Good Friday

We might alternatively call it "Ultimate Revelation Day"
On Good Friday, the revelation of who God is, a revelation that provides the hermeneutic for all previous revelations, and all revelations to come, is made manifest on the cross.

Jesus voluntarily gives himself up to public crucifixion. In so doing he demonstrates the illegitimacy of all the authorities that placed him there. He provides a model for all his followers for private and public ethics. We are not to rebel against the authorities, but to demonstrate that they run by force and without legitimacy by subverting that authority.

Jesus, in a way, shows that the emperor has no clothes by allowing himself, the rightful King, to be stripped naked. He shows that rule by force will ultimately fail by taking on the full force that government and religion could impose.

We could also call today, "Our True Example Day." That is, we are called to take up the cross and follow Jesus. Not simply in the small day-to-day annoyances. But by also subverting the social norms that divide people, by subverting the force of government that sustains privilege, by practicing solidarity with those who have been oppressed and with those who are considered outcasts. We can do this by standing in the place of the blamed. We can do this by sharing of our wealth. We can do this by abdicating of our privileges.

The message of today should not be comfort to those who follow Jesus in our small sufferings. Instead it should be courage, to walk boldly into the suffering for the sake of others.