We are All Peter: Reflections on the Readings for the Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion

If you haven’t already read the readings you can find them here.

Isaiah 52:13-53:12
Psalm 31
Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-9
John 18:1-19:42

Good Friday is unique. And while it’s a celebration, its focus on the Cross and Jesus’ death thereon, makes it more solemn, lacking the joy we should feel when the Mass is celebrated. We see this when entering the church. The altar is completely bare without altar cloths. Neither should there be a cross or candles. The priest (and deacon, if present) go silently to the altar, without music.

This memorial has three main parts: the Liturgy of the Word, the Adoration of the Cross, and Holy Communion. After Communion, the people depart in silence.

The first reading which is part of the “Suffering Servant” discourse from the prophet Isaiah points to the Cross. Jesus repeatedly told His disciples that He had to suffer at the hands of the unjust. Even after the Crucifixion they didn’t understand such that He had to chastise two of His followers on the road to Emmaus. “How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” (Luke 24:25-26)

Isaiah describes the scene: “so marred was his look beyond human semblance ... Yet it was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured, while we thought of him as stricken, as one smitten by God and afflicted. But he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins.”

He is the Good Shepherd but “We had all gone astray like sheep, each following his own way.” And so, rather than the sheep suffering, the shepherd pays our debt. “Though he was harshly treated, he submitted and opened not his mouth; like a lamb led to the slaughter.”

Recall the words of John the Baptist: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) Isaiah explains, “he gives his life as an offering for sin.” As a result we have salvation, “he shall take away the sins of many, and win pardon for their offenses.”

The responsorial, using a line from the gospel of Luke for the response, follows the same theme. Despite being humiliated, “I am an object of reproach,” the psalmist’s hope is always in the Lord. “But my trust is in you, O LORD; I say, ‘You are my God. In your hands is my destiny; rescue me.’” “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”

The Letter to the Hebrews recounts the fact that Jesus, the Son of God, is our great high priest. But He is unique. He “has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin.” Through obedience He is now a source of mercy and grace. Consequently, “He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.” We see this obedience in the verse before the gospel, “Christ became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

The gospel reading for Good Friday is always taken from John’s account of Jesus’ passion. It begins with the arrival of Judas after Jesus prayer in the garden of Gethsemane (the Agony in the Garden).

When Judas arrives with the temple guard and the crowds, Jesus’ response to their quest for Jesus the Nazorean is simply, “I AM,” which to Jewish ears is a declaration of divinity, that He is God. “When he said to them, ‘I AM,’ they turned away and fell to the ground.” They had recognized His claim immediately.

They arrest Jesus and take Him to the home of Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the High Priest. Peter and another disciple (usually identified as John) follow them. Note that John is let in, knew the name of the guard whose ear was cut off, and was able to gain entry for Peter. The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible (ICSB) notes that John may have been part of a priestly family which gave him familiarity with the high priest and his family and servants.

One of the maids asked Peter if he was with Jesus, which he denied. While Jesus was being questioned and abused Peter denied knowing Jesus twice more, at which time the cock crowed. While details of Jesus’ arrest and trials vary, Peter’s denial is told in all four gospels.

How many times do we deny Jesus in our actions and inactions? We say we follow Him and believe but cannot truthfully answer the question He asks, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I command?” (Luke 6:46) How many of us are selective in which teachings of the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, we choose to follow?

Next Jesus is bound and sent to Caiaphas who in turn takes Jesus to Pilate. In deference to the Passover, Pilate goes out to meet them and asks what crime Jesus has committed. At first they try to gloss over their intent by saying “If he were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.” When Pilate tells them to take care of it themselves, the truth comes out: “We do not have the right to execute anyone.” Their problem was that they had judged Jesus on the basis of His claim to be one with God, blasphemy in their eyes (they could not accept that Jesus actually was God), so they had to get Pilate to consider Jesus a threat to Caesar. For this reason they focused on His kingship.

Pilate asks, “Are you the King of the Jews?” In the ensuing dialog, Jesus tells him “My kingdom does not belong to this world. ... I came into the world, to testify to the truth.” To this Pilate replies, “What is truth.” He couldn’t recognize that Truth was standing right in front of him.

He did recognize that while Jesus might be a threat to the pharisees, He was not a criminal. “I find no guilt in him.” He tries to release Jesus, but the crowd had been stirred up to demand the release of the revolutionary and call for Jesus to be crucified.

Pilate had Him scourged and the solders placed a crown of thorns on Him and mocked Him, pretending to recognize and worship His royalty. Pilate, thinking this humiliation might let the Jews back off, brings Jesus back out, saying, “Behold the man.”

The Jews continue to demand Jesus be crucified, telling Pilate that He “made Himself the Son of God,” increasing Pilate’s uneasiness over the situation. The Jews continued, “If you release him, you are not a Friend of Caesar. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” They eventually wear Pilate down and “Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.”

John’s account shows many of the ties to prophecies and the scriptures and express detailed knowledge of Jewish tradition. He also provides other small details not mentioned in the other gospels. The other gospels mention the soldiers casting lots for Jesus’ garments (another prophecy fulfilled – Psalm 22). John, however, specifies that they split the garments but cast lots for the tunic, which was a seamless garment. This garment was characteristic of the garments worn by priests. Similarly, John specifies that the sponge offered to Him with vinegar was a sprig of hyssop. Hyssop was the branch specified during the original Passover used to spread the blood of the lamb on the doorposts.

John tells us that Jesus carried the cross himself while the other gospel accounts note that Simon the Cyrenian was pressed into service to help Jesus carry His cross, probably because Jesus was so weakened by the scourging. John also notes that the legs of the two criminals were broken, done when the Romans needed to hasten death, but since Jesus was already dead, they pierced His side, “one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out.” These refer to prophecies concerning the death of the Messiah: “not a bone of it [the lamb] shall be broken;” and “they will look upon him whom they have pierced.”

A series of “solemn intercessions,” each followed by a prayer, follows the gospel.

Next is the Adoration of the Cross. This is NOT idolatry, it is an act of veneration, an acknowledgement of the significance of the Cross in our salvation. Like we revere pictures of family that we might carry with us, the crosses which we honor are representative of Jesus’ sacrifice for us, the vehicle of our redemption. During the Stations of the Cross (the Via Cruces, the Way of the Cross), we say, “We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.”

After the Adoration of the Cross, Holy Communion will be distributed, followed by the dismissal.