When I am lifted up

“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

As I am writing this, it is Good Friday eve. It’s a quiet time, and a time of reflection. Tomorrow will be a heavy day filled with a sadness and presentiment as morning drifts into afternoon and the dark time begins. We remember the pain, suffering and anguish of Jesus. We think of Mary his mother and his close friends and followers, left behind and bereft. How could the events of Good Friday have possibly culminated in an eventual triumph? But they did, and we have all been blessed because of it.

The blood of the Lamb was shed for us, and the road to Calvary was a journey that was required of him in order to bring us to salvation. They raised up his body on the cross, and on that cross were nailed all our sins. He took on our pain and bore it with courage and trust in his loving Father. We can never repay him, but we can love him. We acknowledge on Good Friday the undeniable fact that we have been cleansed by his life giving blood and in this way our path is forever upwards, forever towards the Kingdom that he promised.

Jesus last words were, “It is finished.” At that point when he gave up his spirit, his earthly mission was complete, but the mission of his disciples was only beginning. And it is our turn, each and every one of us, as followers of our Lord, to keep the mission alive so that his Kingdom may come, and that his will be done on earth as it is in heaven.