The Source of Eternal Salvation
Good Friday
Isaiah 52:13–53:12; Hebrews 4:14–16; 5:7–9; John 18:1–19:42
The first reading describes the suffering of God’s servant and elucidates its salvific meaning. Because He did not sin (Is. 53:9; 1 Pet. 2:22), He suffers for the sins of others, and His suffering will justify many (Is. 53:11b). In this mysterious suffering servant, we immediately recognize the suffering Christ.
God was betrayed in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:1–7); the incarnate Word of God was betrayed in the Garden of Gethsemane (John 18:1–3); and victory over sin and death was achieved in a garden (John 19:41). Jesus’ confession “I Am” stands in stark contrast to Peter’s denial “I am not” (John 18:17,25). Yet Peter is not the only one who denied the truth. Pilate condemned an innocent man to death (John 19:12–16), and the high priests declared, “We have no king but Caesar” (John 19:15; see Ps. 145:1).
Two high priests are contrasted in the Scriptures—one belonging to the order of Levi and the other to the order of Melchizedek (Heb. 5:10). The former was sinful, falsifying reality, while the latter is sinless and reveals the truth. For example, the former proclaimed, “it is better that one man should die for the people” (John 11:50), whereas the latter explains love as laying down one’s life for one’s friends (John 15:13). Yet, paradoxically, the high priest from the order of Levi—who paid tithes to Melchizedek through Abraham (Heb. 7:6–10)—condemned to death the high priest of the order of Melchizedek.
“What is truth?” (John 18:38) asks Pilate, even as he stood in the presence of the Truth (John 14:6). Pilate, not being a disciple of Christ, could not know that Jesus is the Truth. Moreover, although he had the authority to release or crucify Jesus (John 19:10), he was not a free man; he was enslaved by his sinful character and the political machine of the Roman Empire. Yet, unwittingly, he contributed to the evangelization of the empire by proclaiming—in Aramaic, Greek, and Latin—“Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” (John 19:19–20), enabling people from diverse walks of life to come to Jesus, worship Him, and begin a new life (Matt. 2:2; 11–12).
“Behold the man!” (John 19:5) echoes from the cross. The first man was created on the sixth day (Gen. 1:26), but the second man was disfigured on that same day (John 19:14): “his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind” (Is. 52:14). Then we hear, “Behold, the Lamb of God” (John 1:36). Jesus died on the cross at the time when the paschal lambs were sacrificed in the temple (John 18:28; 19:14). Just as Adam fell into a deep sleep and a woman was formed from his rib (Gen. 2:21–22), Jesus fell into the sleep of death, and from His pierced side the bride of the Lamb was ‘born’ (John 19:34). Again, we are called to “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). The blood and water flowing from Christ’s side become the fountain that cleanses us from sin (Zech. 13:1). Jesus accomplished (John 19:30) the work that the Father gave Him to do (John 17:4) and, as a result, “became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (Heb. 5:9).
“And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day” (Gen. 1:31). Joseph and Nicodemus buried the body of Jesus, and the Mother of our Lord was taken home by His beloved disciple. Yet we know that this was not the end. “The gardener” is about to surprise us all (John 20:15). Let us wait for the eighth day—the day of the Lord.