Another Look at Good Friday

Growing up in the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church, I always had alot of trouble with this day.

The translations of the Bible that I was familiar with, Revised Standard and King James, quoted Jesus on the cross saying "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46)

But how could this be? If you were with me last Sunday, you remember we talked about the prosperity promises that Jesus made about his disciples, about you, and about me. In fact, in Matthew 7, Jesus said, "or who is the man among you, who when his son asks him for bread, will hand him a stone? Or if he should ask him for fish, will he hand him a snake? If therefore you who err, know how to give good gifts to your sons (and daughters), how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him?"

How can I look upon God as a loving, giving, nurturing presence when He left my older brother Jesus alone to die on the cross?

When we take another look, we see the truth. In the Lamsa translation of the New Testament, taken from the original Aramaic text (the language Jesus spoke), Matthew 27:46 states, "Eli, Eli, lemana shabakthani! My God, my God, for this I was spared (or this was my destiny)!" This was a joyful pronouncement.

Why does it matter? It matters because our perception of God will be our experience of God. If we accept the teachings of our brother, Jesus, God the Father (Spirit, the Universe, our Higher Power) is a loving, nurturing presence that always responds as we believe.

If we stay stuck in that old inaccurate translation, God stays a judgmental, wrathful being out there somewhere that sends us tests and trials just for fun.
My dear friend and teacher, Edwene Gaines, reminds us that "our life means what we say it means." Just about all of us have gone through experiences that we labeled as a betrayal. Someone else betrayed us, or we might have betrayed ourselves. But is it possible that experience was absolutely necessary on our path?

Remember the part that Judas played in the crucifixion and resurrection? Even though he is probably the most hated person in Christianity, he was absolutely necessary for the story.

So often our judgment surrounding a betrayal, resulting in anger, regret and resentment, can block our good from us. Join me Easter Sunday at 10 a.m. for my message entitled "Rolling The Stone Away."