Friday 2 April 2010

Good Friday

Good Friday is the day of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on the cross; the day He left His body. It is a historical event. Jesus bled heavily, wearing a crown of thorns, and was nailed to the cross. People spat in His face, condemning Him.

i may not be a Christian..but then...i believe that all religions are one and there is no harm in realizing the divinity in each religion..To my dear Frens..be it Christian or non Christians....please ponder this...


The cross represents several aspects of life. It represents a combination of pain and pleasure, a crossroads, the question: To be or not to be? The cross represents the burden, the heaviness, and the pain of suffering that all of us have in life.



As humans, we have our problems; we have our difficulties. We all suffer. Just as Jesus never complained, but carried the cross to the Hill of Calvary on His shoulder, so should we be able to carry the cross of life. We should be able to shoulder the duality, the ups and downs, the sighs and smiles, the tears of joy and pain alike. We too have to carry this cross of life.



It should be noted that Jesus was not put on the cross for any blunder or mistake He committed. In those days, the tradition was to crucify a person for a crime or sin. And yet Jesus, who was spotless, perfectly ideal, and totally Divine, was crucified. It was a demonstration of how to maintain equanimity. It is open proof of how to maintain balance in life, to accept negative situations, and how to bear pain.



Society may spit on you. Society may condemn you. You may feel pain, over-burdened because of the heaviness of the weight of the cross, and yet you continue to strive. You continue to struggle; you continue to march. You continue ahead, onward, never backward.



Particularly on the spiritual path, we struggle. It is no bed of roses. It is not a comfortable life; it is a challenging life. In material life, you are sure of profit and loss—you may sustain a loss today, but you will receive a profit tomorrow. Success is based on your intelligence, and your ability in management, maneuvering, manipulation, politics and conspiracy. But in spiritual life, these abilities get us nowhere. Indeed, spiritual life is the genuine challenge.



Think of the times when you are totally frustrated, despondent, and depressed, and everybody condemns you. Nobody walks with you, not even a family member stands by you, and you have no hope. God doesn't come stand in front of you and say, “Come on, I will help you.” No chance! He just lets you cry. Spiritual life is a challenge. You have to continue on and on, come what may, in spite of all slander, rumours, condemnation, mud-slinging, and character assassination. Inevitably, these things happen, but we march on.


Jesus looked to the Father, not to the people around Him. He didn't look to those who were attacking Him, the people who were condemning Him, who crucified Him. He looked up, and prayed to the Heavenly Father. That's what we must do today.



Instead, in times of difficulty, we say, “God, what are You doing? Are You on vacation? What are You thinking? What's wrong with You? Why don't You look at me? Don't You feel for me? Don't You see my suffering? Are You not sensitive?” These are the questions that come to our minds when we are suffering. None of us think, “Oh God, this is Your decision. Oh God, this is the design of Your will. This is Your plan. I accept all that happens. Thy will be done.”


Jesus on the cross represents the spirit of surrender, reminding us that man has to look up to God in spite of difficulties, whatever they may be, in spite of any and all physical, emotional, and mental suffering.


Not only did Jesus not condemn those who were responsible for His situation, but He forgave them. He prayed, “Oh God, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Jesus on the cross represents forgiveness.

If anyone says something against us, we wait for an opportunity to pay him back plentifully, with compounded interest! We cannot bear any criticism, so we try to see that he is cut down to size. We want everybody to accept what we ourselves feel, what we do, what we say, but we don't care what the other man thinks. But Jesus forgave.



We don't want to forgive; we want to be forgiven?? If anyone acts or speaks against us, we are not prepared to forgive him—but we want God to forgive us! ”


Judge not, lest thou shalt be judged. Forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Forgiveness from my side is the first step in expecting God to forgive me. Understanding from my side is more important. It is a preliminary requisite I must complete before I expect God to respond to my situation.



To sum up: in one story, Good Friday gives us all the important lessons that Christianity has to offer. The story of Jesus on the cross teaches us about love, sacrifice, human suffering, surrender, acceptance of God's will, and forgiveness.

LOve is God..GOd is LOve...

2 comments:

Javis said...

i like this...=)

Xu Vin said...

hey wen, its a good strong message of Good Friday u've put up. its great u dived in n c the meaning of this day.

i read thru the msg, but found i disagree to this statement. maybe thr's a misinterpretation or sth.

"God doesn't come stand in front of you and say, “Come on, I will help you.” No chance! He just lets you cry."

hm. spiritual life isnt about walking thru a tough burdensome life whr u emulate Jesus in walking strong even tho u're shunned by society. its a path of empowerment actually. its a path of fulfilling God's vision n mission in your life, while having faith in Him and receiving His salvation (Jesus taking our burdens to the cross so we can be relieved of our burdens) as well as receiving grace (God's blessing). God is thr when u're up and when u're down. He's ever loving and is always thr stretching out His hand to us when we're in need. :)

happy good friday wen!

 

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