The View from the Empty Tomb

One week ago today, we celebrated Good Friday - the day when we remember the crucifixion of Jesus Christ just over 2,000 years ago. Christians all over the world stopped to reflect and celebrate communion which symbolizes Christ’s body broken for the world.

I find it difficult to imagine what really happened to Jesus during the last few days of His life. Not only was He betrayed by one of his closest followers, but He was put on trial as a criminal even though He never did anything wrong. He was mocked, beaten, stripped of His clothes, crowned with thorns, spat on, made to carry a cross, nailed to that cross, and pierced in His side. He died a painful and distressing death.

So why on earth do call this Friday “good”?

I think it needs to be said that what happened to Jesus wasn’t good. God incarnate came to show us the way into God’s kingdom. Jesus became human so that we would be able to witness God among us. Everything He did, He did out of love. He healed, forgave, taught, and freed. Through His life, Jesus showed the way out of religion and into relationship with God. Despite all of this, Jesus was still betrayed, arrested, and crucified.

What happened to Jesus was a direct result of humanity’s action. By dying as a person without sin, Jesus carried the sin of the world on Himself. It was utter agony for Him. Before his arrest, Jesus prayed to His Father, hoping for a way out. On the cross, Jesus called out to God again, asking why God had forsaken Him. 

What happened to Jesus wasn’t good. Not even the disciples, who had been told by Jesus that this was a necessary sacrifice to redeem humanity, would have rejoiced and celebrated Jesus’ death in the moment. They were devastated and defeated.

The disciples thought that Jesus would bring about the Kingdom of God. But it didn’t come the way they thought it would, with military might and vengeful violence. Instead, it came through peace and forgiveness. God has always been more powerful than death; this reality was on full display on the first Easter morning. The women who were closest to Jesus went to His tomb to prepare His body for a proper burial, but instead found that it was empty. 

Jesus didn’t stay dead, and because of His resurrection, we have the hope of our own resurrection. We have hope that our final enemy, death, has been defeated. God is making all things new, and one day we will be able to experience the Kingdom of God in its fullness. 

“It’s only from the view of the empty tomb that we can even begin to call Good Friday “good”.”

So why do we call it Good Friday? We do so because the story didn’t end with Jesus’s death. Even though Friday happened, Sunday came! It’s only from the view of the empty tomb that we can even begin to call Good Friday “good”. Easter Sunday doesn’t change the fact that Friday was dark and full of sorrow. But it was the path through which Jesus was willing to walk in order to bring us back to God. We stand on the side of the empty tomb, and as we look back at Jesus’s sacrifice we can call it good because we know that in the end, God wins.

If it were up to us, we would rarely choose suffering and pain in this life. Whenever we go through darkness, we find it difficult to call it good. But we face it all the time, and somehow God has a way of working through evil to bring about goodness. In Romans 8:28, Paul shared his hope that we would “know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

It’s only when we get through the darkness and enter into the light that we can look back and see how God was able to work in difficult situations to bring about good. God usually works in ways we can’t even imagine. It’s not that God makes the bad things happen in life. Sometimes they just happen because our world is broken or because we make poor choices. But God never leaves us alone in our suffering or pain and instead walks with us in the valley of the shadow of death.

Although we don’t always know what God is doing in our lives and in our world, we do notice when we’re going through dark times. Sometimes it happens to us individually, and other times we are forced through pain and loss as a collective. We all know what this feels like, and I hope we’ve also recognized how God has worked through those times when we come out of them.

During this time of self-isolation and social-distancing, there’s a lot that we’re grieving as a collective people. Not only is our economy suffering as many people are suddenly without work, but life has been halted in almost every area. There’s a lot of fear, worry, disappointment, and even panic in the air, and that’s without mentioning the mourning for those we’ve lost due to COVID-19.

We’re going through unprecedented darkness as a society and it’s hitting people differently. Many of us are okay because we have secure housing and food. But many others are running out of resources and are not sure how the next few months will go. And so, I don’t think we would ever call what is happening right now “good”.

But people all over are already starting to notice how some good is coming out of this time. We believe that God can use this experience to teach us something and that when we come out the other side, we will be changed for the better. We hope that people will be drawn closer to what’s important in life and that our world would come to know God.

God is able to transform hard and hurting situations into something that is life-giving. But just like the disciples on Good Friday, we aren’t able to see it yet. But as we walk together day by day, we are confident that our Sunday is coming. One day we will be able to look back and see the good that God has done and see that He has walked with us the whole way through.