An act of self-emptying and loving service
Good Friday
Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Psalm 30(31):2, 6, 12-13, 15-17, 25; Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-9; John 18:1-19:42
How can we begin to grasp what happened for us in Jesus' death and resurrection? The Gospel of John offers a range of “lenses” through which can approach the mystery. These are: love, service (the washing of the feet), liberation (the Passover), healing (the lifting up of the Son of Man) and the new creation (it is finished). Each merits prolonged consideration, not possible here. According to this evangelist, we are saved from evil, death and sin, by
Love
Service
Liberation
Healing
New creation
This saving event is enacted in each one of us through the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The healing or therapeutic metaphor, found in John 3:13-16, is an echo of Moses and the bronze serpent. The image of "lifting up” (John 8:28; 12, 32, 34) combines the physical lifting up on the cross and the spiritual lifting up into resurrection, a single event for this Gospel writer. The lifting up reminds the careful bible reader also of the fourth Suffering Servant Son from Isaiah 40-55:
“Look, my servant will succeed!
He will be elevated, lifted high, and greatly exalted” (Isaiah 52:13)
The “lifting up” of the “servant of the Lord” is an act of loving service — already prefigured in the washing of the feet (unique to John). At the same time, this is the enactment of the love of Jesus, for we read just before the washing of the feet, “having loved those who were his own in the world, he loved them to the finish.” In this way, Jesus is our Passover lamb, the one who sets us free.
In a quite astonishing synthesis, this Gospel puts before us deep yet simple message: the creator God has healed humanity of death by sending his Son in an act of self-emptying and loving service, setting us free from the power of death and sin. God's loving therapy is a new creation, enacted in us by the Holy Spirit.
John's Gospel knows nothing of Jesus' death as payment or punishment. Instead, the cross discloses the very heart of God, loving us, healing us and, it is not too much to say, serving us. This arresting teaching must always take our breath away.
A meditation written by Kieran J. O'Mahony OSA of the Irish Province of Augustinians, Co-ordinator of Biblical Studies for the Archdiocese of Dublin
Fr Kieran's website: www.tarsus.ie
Lastest Book: Hearers of the Word. Exploring & Praying the Readings. Let to Pentecost, Year A. To get a copy postfree: www.messenger.ie
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Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone. Col 4:6