GOOD FRIDAY
“Hey! Man on the Cross! Why are you still hanging there?
Don’t you want to be taken down?” Two thousand years…..That’s a long time to be hanging there…..Your arms must be weary, your legs must be stiff, and your heart – your heart must be broken.
“Hey! Man on the Cross, don’t you know what’s been happening in our world?” In the very land where the Garden of Eden was and where Abraham came from, over a hundred thousand people have been killed and maimed, even a lot of children. Boy, do we need you to walk our streets again and to teach us how to live.
Everything you did was so long ago. People dressed, acted, and spoke differently then. This is the technology age, the information age. It’s all about organization and globalization. In this computer and smart phone age, there are a lot of people who think you are not in the mainstream anymore.
Hey! Man on the Cross, I’m so sick of all that’s been going on. I’m really depressed. I feel so drained. My so-called friends – they don’t really pay attention to me. My family – they’re so busy with their own lives. No one has time for me anymore. All that anybody thinks about is themselves…..and about their money, their food, their clothes, their homes, their cars.
So many people take drink after drink, pill after pill. I see shattered hearts, lying lips, angry tongues. What is the matter with people? Why don’t they pause for a moment and take a look up at you and ask you….”Why are you still hanging up there?”
Hey! Man on the Cross, I just realized how naked you are. Here take my coat. It’s all right. I’ve learned how to survive. You mentioned how thirsty you are. Here. Take this drink. Those thorns on your head – they must really hurt. Let me take them from you. It’s O.K. My hands are calloused from all of the tough jobs I’ve had to do in my life.
I wish there was more that I could do for you. Your disciples and your friends are beside themselves with grief. As soon as I leave here, I will go over and try to comfort them.
But before I run, Man on the Cross, there is something I must tell you. You have been hanging up there for a long, long time, and I want to thank you for being my Savior. If it weren’t for your hanging on up there, I would never have been able to hang on down here.
I’ve finally come to realize….It isn’t the nails that are holding you to the Tree….It’s the great love you have for me.
Medard Laz
