Apr 13, 2011

Good Friday

I have often wondered why we call it good Friday. Seems to me that on it's face it was horrible Friday. Only the good and powerful God could turn a torturous cross into something that people would ever come to refer to as "good." If God can turn a cross into the place of redemption, then He can use our pain and turn it into something profoundly good. If we let Him.

Reflecting on the events of Good Friday, I thought about Peter's failures and denials. In Luke it says that after his third denial of Jesus, Jesus from a distance looked right at Peter. Then, Peter wept bitterly.


I wonder what was in that stare. . .
the eyes of Christ,
a heart laid bare,
shown now to be so fragile there,
before, a heart so bold.

I wonder if he remembered those eyes,
long after he was gone,
pain aching through his soul and breath,
his lord and friend, accused to death.
Could there be healing from that time -
a wound which turned a man sublime.

Did he see those eyes when he lay to sleep,
or looked out on those hills?
And could he accept the power of that cross,
forgiving all his ills?

Did ever the pain of that look -
find a warmer stead, in some other time of peace?
Or did it beckon the failures of a broken heart,
contained, with no release?

His final question, overriding,
all failure now hereto,
“Do you love me Peter, though you fail?”
. . . . “My Lord, My God, I do.