Apologetics 101 – Good Friday

2Apr/101

Apologetics 101 – Good Friday

Because of the significance of this most Holy day - and because Dan must still be down without a machine for to write on the topic himself - I have decided to take the liberty of writing upon the topic of Good Friday and its significance to Christians throughout the world. As most of you will already know, Dan and I are Catholics. So, this essay on the subject is necessarily argued from the Teaching of the Church of the Latin Rite.

In the days prior to the coming of Jesus, man understood the need to make reparations for his sins. To "get right with God" meant to offer amends - both internally, through prayer and repentance, and externally - in the material sense - through an offering. These offerings of reparation, both internal and external, were meant to re-orient the soul to God while expressing the willingness to offer life for sins of death. To satisfy "The Ledger" so to speak. To truly reconcile debts owed payable to God. The debts of sin and faithlessness. In this manner, all manner of sacrificial victims were offered.

But given the nature of God - who is Infinite Goodness - any sin committed against God is infinite in nature. That is to say that a crime against God, no matter how slight, is infinitely unjust. Therein lies the problem. How is man then to reconcile himself to God? He cannot do it. Not in any manner can he do it. No amount of victims - no amount of lifeblood - and no amount of confession can do it. No heroic deed can he perform to do it. Even though the marrow of his bones ache with sorrow for having offended God, he cannot undo the debt incurred by the slightest of offenses at the expense of Infinite Goodness.

You have heard that "God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son for the forgiveness of sins." Amen, amen, I tell you it is true.

That the Second Person of the Trinity (God the Son Himself) became man only to be put to death - a horrible, unspeakably brutal death on the Cross - was no mistake. Rather, it was the very point of it all. In order to restore Mankind to Him - to reconcile once and forever the Great Ledger - only an Infinite Victim could accomplish. And so infinite was/is His Goodness that His death on the Cross paid off all previous and future debts of sin. God, who is Infinite Goodness was the Singular Victim capable of restoring the equilibrium of the Cosmic Economy. There was, simply put, no other manner whereby to accomplish this reconciliation.

So, today, we commemorate the Infinite Event of the Sacrifice of the Lord on the Cross. Whereby God offers HIMSELF to HIMSELF (on behalf of each of us, in the beginning, now, and forever) that Man's sins might be forgiven. The Perfect Victim dies bloody and bruised, covered in spit and dirt, back torn to shreds, scalp ripped apart - humiliated, tired, broken in body and spirit... but determined to "die for [the eternal benefit of] a friend."

This is why we Christians commemorate this Day and are called to contemplate not only The Death of Our Lord - in all of its very human ugliness - but also embrace our guilt in the astroturfing of the Christ. Who put Him to death? Why, we did. Each and every one of us. We betray Him, accuse Him, arrest Him, flog Him, spit upon Him, and yes, we nail Him to the Cross each and every day. We are Judas, Peter, Pilate, all of us. And if we are Blessed, we are the thief who asks the Godman to be remembered. We are the Roman Guard whose spirit is quaked and recognizes that Jesus was/is "truly the Son of God."

For this purpose, for His beloved adopted sons and daughters past, present, and future, the God of Love gives Himself "for a friend."