For Good Friday and Holy Saturday
The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him. They blindfolded him and demanded, “Prophesy! Who hit you?” And they said many other insulting things to him. (Luke 22:63-65) I am not a prisoner in my home these days of quarantine. I am free to be with my family; to read; to connect with students, friends, and former parishioners (albeit mostly by video). I am free even if my options may be limited economically and commercially. But it’s (Good) Friday, oddly named. Tonight and tomorrow we remember that Jesus Christ lost his freedom and became a prisoner - a prisoner of religious leaders; a prisoner of the State; a prisoner of death. It becomes Good only because we know how it ends. But if we hold this day, this night, and all of tomorrow in Christ and with Christ, we remember the prisoners, the captives, and the ones who remain in bondage. For the many captives, it may simply be Friday. The Friday captives are on my mind tonight as I watch Shaws