COVID-19 and Good Friday
If ever there was an irony it is today.
Christians all across the world are remembering what is called Good Friday. The day Jesus Christ was crucified for the sins of the world. Today is typically a day we gather with family and friends and reflect, pray, honor and remember the sacrifice of God.
Alas, but we are in the throws of the worst outbreak in the last 100 years. COVID-19, Corona Virus, whatever you call it, it is devastating our world. Hundreds of thousands of people are sick from this virus, and tens of thousands are dying. But the irony is complex.
On that Friday over two thousand years ago, Jesus walked to his execution. Beaten, bloody and full of love and grace. He walked and willingly gave himself for your sins and my sins. He gave himself for the opportunity for you and for me to join him in the magnificence of heaven. His friends turned their backs, betrayed him and remained silent during the process. He died alone.
Today, with the quarantine of most of the planet, people are going into hospitals, isolated, and dying alone. Their families are kept from visiting, their loved ones are sitting at home, or watching from a window as they die. This must have been how God the father felt while his son hung on a cross. From the glory of heaven he watched, as his son struggled to breathe, as he bled, and as he prayed for relief. God allowed his son to die so you would have the chance to live in peace with him.
God didn’t allow Jesus to die out of meanness, or spite. No, God allowed it out of love. Out of love for you. He allowed his son die a horrible death, so that you would not have to suffer the same fate. God allowed his son die to protect you.
As we reflect on the crucifixion of Jesus today, whether you are in a hospital, missing a loved one who is, or weeping over the loss of a loved one. Remember that God is with you, and God is weeping with you. He is reaching out his hands of love and grace to offer you the gift he gave when his son died on that cross. Before Jesus died, he told his disciples in John 14. Do not fear, because I am leaving you a Comforter, the Holy Spirit that will be with you until I return.”
In these trying times, as we wonder about our health, finances, job security and other issues of life. We may be quarantined, but we are not alone. Jesus is with us. The Holy spirit of God is here, now.
Praise be to God the Father for his son Jesus.