The day of the crucifixion
There it was, the day it was to end for Jesus. At least that's what the Romans and Pharisees thought. After all that Jesus had already endured, he began his last walk. Now, laden with the cross to which he would be nailed, he had to walk the path to Calvary. Flayed, tormented, his flesh torn to shreds by the scourging, yet to go the rest of the way. This Good Friday is a day of quiet reflection, a reminder of the suffering Jesus had to endure. A day when we get quiet because there really isn't anything to say. A day to remember our own guilt. A look into your own abyss. Jesus bore the guilt and sins of the whole world and, through his death on the cross, stepped into the gap for every single person. He endured it all without complaining, but there was a moment in this tragedy when he spoke up. "My God, why did you leave me". In my opinion, the burden of the sins and guilt of all people separated Jesus from God the Father. And we experience that even if we are honest. When we go our own way, when we turn away from the good path, when we follow our inclinations and desires, when we ignore God's directives, then we can feel separated from God. Then we feel the darkness reaching out and trying to engulf us. That's why it's important that we stop, not just on Good Friday, and look into our own abyss. To recognize whether we are still on the right path or whether we have deviated from it. Jesus died to give us the opportunity to be reconciled with God.
Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (Gen 5:29; Ps 38:5; Jer 31:25; Mt 22:4; Jn 6:37)
And if we're honest, we have to admit that each of us carries our own burden. A burden that sometimes weighs so heavily that we feel we can no longer bear it. We can always bring this burden to God in prayer, hand it over to him. I know, of course, that it won't disappear into thin air, but it will be lighter.
And if you still carry your burden alone, come and accept Jesus Christ, who died for the guilt and sins of all, as your Savior and Redeemer and experience your burden lightened.
Say a simple prayer asking God to come into your life.
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