GOOD FRIDAY
March 21, 2008
Somebody should say something
It’s about time somebody said something
people are afraid to say anything
and then look what happens
innocent people suffer
I can’t change that now
but I think someone ought to say something about him
Not everybody hated him
you’d think it, if you were there that day
you’d think the whole world was against him
I hate to say it, but it was easy to think
that even God was against him
God didn’t do anything
we prayed, we pleaded, but God was silent
Even he prayed
I heard him
he was praying from the psalms,
“Eli, eli, laba sabach thani?”
My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?
It was awful… there was nothing we could do
I don’t know what happened
But I’ll tell you, he didn’t deserve it
not at all
I mean, even if you didn’t agree with everything he said
or everything he did
I mean, c’mon, he didn’t deserve
to be tortured and killed
Some were thinking he was the Messiah
I don’t know about all that
but I do know that he was a breath of fresh air
he gave us hope
and that’s no small thing
He just came into a room
and his presence filled it
he didn’t have to do anything
you just suddenly felt the air change, somehow
you could breathe a little better
knowing he was closeby
people just wanted to be near him
kind of soak up his goodness
his peace
He had a way of looking at you
you know, I mean, really looking at you
Most people don’t look at you in the eye
as if you’ll see something in them
they don’t want you to see
but it was ok with him
he never took his eyes off you
when you were with him
and it did feel like he could see right through you
into your heart, into your soul
but it was ok
it wasn’t scary
he made you feel …. safe
He’d always smile a bit
not too flashy
just a smile kind of teasing the corners of his mouth
as if he knew something
but it didn’t feel like he was laughing at you
not at all
but it was like he saw something wonderful
something beautiful
and he was just appreciating it
it could be a little unnerving
He preached, but he didn’t preach like he knew it all
He wasn’t full of himself
like, hey, look at me, I’ve got all the answers
buy my book, and you will find happiness
He just … spoke
and he said so many wonderful things
some of it was like, yeah, everybody should know that
but they don’t
You know, like, Love each other
or do to others what you have them do to you
I mean, it makes sense
Or that an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth
doesn’t solve anything
it just makes things worse
People weren’t so kind when he contradicted Moses
but it made sense
He spent a lot of time alone
I mean, he had a lot of friends
everybody wanted to hang out with him
but he’d go off by himself for hours at a time
some people said he was praying
whatever he was doing
it seemed to calm him, center him
he was the calmest person
I ever saw …
well, except if you got him mad
but he didn’t seem to get mad so much
at people that hurt HIM
as he did at people who hurt somebody else
especially anyone who couldn’t stick up for themselves
Man, you mess with children,
that really ticked him off
But really, he also stood up for prostitutes and drunks
as if he understood that they were being controlled by something
much bigger than them
Anyone, really, who was on the outside
who didn’t FIT
they were the ones he tended to gravitate toward
He didn’t like the politicians
He wouldn’t let anyone use him
and he ducked out whenever anyone wanted to
make a king out of him
He didn’t like people who had everything
and didn’t give any of it away
or people who seemed to live for money
and power
In fact, you could count on the fact
that if anyone of any importance
invited him over for dinner to look good
he usually said something to embarrass them
He didn’t think twice about questioning their priorities
He just wasn’t the kind of guy
to keep the peace at all costs
Jesus-- that’s his name--
he didn’t pull any punches
what you saw was what you got
there wasn’t a pretentious bone in his body
He wasn’t the kind of guy that would
swallow his anger
and be nice just to keep the peace
Man, he got into the faces of the religious guys
with all the fancy robes and the big salaries
and he told them what he thought
that they were FAKE
that they were using the church
for their own gain, their own power
that they were neglecting the widows and the children
and anyone who didn’t have a voice
He called them whitened sepulcheres
and broods of vipers
I mean, man, no one else would have had the nerve!
