Good Friday was bad long before it was good, at least from outward appearances. God was being crucified by all that can go bad in the world: pride, jealousy, distrust, wound, self-interest, sin. It’s no accident that the Gospels tell us that, as Jesus was dying, it grew dark in the middle of the day. Few images are more telling. As Jesus hung upon the Cross, light seemingly gave way to darkness, love to hatred and life to death. How can that be good?
Moreover, as he was dying Jesus no longer seemed divine, powerful and in control of things, either in terms of what was happening in the world or in what was happening inside him. The world was sinking into distrust and, if the Gospels are to be believed, Jesus, the incarnate God, seemed to be sinking into a personal doubt, one so gripping that it triggered the words: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!”
