Good Friday — What’s so Good about it?
Back in school, in one of the mid-90s summer, just before the 3 day weekend April break, I wished one of my Catholic Friends — “Good Friday”. “Mate, you don’t wish on Good Friday, you just observe it”, he replied in a restrained voice. I was intrigued. Till then I always thought it was a festival of Jesus Christ to be celebrated after 40 days of fasting period called Lent.
Years later, I realized Jesus Christ was crucified on this day. Woah, crucified! They pinned nails into his hand and legs and hung him over a tree to die. This event is commemorated as Good Friday. But what’s so ‘Good’ about it? There is immense religious significance to the event (leading to Easter Sunday), but in this article, let’s approach it non-theologically.
What really happened
Jesus spent his entire life preaching a message of universal love and brotherhood. He urged everyone to shun violence, hatred, jealousy and discover the ‘Kingdom of God’ within themselves. He asked us to love our neighbour as ourselves. But he was crucified for such a universal message.
During his lifetime, in his sermons, Jesus had hinted more than once about the nature of his imminent death. But what makes it even more intriguing is the way it eventually unfolded. One of his closest friends (cum disciple) betrayed him and handed him to the executioners. Even as another one refused to acknowledge him altogether not willing to get into any controversy. The executioners put a crown of thorn on the head of Jesus and flogged him out of his skins before taking him to the gallows. They stripped him naked, pierced spears in his flesh, slapped and mocked him badly, and finally hammered thick nails through his limbs onto a cross. And guess what Jesus said at this moment. He prayed ‘Father, forgive them for they know not what they do’. WOW! Audacious Stuff! One would have probably excused or even expected a highly revered MAN like Jesus to complain and curse those who put him through such humiliation and torture for no reason at all. But NO! Jesus was no ordinary man. He seeks forgiveness for his torturers. He undoubtedly went through unbearable pain at the moment of his death. We know for a fact that Jesus was a sensitive MAN. But he did not even allow the excruciating pain to become suffering. He was a conscious MAN in an ‘Unconscious’ world. And that to me is the most overwhelming takeaway of ‘Good Friday’
The Only Way Out is In
In the world of personalities, Jesus was a rarity. He showed us there is a way to live far higher and better than being entangled in our thoughts and emotions. For sure, Jesus was an emotional and sensitive person, but He never let his emotion subdue Him. He was completely accepting of every moment in his life as if He had chosen it. There was no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ moment for him. No inner mental resistance to the present moment!
The Apostle Paul had this to say concerning Christ’s condescension to mortality:
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Who, being in the form of God….
made himself of no reputation…
he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross (Philippians 2:5–8)
The verb used by Paul in this passage, which reads, “He made himself of no reputation,” is a translation of the Greek word derived from ‘the infinitive kenosis’, meaning “to make empty.” Pause for a moment and reflect! The world encourages us ‘to make a name for ourselves, ‘to achieve something that very few can’, ‘ to make it big’ — but the Divine urges us to ‘make ourselves empty.’ Nothing is bigger than ‘true Emptiness’
As we observe this Good Friday, let’s turn our focus to the most important direction — Inwards. As Paul says, ‘let this mind be in us’ — not the ‘personal’ mind conditioned by our past, but a universal mind, which is unconditioned free-spirited, and open to all possibilities. There is no past and future with this ‘mind which was also in Christ Jesus’. It is timeless. Eternal. This simply put is the highest nature a MAN can achieve. In an almost deafening world of compulsive thoughts, arising from our attachment to our personalities, likes & dislikes- it’s only ‘true emptiness’ that can pave the way for ‘eternal happiness’ — everything else, no matter how magnificent at present, is a ticking time-bomb waiting to be blown away. The only way out is in!
Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional
Jesus taught us Love. He taught us universal brotherhood. But above all, he taught us the power of surrender, which is ‘active dynamic acceptance and awareness of every moment without labelling them as good or bad’. We can never control what life throws at us, but we always have a choice what do we do with it. If we resist to what the present moment has to offer, we create suffering for ourselves. But, if we accept it totally, a completely different and heightened dimension opens up, from where we can respond as we please. We can take charge of our destiny. As a living embodiment of the principle ‘Pain is inevitable, but Suffering is optional’, Jesus showed us there is an eternal spring of joy way beyond the struggles of the mind, and he invites us all to partake of it. The only question is ‘How many of us will accept this divine invitation?’
Love and Laughter
Mrinal Choudhury
