Matthew 27: 50-54
Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many. Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, ‘Truly this man was God’s Son!’
I often struggle with the connection between Good Friday and Easter. I understand that they are inextricably linked, but I don’t want to pass one at the expense of not fully taking in the other. In his brilliant essay The Cosmic Cross, Paul TIllich connects the two against the back drop of the response of the tangible, natural things of creation. Tillich talks through the above Scripture and shows how the sun, the temple, and the foundations of the earth bow before the glory of God encapsulated in the suffering of the cross. Tillich ties in the Resurrection with this, “Resurrection is not something added to the death of him who is the Christ; but it is implied in his death, as the story of the resurrection before the resurrection, indicates. No longer is the universe subjected to the law of death out of birth. It is subjected to a higher law, to the law of life out of death, by the death of him who represented eternal life.” We should, we must focus today on the death of Christ and as we do observe this new law of life coming out of death. This is revolutionary, this is Good Friday.
In an additional thought, I want to relay a story to the connection between nature and the crucifixion. Our administrative assistant, Margueritte, gave me permission to relay this story. Margueritte was driving south down Park St. and crossed Chicago St. looking west towards the building. On the brick wall of the building the sun cast a shadow of the telephone pole and three dark crosses appeared against the early morning sky. In a small way there it is, there’s the truth. Good Friday.