Remember Good Friday - We dream of things that never were and say: "Why not?"

 

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Good Friday, the historical day  of the memory of  the fructification and death of Jesus Christ.

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The day which coincides with the Jewish Passover commemoration, – but not being the same!  Not being the same as it goes back so long in Jewish history and tradition for various reasons.

However,  the Jewish Passover reminds us of the Jewish liberation more than 3000 years ago by God from the suppression in ancient Egypt. The Jews at that stage ruled by the Pharaohs. It became the birth of a nation under the leadership of Moses. A nation with a promise and a destiny as long it did meet God’s will amidsts all adoptions to be made.

Since Jacob’s travels and settlement in ancient Egypt things were far from perfect and the Jews often did displease God’s intentions and requirements, hence some of the slavery brought on them as the implications of bad behavior.

But God had always compassion for his people if self inflicted suffering took too long. Often with the “power of one” He tried to guide them back into the right direction, as He does not give up. As He does not give up on what He created and the promise He made.

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In some ways the exodus for all of us is still going on as still through centuries we seek liberation from slavery and dark powers. The dark powers not always around us but the dark powers within us.

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That’s the story of Jesus.  Again the “power of One”.

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Doorposts marked with blood of a slaughtered spring lamb in those early days in ancient Egypt, – gave way to the spirit of God to leave the first born in these homes alive, – whilst punishing the households of the oppressors in Egypt. If required the spirit of God to use force to protect His people or to give them an escape under nasty predicaments. And finally after 10 plagues Pharaoh would release his Israelite slaves after the death of all the Egyptian first-born.

As we know, through history Israel crossed different pathways and despite warnings from various prophets the direction of this ever embattled country has not always been the right one.

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The timing of certain Christian and Jewish celebrations might be different for some. The journey of Christian faith through centuries gone past took on some issues however different directions, but for our Father in Heaven alone the timing of our celebrations is not that important. More important is what we carry in our hearts out of those yearly celebrations as a yearly reminder of what once happened so many years ago. This applies to both Jesus birth, his death and resurrection.

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Let’s hope that more people embrace Good Friday and Easter for what it really means and that the yearly reminders and celebrations may deepen the faith for those being receptive. That’s the purpose of reminding the crucifixion of Jesus and why it was due to happen.

As we know amidst the Roman oppression Jesus was born,  however with a different mission to seek liberation from the kind of slavery neither being related with the Romans nor being related with any other nation on earth. The liberation was closely related with the pending Kingdom of God for which people in those days needed to prepare. But the message by far most of people was differently perceived. They did neither understand the signs of their times nor did they really understood the message so long being proclaimed in Jewish history, as God’s people had a purpose and were not allowed to compromise the basics, as they did.

 

Jesus did not come “out of the blue”, he came by means of God’s intervention again as things in those days were in a dire shape. Not of God’s liking, however with some foresight that it would happen. God knew the nature of His people and it has been an ongoing pain for Him. One may wonder why He did create us as it seems to be  a most frustrating business. Also the way His son was treated here on earth….Jesus became despised by both the rulers and the Jews. Rejected for what he had to say and still tries to say on behalf of God.

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The colors of the  language being used by Jesus did somehow not stick, – as for many  people applied that he was painting on a wet wall, – people not being receptive for his message. People with different expectations, anticipating perhaps liberation from the Roman Empire but for certain not a return to the ways God expected people to live by simply listening and returning His call.

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Was it so difficult?

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History proved it was the hardest thing for people to stick to God’s most basic instructions.

In the long history of the Jews many prophets have been sent to change the hearts of people. Not all of them did survive.

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For most people it was on deaf ears and blind hearts,  as often still applies with the last person being sent to earth, – this time as the human manifestation of God’s will.

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Jesus grew up and tried to picture the Kingdom of God in the hearts of people, hoping that his followers would find his footprints providing direction where it comes to in life, – to be reunited with God in ways as originally intended. Also to bear fruits of this spirit to change humanity, as so often it proved that human nature failed time after time by making the wrong choices and taking the wrong directions against God’s will.

His message was not only for the Jews in his days, his message was intended for the world and he claimed to represent God’s will. With this he embarrassed the status quo of his times and infuriated the leaders of the Jewish tradition, besides creating fear among the Roman establishment as it was not sure how this new movement of people would grow as a force. However, in those days it was not seen by most that this force had nothing else to do than creating a new culture of the heart directed to God, – as generation after generation failed to do this and people were enslaved not only by the Romans but more by their own bad habits driven away from what God wanted to see in His people. God created people with a free choice as a birthright, a gift, –  but this birth right was abused for both the wrong reasons and the wrong directions with an outcome which we could label as being enslaved by the soul.

 

Not the slavery of bad powers like Egypt in the olden days, but the imprisonment of people in their own inflicted perceptions and cultural traditions at the wrong footing of God’s will. Compassionate as God is he did sent his own son to treat people with the same compassion, to save people from otherwise  being lost. Lost souls doing what they want to do with neither the right direction nor purpose. Lost as well when further plaques are due to come as Christ knew that history would be an ongoing struggle with increasing divisions.