Even if they did believe it…
He was invited to dinner at important people’s houses
and he just was himself
he didn’t wear anything fancier
he didn’t act any different
whether he was with a street beggar
talking to a prostitute
or hanging out with the big Guys of the temple
You just got the feeling he wasn’t all that impressed with them
their money, their education
and their influence
Which I gotta say, really ticked them off
because those guys rely on all that
to make them get what they want
they didn’t know what to do with Jesus
he really threw them off
You got the feeling he was really smart,
probably smarter than all those Phd guys
and yet he never threw that in your face
He’d come up with the wisest things
just in normal conversation
they seemed so simple
and yet, whoa, he got you thinking
You went home and you were still thinking
about what he said, the story he told
and it was like you kept learning more
the more you thought about it
Weird
Then a lot of things started happening
that no one could explain
I mean, he didn’t make a big deal out of it
but everyone else did
Like that little girl, the daughter of Roman soldier
who died, I mean, she was dead!
but after Jesus went in there
she came walking out with her parents
He said she was just asleep
but we all knew she was dead
I mean, we’re not dumb
but what can you say?
It’s kind of scary
people started thinking he was from the devil
messing with life and death like that
but I think they were scared
because they didn’t understand it
they couldn’t explain it
All kinds of crazy rumors started
it didn’t help when he stayed away
when Lazarus was so sick
I mean, everybody knew
He wasn’t one to play favorites
but you could tell,
Lazarus and his sisters were like family to him
We all knew he loved them in a special way
But we couldn’t figure it out
when He didn’t come
knowing that Lazarus was dying
I mean, it seemed pretty cold
but then--- and I don’t know how to talk about this --
but we were there
when he came back for the funeral
Lazarus was in the tomb
he’d been buried for 4 days
so he must have really stunk, you know
but Jesus insisted they open the grave
we couldn’t believe it
we thought maybe the grief and the guilt
had messed up his head
but they did it
some people would do anything that he said
no matter how far-fetched
Anyway, Jesus came to the tomb
and he had a good cry
it was pretty awkward
no one had ever seen him cry before
and we were a little embarrassed by his tears
but I guess we understood
And dear God, it still gives me chills
to think about it
Jesus called him, by name
as if he was just calling him down for supper
LAZARUS! he said,
COME FORTH!
We thought he was nuts
then we thought WE were nuts
when we saw Lazarus,
I mean, really, I know it’s crazy
but Lazarus walked out when Jesus called
Scared the bejeebies out of all of us !
We didn’t know if it was a ghost
or what
But Jesus smiled, his face still wet with tears
“Unbind my friend,” he said to those standing by
“let him go….”
I can’t explain it
it still gives me the creeps
but Lazarus is back home with his sisters
now HE is the one grieving his friend
and wishes that he had the power to open that tomb
and call his friend back into his arms
he doesn’t understand why he gets to live
while Jesus had to die
Jesus was a great man
He loved everybody
He knew how to have a good time
He loved to laugh
he loved to dance
he loved to be around children
and the children just ADORED him
they’d climb all over him
and he’d just laugh
it seemed to do something for his spirit
I mean, sometimes he’d go off somewhere
inside of himself
a shadow seemed to cross his face
and he looked so sad
but when the children were there,
man, he was so full of joy
soaking up their adoration of him
and their absolute trust in him
It seemed to feed his spirit
It was beautiful to see
cause most people don’t give children the time of day
they’re just pests, you know
they’re always in the way, always underfoot
and they’re incredibly unpredictable
they’re liable to say anything
and they say what they think, what they feel
but Jesus seemed to love that about them
and he’d take them into his arms
no matter how dirty or snotty they happened to be
I don’t know why he had to die
one who was so full of life
one who was so kind
one who stuck up for the defenseless
one who spoke out for those who couldn’t speak out
for themselves
I don’t know why
Everyone with any brains knew he was innocent
he did nothing to deserve death
certainly not execution
as if he were nothing but a beast with no feeling
But nobody did anything
the crowds got out of control
good people turned into monsters
it was crazy
I mean, decent people, people that I’ve known for years
suddenly became barbarians
it was like something evil came over them
and they called for his blood
not just his death
but they wanted him to suffer
they wanted to watch him suffer
as if everything that hurt them
everything that made them mad
everything that was unfair
all that was taken out on him
It was madness
It felt like there was evil in the air
that you could breathe it
I couldn’t talk to people
that I was used to seeing every day
because they were different
they wanted SOMEONE, anyone,
to pay for all the injustices of the world
to pay for all their pain
to pay for all the things that haunted them at night
it was like everything horrible and broken
and evil inside of them
came out and they hurled it all at him
someone had to pay, someone always has to pay
for someone else’s evil
and it’s usually the most innocent
the most loving
the most pure souls
that have managed to survive this far
People who cringe when one of the neighborhood cats
attack and kill an innocent bird
don’t even flinch when they watch
those soldiers do unspeakable things
to those guys on the crosses
How have we become so numb to evil?
