Pretty Good Friday

So I'm reading my Bible... about the whole "passion week"... as a kid I wondered why they called it that. On occasion, I sit down and really think about the accounts of Jesus' life, and sometimes I have linked specific events recorded in the Bible to a sort of "Bible calendar" in my mind. For me the problem is that there are lots of days that are simply unaccounted for. Today we would say they were "open." Surely Jesus didn't just hang out on those days, or maybe he did. When I think about those Bible times, it's hard for me to get beyond images of hot sunny days, togas, sweat, sandals and really, really, dusty roads.

Take for example today, the Friday before "Good Friday." Does that make today "Pretty Good Friday?" I'm not trying to be sacrilegious; I mean, Jesus knew what was coming, what was looming,... next week. I don't think he was worried about the disciples not "getting it." I don't think he was thinking, "Man are these guys ever gonna connect the dots?".... If he did then for sure, those kind of thoughts or fears would be played out in the week to come, and with his band of disciples.... his friends no less. I mean come on... falling asleep when he was praying, chopping off a guys ear, Judas bailing hard for money, and ultimately all of them denying him publically. Way, way more than thinking about a pending root canal, a term paper or project that's due or anything else that we might have on our calendar... but the Bible says his face was set toward Jerusalem. He was focused.

At the same time, when God created the "day," the 24 hour period of time, way back in Genesis, He said it was good, along with the rest of creation. We kind of separate out and designate "Good Friday" as being better, so today, I guess along with the other 50 Fridays of the year, must be "Pretty Good Friday." Don't get me wrong, I'm super glad about "Good Friday," even if for Jesus it wasn't all that good. The fact that he prayed that if he could take a pass on his trial and crucifixion, seems to indicate, it was not looking like "Good Friday" for him. In fact, there is no where else in the Bible where Jesus prays for something not to happen. Typically, Jesus prays and stuff happens... which is actually exactly what happened here too.... stuff happened.

God had been working out his plan from way before Jesus walked on the earth. So while it's hard to see Jesus' arrest, imprisonment, trials, beatings, humiliation, ridicule, crucifixion, suffering and death all adding up to "Good Friday," it really is. Now if left at just "Good Friday," and it was just a story, then, no, that's not much of a good Friday.... especially for Jesus. But it wasn't left at that, because then comes Easter... Jesus' ressurection from death.

At the core of why I do what I do, and how I live my life is "Good Friday" and Easter. Without it, without the stuff that happened, Paul, the guy who wrote the majority of the New Testament, said what I believe about God is "in vain".... useless.

But it's not just a story, it really happened and because it happened everything is different.

So I guess today is just "Pretty Good Friday"

More later....