Good Friday 2008: What are we to do with our hands?

Psalm 22
Isaiah 53:1-12
John 18:1-19:42


This is the first Good Friday I can recall when I didn’t have to go to work even though I have always felt as though Christians might do well to refrain from working on this day if possible. And while I know that this day is specific to Christianity and is not always appreciated as it should be even by many Christians, it still must be that we take a moment to relive or even recreate what took place on this day some 2000 years ago if only in our minds and prayers. Unfortunately, for too many it is nothing more than a much-needed day off from work appreciated not for its historical or theological significance but merely for what it can mean to us for the moment: to sleep an extra hour, to catch up on chores, or just to go and do whatever strikes our fancy.

Now that I find myself with time on my hands this day, I don’t know what to do with my hands – or the time. I have tried to imagine what it must have been like for the disciples so long ago while they were there and watching everything that was taking place. Imagine the utter confusion, the grief, the turmoil that must have overwhelmed them. More than once they had either confessed Jesus to be Messiah themselves or had witnessed those who made such a proclamation after having been touched by Jesus in an awesome and even inspiring way. For our way of thinking, it should have been easier for them to believe since they had seen all this with their own eyes and heard all this with their own ears. After all, seeing is believing.

To the disciples of the day, it must surely have been a frightening time. They had aligned themselves with Jesus who very publicly challenged the religious authorities and the unreasonable demands they made on the people. Jesus was ultimately accused of, and executed for, blasphemy – and the disciples had been a part of this new movement. For them, then, it must surely have only been a matter of time before the authorities came looking for them. It is little wonder that many of them fled or, when confronted, denied ever having known Jesus. But in the midst of the confusion that must have been on that fateful day, even the disciples must have been facing the same challenge many of us may feel today: what to do with our hands since we are in a state of utter helplessness.

Another thought also occurred to me as I wondered exactly what it is that we should have been doing this day: I am not grief stricken – and I would venture to guess that many Christians, perhaps too many – are also not grief stricken. Because we are so far removed by time from what happened so long ago, it is virtually impossible to internalize what took place; we cannot seem to make that period of mourning and grief our own. And I think that until we are able to do this, to feel as though we are a very real part of the life of the Christ, to finally begin to understand exactly what we can and should do with our hands, we will be unable to embrace and appreciate the Easter message for what it really means to us as disciples of Christ, as true friends of Jesus.