Good Friday

In preparation for Easter this year, I have been observing a limited fast for what is called Lent. I did this because I wanted to give my heart more time to let the meaning of Easter sink in. I celebrate Christmas for at least a month, so why not Easter? In fact, many church traditions observe the Lenten season followed by the Easter season, right up to Ascension day.

When Jesus met the women on the way from His empty tomb, He said, “Rejoice!” (Matt 28:9) And celebrate we should, because Easter commemorates the resurrection of Jesus, the backbone of Christian faith.

According to Crosswalk.com, “Lent is a time to open the doors of our hearts a little wider and understand our Lord a little deeper, so that when Good Friday and eventually Easter comes, it is not just another day at church but an opportunity to receive the overflowing of graces God has to offer.”

So I fasted . . . just Facebook, but still.

As part of my Good Friday devotional time, I read all four gospel accounts of the arrest and crucifixion of Jesus. While many story elements are common to all four, some are to be found exclusively in the synoptics, others in only one gospel account, and I wanted the full impact of the events. Within that context, I began wondering about some of the more obscure participants in the story, those about whom not much is written.

[Side Bar]

The gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke are referred to as the Synoptic Gospels
because they include many of the same stories, often in similar sequence and
wording. John’s gospel content is comparatively distinct.

[End Side Bar]

Barabbas. All four gospels mention him as about to be crucified that day. He is described as a robber, a murderer and an insurrectionist. As I see it, he was the first person for whom Jesus died. But of the three I have selected, he was the most peripheral to the events with which he is associated . . . the least important. Yet, a book and two movies have been made in an attempt to describe his life after his near crucifixion.

It would be difficult for Barabbas to live in the Jerusalem area and not know about Jesus. He had twice made a ruckus in the temple turning over the tables of the money changers. He challenged the Jewish religious leaders a lot, especially when He healed people on the Sabbath. Then there was that triumphal entry into Jerusalem on a donkey’s foal. Most believed the Messiah would bring about political upheaval and ejection of the Romans. As an insurrectionist, I think Barabbas must have been thinking, “Hoo ha! Free at last!”

In the end, he was freed. But did he go to Golgotha, the place of a skull, and witness the crucifixion? Was he disappointed? Or grateful? How did his life change after that? I like to think he was changed by the act of an innocent Man willing to die in his place. Where did Barabbas go from there? Did he die at the siege of Masada?

Simon of Cyrene. This man was on his way in from the country, possibly for the Passover celebration. Cyrene was an ancient Greek city in northeastern Libya. He may have been African. But because there was a large Jewish community in Cyrene, he could’ve been a Hebrew. In any event, the synoptic gospels tell us he was given the task of carrying the cross for Jesus.

While John’s gospel doesn’t mention Simon, church tradition mentions Jesus stumbling under the weight of the cross which he bore upon shoulders ripped apart by the Roman scourging. It is likely that Jesus couldn’t hold up under the weight and Simon was enlisted.

[Side Bar]

Dr. Andreas Lambrianides, at Scionforzion.com, gives detailed information
regarding Roman crucifixion. He mentions that Jesus probably carried only
the crossbar (patibulum) which weighed about 125 lbs. as compared to the
weight of the whole cross: 300 lbs.

[End Side Bar]

Did Simon know Jesus? Some suspect that he was a follower and that was the reason he was chosen. Because he was described as being the father of Alexander and Rufus, Bible scholars believe he was known by the disciples, and that he and his boys were part of the early church. (Rom 16:13) Even if Simon wasn’t a follower at the time, he probably got to know a lot about Jesus on the way to Golgotha. Did he stay for the execution or leave as soon as he could? If the two criminals were already hanging on their crosses, it would be a bloody disgusting spectacle. Who would blame Simon for making a fast exit? But if he was a follower, what a privilege to carry the Messiah’s cross!

The cross – the symbol of shame that came to represent Jesus’ sacrificial death to save all of us.

Joseph of Arimathea. All four gospels tell us of Joseph. He’s described as a rich man, an honorable counsellor, a good and just man and a secret disciple of Jesus, brave enough to go boldly (Mark 15:43) to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus. Luke says, “He took it (the body) down, wrapped it in linen and laid it” in a new tomb hewn out of the rock. Matthew adds the fact that it was Joseph’s own tomb. John’s gospel mentions that Nicodemus, the pharisee that came to Jesus by night to find out if He was the Messiah, assisted Joseph in wrapping His body in “strips of linen with spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury.” (John 19:40)

He was brave enough to declare himself willing to be associated with Jesus after His death, taking time to prepare His body according to custom, and giving up his own rock-hewn tomb. The Jewish and Roman leaders might well have arrested him. That's certainly why everyone else, including Peter, had gone into hiding. I imagine Joseph weeping over the mutilated body of the Rabbi he had come to know and love. Perhaps at that point, he thought all hope was lost, as did the apostles. All depictions of the beating and crucifixion of Jesus show a lot of blood. Joseph would’ve gotten it all over him, but with shaking hands, he and Nicodemus would’ve carefully, lovingly washed the body clean, applied spices and aloes, and wrapped it in linen.

All three men were undoubtedly in the Jerusalem area when on the first day of the week, Mary the mother of James, Mary Magdalen, Joanna, Salome, Peter and John discovered and inspected the empty tomb, and the stupefied Roman soldiers, at a loss for an explanation, in danger of being executed. I can envision a parade of people checking out the vacant tomb with its two-ton stone rolled away from the opening.

What about these three men? Were Barabbas, Simon and Joseph among the curious?

If knowing Jesus before His crucifixion didn’t change them, I feel certain that the meaning of the empty tomb should have. Maybe the three of them met in that garden so close to the bloody execution ground of Golgotha, the place of a skull. Did they speak? Maybe not. But the empty tomb speaks to us today.

Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here. He is risen!