Why do we keep our mouths shut?
Why do we try not to notice
for the sake of keeping the peace?
Whose peace are we keeping?
I don’t get it at all
But Jesus did
he knew our hearts
he seemed to understand
what people are like, what they’re capable of
and yet, still,
he kept going, pushing just a little bit more
until they shut him up
made an example out of him
I don’t know,
but I have a feeling that this isn’t the end
that shutting him up won’t solve it
killing him, even with such cruelty
will not stop what he started
people loved him that much
But even facing our own capacity for evil
in the face of this innocent man
will not stop the evil from going on
I’m so afraid that we’ll keep killing
keep slaughtering the innocent
that we’ll turn away when the vulnerable are suffering
and pretend we don’t see
pretend we had nothing to do with it
until someone comes after us, of course
then we’ll care
I hope he didn’t die in vain
I hope the people who remember him
will try to carry on what he started
even if it kills them
even it gets them into trouble
even if keeps them out of public office
or in lousy jobs
I hope we can find it in us
that spark, that piece of us
that is like God,
like Jesus said
That the kingdom of God is within us
I hope we can find that inside of ourselves
and make it grow
I don’t know what happens next
it’d be easy to give in to despair
I don’t know what happens after we die
if anything
or if we’re just dead
Jesus talked about going on ahead
to prepare a place for us
but no one knows what that means
How can he do that if he’s dead?
Did he think that God would save him at the last minute?
Did he expect God to not forsake him?
Was he wrong about God?
Oh God, I hope he wasn’t wrong
I don’t know what he meant about feasting with us again
at the heavenly banquet
or coming back to us,
not leaving us orphaned
None of it makes sense right now
but I’m hoping that someday it will
right now, it feels hopeless
It feels like the other side has won
that we’ll just keep on suffering
we’ll just keep on seeing the politicians
rule the world
and use God to promote their own agenda
and keep the undesirables out of sight
I don’t know what to think
I just know that I loved him
I loved him so much it aches--
take that however you want --
I don’t even know what it means
but I loved him
and I don’t know what we’re going to do without him
how we’ll hope again
how we’ll recover
how we’ll go on
but I think he wanted us to
I think he wanted to keep on doing what he was doing
I don’t know how many of us
have what it takes
none of us want to die
none of us want to get in trouble
none of us want to stir anything up
we all want everyone to like us
but things just can’t go on like this
he wanted to make a difference
he wanted to change the world
and I think he wanted us to keep trying
I will
I will pray to God
even though I don’t know if he still cares
or even God has given up on all of us
I will still pray
I will remember Jesus
and I will press on
I’m not sure how we’ll keep going
but maybe we’ll find strength in each other
and in our love for Jesus
Maybe somehow we’ll find that piece of God
in ourselves
and make Jesus proud
wherever he is
whether we ever get to see him again or not
he gave us reason to keep breathing
and so we will
and trust that God will not forsake us too
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