack of bearing in His appearance… Jesus does something else. He bears our afflictions. He takes up our guilt. He takes up our sufferings. He makes not a complaint nor utters a sound. In the face of such cruel treatment, the Son of God does not try to strike back, but rather humbly submits to the cruelty…
But… why? Why would God, who is all powerful, do such a thing?
The answer is in what Jesus is doing today, and we to gaze upon the bigger picture, and what God is actually doing. Make no mistake! The Cross was a choice for Jesus- it wasn’t something that was arbitrarily forced upon Him, but was rather a free embrace of a God of compassion who has mercy on His people. A preliminary glance at a crucifix may not quite get you this back story, but it is still here for those of us who seek and desire to know more. Isaiah reminds us- because of this affliction, God’s servant shall justify many, and He shall bear their guilt. Thus he was great, and suffered so greatly and so tremendously.
The Letter to the Hebrews further reinforces this idea that there is more happening: this isn’t a defeat, but it is something far more profound. We are told that we have “a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God,” This is a high priest who has been tested, and who has offered over everything, so that we, in turn may receive everything. We, who could not pay the price of our salvation, are aided by someone else who can: the Son of God, who mediates on our behalf.
Yet, none of these things are truly and fully understood and felt until we hear the story of the Passion. None of it is complete until we hear how our Lord was treated so cruelly in being led up to the Cross, and being nailed to it. None of this is truly complete until we hear our Lord utter those powerfully momentous words: “It is finished.”
Yet, if we are a people who can look and judge by appearance, I think it only natural to think about the “why” of this sorrowful story with this thought: When Jesus looks down from this Cross, what does He see? As humans, we’d probably think about all of the injustice He would see. Does He see men who have been shouting “Crucify Him” relentlessly for hours? Does He see apostles who cannot even begin to get it right, who struggle to follow the Lord, and even fail to acknowledge that they know who this man is? Does He see Judas who, not only betrayed Him, but then betrays God’s mercy in his hopelessness, even after such a great failure in His life? Does He see all of the people that will ignore Him, and live in indifference to the Cross? Does He see those who will kill His followers generations later, simply for identifying with Christ? What does our Lord see from that Cross?
Perhaps, He sees something altogether different than what we see. Perhaps the appearances that we think are plain and obvious are blinding us to the overall picture of what has happened!
The reality of Good Friday is very sobering. We are introduced, not to a God of vengeance, but instead a God who saw an imbalance. Man was unable to recover from sin on his own merit- and therefore God sends His only Son, not to condemn, but to save the world! While we can speculate on what the Lord saw that day, perhaps He saw one thing: that you and I were worth saving. You and I are worth dying for. Yes, it is a sorrowful moment that the Crucifixion comes to save us from our sins- yet it was not Jesus putting the scales back into balance, but showing us how much he loves us. Further, His love does not exist just in the good moments, but especially when we are at our worst. When we fall. When we fail. When others tell us we aren’t good enough. We aren’t worth saving. Our Lord Jesus tells us a story that seems insane- but do we allow ourselves to believe it?
Jesus also reassures us by His Passion and Death that He is with us when things have a bad appearance. When we suffer. When we die to ourselves. When the will of the Father seems to bring us suffering. We know that we must undergo suffering ourselves, and that we may have moments that feel like a Crucifixion- yet, do we allow those to unite us to Christ?
Brothers and sisters, tonight, we behold, not what appears to be the sad ending of a tale gone wrong. We are witnessing the radical love that God has for each one of us. This is a love that holds Jesus on the Cross as He pays the price for our sins. He does so- because He has that tremendous love for each of us.
The challenge now, as we wait in the silence, is to receive that magnificent love that Christ poured out on each of us from the Cross.
It may appear that we have suffered defeat. If we wait in the silence, though, we know that this is not the end. It is indeed finished, yet, if we watch and wait, perhaps even what appears to be death and defeat will turn into something far more beautiful, and far more joyful than it appears now.
