Good Friday

Shedding Tears

Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, "Woman, here is your son." …After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), "I am thirsty." …When Jesus had received the wine, he said, "It is finished." Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 18:25-27; 28, 30

Good Friday is God's Friday. It is when we celebrate the Passover when Jesus, "the Lamb of God," was crucified and died for our sins. Like a funeral service, it was a dark day when the disciples were scattered and Jesus' mother wept. It was a day for tears. When I visited the Western Wall (a.k.a. the "Wailing Wall") in Jerusalem several years ago, I experienced the emotion of what many must have felt during the first Good Friday. I witnessed hundreds of people weeping over a piece of paper as they pressed toward the wall looking toward heaven.

I remember shedding tears over relationships and broken friendships. Even though I was taught that men don't cry, I could not overcome the powerful emotions that I felt that caused tears to well up in my eyes. The eyes are the windows to the soul and shedding tears is the soul's way of expressing the deep emotions of joy and pain. So when we cry, our souls are expressing heartfelt grief and sorrow. The shortest verse in the Bible comes to mind when I think about Good Friday and reminisce about my trip to the Western Wall: Jesus wept.

It was while Jesus was in Bethany that he joined Lazarus' sisters and friends in weeping at Lazarus' tomb. One of his best friends had died, and he was aware that he too would soon be crucified. Psychologists suggest that tears are a cathartic way of dealing with heavily charged emotional situations. I have experienced that tears often clear our minds to help us find a way to deal with the problem we are facing.

Jesus solved the problem of Lazarus' death by crying with a loud voice, "Lazarus come out!" and he came forth from the tomb in burial clothes. The tears of pain were transformed into tears of joy. This is what Good Friday means! It is the day when Jesus bore our tears of sin on the cross and through God's power transformed us. Good Friday gives us the strength to face difficult and highly charged emotional situations. Our weeping will endure through the night, but joy will come in the morning!

Quincy D. Brown

Prayer: Forbid it Lord, that I should boast, save in the death of Christ my God! All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to his blood. – from "When I Survey TheWondrous Cross," text by Lowell Mason, 1825