DAY 7 - LENT / GOOD FRIDAY / TRIAL

GOSPEL > John 18:1 - 19:42

This is the Passion of the Gospel of John, traditionally read on Good Friday.

Please refer to Gospel of John, starting Chapter 18, verse 1, finishing Chapter 19, verse 42.


DAY 7 > MEDITATION  Don’t we often rely upon an attorneys, accountants, assistants to advise us:

 
• Tell us what to say in pressure
• Screen our calls
• Anticipate questions

In school, we rely on tutors and professors … or the students in upper grades or more advanced years. Maybe there is some junior or senior out there who can tell us what to expect or give us their notes from last year.

Some teachers are kind enough to give us a copy of last year’s test – or old exams – so that we are ready. In this way, we are articulate and victorious in the answers we write.

In the readings of Good Friday, Isaiah the prophet – and Moses the prophet – both recognize that their ultimate adviser , their help, their advocate, is the Lord –

Isaiah writes:  “The Lord GOD has given me a well-trained tongue” (Isaiah 50:4).

At the trial, he gives us an example of what to do when our trial also involves making a sacrifice. Jesus gives an example of generosity rather than excuses.

We might expect that Jesus would have more to say at his trial, with his well-trained tongue. In other instances (e.g., “let the one who is without sin cast the first stone”,John 8:7), Jesus has put his opponents in their place with witty one-liners.

In the Passion, in Jerusalem at trial, in the Temple, Jesus remains silent. In the courtroom before Pilate, Jesus is silent for 2 important reasons. This silence reminds us of what is happening in this particular legal and spiritual action.

FIRST –ACCEPTANCE OF GOD’S WILL . We often say that silence equals acceptance. And, in the Passion, this means that Jesus accepts the guilty verdict. After all, the one who is silent is the one must be guilty? 

If one is innocent, one would defend himself. This is what people think, right?

If I were innocent, I would defend myself.

Jesus remains silent, telling us that he accepts the guilt of our sins upon himself. He is taking our sins upon himself, quietly, nailing them to the cross, and pleading guilty on our behalf. In silence Jesus accepts our guilt. 

This guilt is Good News.

SECONDLY –SILENCE IS FOCUS. Silence is also a means of concentration and attentiveness.

The Lord remains quiet even now, concentrating on you and me, urging us to stay awake with him, to examine our lives and to see that he loves us…not only by telling us .. but also by showing us by his actions which speak louder than words.

Our own silence on Good Friday enables us to focus, to pray about God’s will – in our own joys and sorrows, so that we also make speak and respond to the tests we face – in or out of the classroom.

 

DAY 7 > REFLECTIONS & QUESTIONS

Catholic Catechism, n. 609  By embracing in his human heart the Father's love for men, Jesus "loved them to the end", for "greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." In suffering and death his humanity became the free and perfect instrument of his divine love which desires the salvation of men. Indeed, out of love for his Father and for men, whom the Father wants to save, Jesus freely accepted his Passion and death: "No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord." Hence the sovereign freedom of God's Son as he went out to his death. 

DAY 7 – QUESTION 1 – In my own need to sacrifice for others, am I doing so freely, generously, cheerfully? In what ways do I need God’s help to lay down my life?

DAY 7 – QUESTION 2 – Who is/are the person(s) who need my love up to the end?