HOLY THURSDAY/GOOD FRIDAY

“And the evening and the morning were the first day.”   The “calendar” given in the Bible marks the beginning of the new 24-hour day period at evening (or dusk) (or sundown) (or when the first three stars of the night are discernible). And the day ends after daylight  as the sun goes down again.

Easy to remember. Your Jewish friends go to Temple on “Friday night” for Sabbath services, which as we know, Sabbath is “Saturday.”

But all this is important because it underscores the fact that the ACT of the Last Supper and the ACT of the crucifixion were all performed in one 24-hour period; that is, they are the proceedings of one day.

That which was broken at the table at the beginning of the day is the Same Body which was broken as the day ended.

THE LAST SUPPER:

Jesus gathered with his disciples for his last meal. Was it a “seder” meal?    I don’t know. The Passover meal had changed over the centuries, and even of what we know of it that might have happened around Jesus’ time, the Bible does not record any of the Passover meal elements during that Last Supper.

But it was a solemn meal, just before the Passover, and it was given lasting importance because there Jesus blessed the bread and wine and made it – in essence – His body. He indicated that this is the way He would dine (or commune) intimately with us until He returns.

Some small details have changed since then, but not the meaning, the substance, the Essence.

That is why the brave French fireman Fr. Fournier was so keen to remove the Blessed Sacrament from the burning Notre Dame, at peril of his own life. “Rivers of fire cascading down the walls,” he said. “It was like a vision of Hell.”

One day.     Bread broken.  Body broken.    One significant Act of God.
GETHSEMANE

A word that means “winepress.” 

It’s where we take the grapes and crush them with heavy weights, so that their “blood,” their juice,  runs down – and can be used by mankind.

That winepress was located in the Garden near the Mount of Olives. It’s where Jesus went to pray in  the night before His crucifixion.     Alone, ahead, apart from his disciples.

What else went into the Garden with Jesus?

Ever do anything wrong? Ever sin? Ever say an unkind, thoughtless word? Ever pass up a chance to help someone? Ever go a whole day without praying and praising your Creator? Ever say bad things about the Church? …. et cetera  … et cetera …

All those things are in there, with Jesus… crushing Him under the weight . . . .
VERDICT

“Every which way from Sunday,” as our American saying goes. Jesus was tried and scrutinized and accused and found guilty and condemned to death by religious people, by local government, and by the global empire.

Who killed Jesus?     Everyone.
GOLGOTHA
Calvary is Golgotha, when you use the local term: “place of the skull.” (Whose skull? According to local tradition of hundreds of generations, Adam’s skull.    Right there somewhere under the Cross of Christ —

Under Mt. Calvary 

And that place kind of looked like a skull from a certain angle.)    “Adam” – the word for mankind, the word for humans, the word for our beginnings.

 

And there on the Cross at Calvary, Jesus, cursed by all (by God’s command: “Cursed is anyone who hangs on a Tree.” ) Jesus was cursed for Sins and died.

He died — to the shock and sorrow and grief of all who knew Him.

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(Tomorrow/Holy Saturday:    the grieving aloneness, groping for answers . . .)

Explore posts in the same categories: Christ the King, Christian Analysis, Current Events, Holy Days, Liturgical Year

Tags: Calvary, Golgotha, Good Friday, Last Passover

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