Good Friday Year A 2023

Title

The Mystery of the Cross

Outline

We have read and thought about the cross

What more is there to say?

Certainly much could be said, but in the context of worship let me only make two salient points

First, Jesus chose to suffer total degradation

It is clear that Jesus chose the cross.

He is God’s servant following God’s will

He set his face like a flint towards Jerusalem

He orchestrated the events - telling Judas to do his thing, choosing the place of arrest, telling the arresting party not to arrest his disciples, remaining in control of the trials - in fact, in John Jesus is judging Pilate more than Pilate is judging him - caring for his mother, and making sure that the scriptures are fulfilled.

This is the meaning of his being silent in Isaiah 53 - he does not protest, for he enters suffering as God’s servant. He does this because he is making himself an offering for us. He is the great high priest and victim together.

It is also clear that Jesus suffered total degradation

He is pierced and spurned and insulted as rejected by God in Isaiah

He cries out the human feeling of abandonment in the Psalm, although he is quoting a Psalm that ends with vindication

He “offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears” to God to save him from death even though he had chosen his death and predicted his own resurrection.

He experiences a total degradation ritual in John, which was what crucifixion was, for it was not the pain that was unique (we read of longer and more painful deaths in some martyrs), but total humiliation - he had become a human being, a slave, the zero honor status among human beings, submitted to death, and then the worst type of death - not an honorable death in battle or a death by disease but a death as dishonorable as they could make it, slow (although many crucifixions lasted longer), public, stripped naked, mocked, and abused. (Usually bodies were left to rot or be eaten off the cross and the bones exposed to the elements, but since this was after death, it did not happen to Jesus.)

The two are not incompatible: the total following of the will of God, consciously choosing such an outcome, and the total experience of suffering made worse because it was the exact opposite of being in the form of God.

Second, Jesus suffered for our benefit

On the one hand, it made him able to sympathize with us when we suffer according to God’s permissive or directive will. That is the point of Hebrews.

On the other hand, it was a deliberate self-sacrificial action for us and for others. “He was pierced for our sins, crushed for our iniquity. He bore the punishment that makes us whole, by his wounds we were healed.”

“He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.” (Hebrews)

In John he presents himself as King, but of a kingdom “not of this world” and at the end of the ordeal can say, “It is finished.” The kingdom has been established, the enemy defeated, he dies for the world - even those who crucified him.

What do these points say to us?

At least this:

First, while it is appropriate to admit to and feel deeply our suffering, especially that in the will of God, since denial is not a Christian virtue, it is more important to realize that Jesus understands, suffered it first, and has made it our way to union with him.

Second, there is no depth of suffering, especially humiliation and rejection, that Jesus has not experienced with us and therefore redeemed for us.

Third, Jesus’ suffering was expiatory and priestly in that it frees us from our guilt and thus from getting trapped by our sin and from suffering as a result of our guilt (which should result in our total alienation from God, from being) in that it transforms the suffering we do experience into the potential of being a ladder to union with the Father if we allow it to identify us with him.

Readings

Catholic Daily Readings 4-7-2023: Good Friday

FIRST READING

Isaiah 52:13–53:12

13 See, my servant shall prosper,

he shall be raised high and greatly exalted.

14 Even as many were amazed at him—

so marred were his features,

beyond that of mortals

his appearance, beyond that of human beings—

15 So shall he startle many nations,

kings shall stand speechless;

For those who have not been told shall see,

those who have not heard shall ponder it.

CHAPTER 53

1 Who would believe what we have heard?

To whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

2 He grew up like a sapling before him,

like a shoot from the parched earth;

He had no majestic bearing to catch our eye,

no beauty to draw us to him.

3 He was spurned and avoided by men,

a man of suffering, knowing pain,

Like one from whom you turn your face,

spurned, and we held him in no esteem.

4 Yet it was our pain that he bore,

our sufferings he endured.

We thought of him as stricken,

struck down by God and afflicted,

5 But he was pierced for our sins,

crushed for our iniquity.

He bore the punishment that makes us whole,

by his wounds we were healed.

