Monday April 11 will be the second of the Lenten Table Talk discussions on three days in Holy Week. Much like our sisters and brothers of the Reformation, these conversations will take place around tables with food and drink. Discussions will be held at 6:30 pm at Ristorante Giuseppe, 4800 Line Avenue in Shreveport. The discussions will be led by Pen Peery. This week the discussion will focus on Good Friday passage from the Gospel of John, which is excerpted below (full passage at Good Friday John 18-19) and the convergence with Earth Day.
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. They kept coming up to him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ and striking him on the face. (John 19: 1-3)Good Friday and Earth Day: A Providential Convergence A Theological Op-Ed for Lent William P. Brown and Stanley P. SaundersSo they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. (John 19: 16b-18)
After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), ‘I am thirsty.’ A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, ‘It is finished.’ Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (John 19: 28-30)
They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. (John 19: 40-42)
By a rare coincidence Earth Day falls on Good Friday this year, the first time ever. (The next time is in 2095.) “Good Friday” is the day Christians commemorate Christ’s crucifixion. Earth Day calls attention to the continuing crucifixion of our planet. While some may consider this chronological convergence a rude distraction from the Holy Week of Christ’s Passion, we believe the coincidence is providential. Both Good Friday and Earth Day draw our attention to suffering, death, and the hope of redemption.
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With Earth Day converging on Good Friday this year, a lesson is to be learned. It begins with the dawning awareness of a connection that has long been forgotten, namely, the indissoluble bond between Christ and creation. Christ, the Word made flesh, dwelt in a world made of flesh. Christians call this the incarnation: when God saw fit to become a part of creation. Faith in the incarnation takes seriously God’s creation.
While it is tempting on Good Friday to look away from the cross toward Easter’s empty tomb, we must remember that Christ’s resurrected body still bears the scars of his crucifixion (John 20:27). Our planet, too, bears lasting scars. During this time of Lent, may we reflect on the magnitude of our sin against God and God’s creation. As we tremble at the foot of the cross on Good Friday, may we tremble also at the cross the earth now bears on account of our greed, consumptive habits, and toxic policies. May we hear the groans of our bruised and battered world echoed in the cries of Jesus on the cross.
To tremble at the cross and repent is what makes this day “good.”
The full reflection can be read at GoodFriday,GoodEarthDay
William P. Brown and Stanley P. Saunders are founding members of Earth Covenant Ministry (www.earthcovenantministry.org) and teach at Columbia Theological Seminary.