Still it seems humanity needs to go through even far larger and self-inflicted plaques than those in Egypt to open eyes and to deliver us from evil and darkness, – however through senseless pain and agony. Jesus was rejected and despised and His crucification and dying, in essence for all of us, – gave hope as well for those who believed him and continued to belief in him by free choice.

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Good Friday as such is not grief for things long gone, but hope for things still to come. Liberation from collective slavery and guilt. Freedom from the bleeding manifestations of human choices with worse to come, – the last  because expansion of knowledge did not go together with both respect for God and human life in the way God intended people to return to His will through Jesus. Christ was God’s most important gift to people to reconcile their human nature with God’s purpose and direction. The last in line what human creation was intended to be by God giving people a free choice to do the right thing. God has never been a dictator, but the aim of free choice is to challenge people to get the best out of their human nature and leave behind the obstacles for a meaningful life with purpose and direction.  Life which is fruitful with the combination of love and compassion, work and endurance, – all in the spirit of the most simple and provided principles of putting His will first amidst refraining from violence and improving the lot of others.

Basic this is what Jesus did and He created through the centuries great following of various denominations, also with different aims and not rarely with short-sighted views.

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It almost seems as if human nature is deeply and hopeless divided in itself, against the will of God.

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Jesus message was not the antidote for the deep-rooted venom in far too many cultures, – like once at smaller scale with the poison of both Roman oppressors and people representing the Jewish traditions in his days. True respect for both God and human life are almost forgotten identities at nearly global scale, – where more sinister forces seem to get stronger. Conditions where the heat is on for those who still want to do God’s will.

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Jesus being rejected and often still rejected. However hope not forgotten but still to come. Not senseless grief but grief with sense through his dying and his promise that he left His spirit for those willing to meet this spirit, – to save those who belief in him from the agony of times, even if this agony eg implies atomic warfare as one of the plaques in modern times. But those who are marked with the soul and spirit of Jesus, despite all imperfections, – will live. Even  if life takes an end….

In this way doorposts marked with blood of a slaughtered spring lamb within the Jewish tradition, have close similarities with Jesus blood during his crucification.  Not being forgotten, – but marked in the hearts and souls of people who seek Him still alive. Who seek him for what he has to tell us today, with the knowledge that we live in a time of transition, – still with purpose and direction.

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And so it happened:

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Coming before the crowd for the last time, Pilate declared Jesus innocent and washed his hands in water to show he had no part in what was going to happen. Preventing as such a riot and making sure he kept his job…  Jesus was carried to Golgotha, the place of the execution on the cross along with two criminals. The pain and agony lasted for 6 hours. During the last 3 hours darkness fell over the area and with a loud cry he gave up his human spirit. At almost the same time there was an earthquake, certain graves broke open and the Temple curtain was completely torn. The guards who saw what happened declared that “this was truly God’s Son!”

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Pilate asked for confirmation whether Jesus was dead and a soldier pierced the side of Jesus with a lance causing blood and fluid to flow out and Pilate got the message that Jesus was dead.

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The body of Jesus was wrapped in linen after he was taken from the cross by Joseph of Arimathea.  He was placed afterwards in a newly carved tomb in a rock.

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On the 3rd day after his death on Sunday (Pascha), – Jesus rose from the dead, as he told the Pharisees this would happen.

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With this His existence took a new identity and those who search Him will find him, – like those who found him before.

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At some stage He will come back as part of the Kingdom of God, which we may carry already in some form as a lifeline amidst all imperfections but with an obligation though to stay true to His words and give meaning in the way we perceive those words, using our talents as little seeds to grow in wisdom and compassion for the pending harvest. There is not much more we can do.

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The harvest up the mountain where pain will not last, where tears will be wiped away. The mountain where suffering will end and where our human destiny gets ready for the eternal transition. A transition where words do not speak the words they did, where fruitless actions don’t have the impact which they had before.  The harvest of those who kept God’s will at heart regardless the circumstances. The harvest of those who kept Jesus alive in their own faith and actions, regardless the circumstances with those who were against it. That is where the real exodus starts, the transition of people trying to do God’s will into the Kingdom of God, after the last plaques on earth. But God’s people will be protected with the marks of Jesus in their heart like the Jews were protected in the days their doorposts were marked with the blood of a slaughtered spring lamb, allowing God’s hand to make the distinction between those who were with him and those who were against him. It is this transition where every valley shall be exalted and where the poor get bread. A transition where it will be somehow always Easter and where we may always rejoice being God’s harvest, – in Jesus presence.

That’s the promise, even if we don’t see it.

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And therefore as long as we are allowed to stay on this earth let us remember Good Friday, – and let’s  keep Good Friday at heart as a mark on our own soul to be protected in whatever we have to endure ourselves, – to stay strong and have courage and determination with the promise that we will live.

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Thank you!

 Paul 

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Paul Alexander Wolf

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Bach – Komm oh Tod du Schlafes Bruder:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSzSNdK18zs

http://paulalexanderwolf.com/2013/01/06/we-dream-of-things-that-never-were-and-say-why-not/

 

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