6 We had all gone astray like sheep,

all following our own way;

But the LORD laid upon him

the guilt of us all.

7 Though harshly treated, he submitted

and did not open his mouth;

Like a lamb led to slaughter

or a sheep silent before shearers,

he did not open his mouth.

8 Seized and condemned, he was taken away.

Who would have thought any more of his destiny?

For he was cut off from the land of the living,

struck for the sins of his people.

9 He was given a grave among the wicked,

a burial place with evildoers,

Though he had done no wrong,

nor was deceit found in his mouth.

10 But it was the LORD’s will to crush him with pain.

By making his life as a reparation offering,

he shall see his offspring, shall lengthen his days,

and the LORD’s will shall be accomplished through him.

11 Because of his anguish he shall see the light;

because of his knowledge he shall be content;

My servant, the just one, shall justify the many,

their iniquity he shall bear.

12 Therefore I will give him his portion among the many,

and he shall divide the spoils with the mighty,

Because he surrendered himself to death,

was counted among the transgressors,

Bore the sins of many,

and interceded for the transgressors.

Catholic Daily Readings 4-7-2023: Good Friday

RESPONSE

Luke 23:46

46 Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit”; and when he had said this he breathed his last.

PSALM

Psalm 31:2, 6, 12–13, 15–17, 25

2 In you, LORD, I take refuge;

let me never be put to shame.

In your righteousness deliver me;

6 Into your hands I commend my spirit;

you will redeem me, LORD, God of truth.

12 To all my foes I am a thing of scorn,

and especially to my neighbors

a horror to my friends.

When they see me in public,

they quickly shy away.

13 I am forgotten, out of mind like the dead;

I am like a worn-out tool.

15 But I trust in you, LORD;

I say, “You are my God.”

16 My destiny is in your hands;

rescue me from my enemies,

from the hands of my pursuers.

17 Let your face shine on your servant;

save me in your mercy.

25 Be strong and take heart,

all who hope in the LORD.

Catholic Daily Readings 4-7-2023: Good Friday

SECOND READING

Hebrews 4:14–16, 5:7–9

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin. 16 So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.

7 In the days when he was in the flesh, he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8 Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; 9 and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him,

Catholic Daily Readings 4-7-2023: Good Friday

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

Philippians 2:8–9

8 he humbled himself,

becoming obedient to death,

even death on a cross.

9 Because of this, God greatly exalted him

and bestowed on him the name

that is above every name,

GOSPEL

John 18:1–19:42

1 When he had said this, Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to where there was a garden, into which he and his disciples entered. 2 Judas his betrayer also knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas got a band of soldiers and guards from the chief priests and the Pharisees and went there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. 4 Jesus, knowing everything that was going to happen to him, went out and said to them, “Whom are you looking for?” 5 They answered him, “Jesus the Nazorean.” He said to them, “I AM.” Judas his betrayer was also with them. 6 When he said to them, “I AM,” they turned away and fell to the ground. 7 So he again asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” They said, “Jesus the Nazorean.” 8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I AM. So if you are looking for me, let these men go.” 9  This was to fulfill what he had said, “I have not lost any of those you gave me.” 10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear. The slave’s name was Malchus. 11 Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its scabbard. Shall I not drink the cup that the Father gave me?”

12 So the band of soldiers, the tribune, and the Jewish guards seized Jesus, bound him, 13 and brought him to Annas first. He was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. 14 It was Caiaphas who had counseled the Jews that it was better that one man should die rather than the people.

15 Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Now the other disciple was known to the high priest, and he entered the courtyard of the high priest with Jesus. 16 But Peter stood at the gate outside. So the other disciple, the acquaintance of the high priest, went out and spoke to the gatekeeper and brought Peter in. 17 Then the maid who was the gatekeeper said to Peter, “You are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” 18 Now the slaves and the guards were standing around a charcoal fire that they had made, because it was cold, and were warming themselves. Peter was also standing there keeping warm.

19 The high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his doctrine. 20 Jesus answered him, “I have spoken publicly to the world. I have always taught in a synagogue or in the temple area where all the Jews gather, and in secret I have said nothing. 21 Why ask me? Ask those who heard me what I said to them. They know what I said.” 22 When he had said this, one of the temple guards standing there struck Jesus and said, “Is this the way you answer the high priest?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong; but if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?” 24 Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

25 Now Simon Peter was standing there keeping warm. And they said to him, “You are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” 26 One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of the one whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Didn’t I see you in the garden with him?” 27 Again Peter denied it. And immediately the cock crowed.

28 Then they brought Jesus from Caiaphas to the praetorium. It was morning. And they themselves did not enter the praetorium, in order not to be defiled so that they could eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate came out to them and said, “What charge do you bring [against] this man?” 30 They answered and said to him, “If he were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.” 31 At this, Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves, and judge him according to your law.” The Jews answered him, “We do not have the right to execute anyone,” 32 in order that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled that he said indicating the kind of death he would die. 33 So Pilate went back into the praetorium and summoned Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me?” 35 Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants [would] be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here.” 37 So Pilate said to him, “Then you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” 38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

When he had said this, he again went out to the Jews and said to them, “I find no guilt in him. 39 But you have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at Passover. Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” 40 They cried out again, “Not this one but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.

CHAPTER 19

1  Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged. 2 And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head, and clothed him in a purple cloak, 3 and they came to him and said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck him repeatedly. 4 Once more Pilate went out and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you, so that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” 5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cloak. And he said to them, “Behold, the man!” 6 When the chief priests and the guards saw him they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him. I find no guilt in him.” 7 The Jews answered, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.” 8 Now when Pilate heard this statement, he became even more afraid, 9 and went back into the praetorium and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” Jesus did not answer him. 10 So Pilate said to him, “Do you not speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you and I have power to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered [him], “You would have no power over me if it had not been given to you from above. For this reason the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.” 12 Consequently, Pilate tried to release him; but the Jews cried out, “If you release him, you are not a Friend of Caesar. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”

13 When Pilate heard these words he brought Jesus out and seated him on the judge’s bench in the place called Stone Pavement, in Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14 It was preparation day for Passover, and it was about noon. And he said to the Jews, “Behold, your king!” 15 They cried out, “Take him away, take him away! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your king?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” 16 Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.

So they took Jesus, 17 and carrying the cross himself he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, in Hebrew, Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle. 19 Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews.” 20 Now many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. 21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that he said, ‘I am the King of the Jews.’ ” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four shares, a share for each soldier. They also took his tunic, but the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top down. 24 So they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it will be,” in order that the passage of scripture might be fulfilled [that says]:

“They divided my garments among them,

and for my vesture they cast lots.”

This is what the soldiers did. 25  Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

28 After this, aware that everything was now finished, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I thirst.” 29 There was a vessel filled with common wine. So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.” And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.

31 Now since it was preparation day, in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath, for the sabbath day of that week was a solemn one, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken and they be taken down. 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, 34  but one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out. 35 An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true; he knows that he is speaking the truth, so that you also may [come to] believe. 36 For this happened so that the scripture passage might be fulfilled:

“Not a bone of it will be broken.”

37 And again another passage says:

“They will look upon him whom they have pierced.”

38 After this, Joseph of Arimathea, secretly a disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus. And Pilate permitted it. So he came and took his body. 39 Nicodemus, the one who had first come to him at night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about one hundred pounds. 40 They took the body of Jesus and bound it with burial cloths along with the spices, according to the Jewish burial custom. 41 Now in the place where he had been crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been buried. 42 So they laid Jesus there because of the Jewish preparation day; for the tomb was close by.

Notes

Catholic Daily Readings 4-7-2023: Good Friday

FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2023 | EASTER TRIDUUM

GOOD FRIDAY

YEARS ABC | ROMAN MISSAL | LECTIONARY

First Reading Isaiah 52:13–53:12

Response Luke 23:46

Psalm Psalm 31:2, 6, 12–13, 15–17, 25

Second Reading Hebrews 4:14–16, 5:7–9

Gospel Acclamation Philippians 2:8–9

Gospel John 18:1–19:42