The title we give to this most solemn day when we remember Jesus’ torture and death on the cross is Good Friday. “Good” Friday is perhaps the most profound oxymoron we have ever known. Again I would like to say that those who consider Jesus merely a wisdom teacher are mistaken. Properly understood, Jesus’ death on the cross was a step forward in the evolution of the human race. Beyond teaching us how to discover our true identity as children of God, Jesus came to redeem history, to infuse it with the organizing force of God’s truth, beauty, and goodness.
People who eat nutritious food, exercise, meditate, pray, and enjoy loving relationships tend to live longer and with a greater level of vitality. This is because they are in the flow of a positive life force or grace. But countless humans over the course of history have not lived in this way. Both Jews and Christians believe that death entered human history because we closed ourselves off from God’s “lifeblood,” causing a kind of moral, psychological, and physical decay. If Jesus was going to change the course of human evolution, he had to undergo death in order to infuse this death-like state of decay with the very energy of God’s Spirit. In his resurrection, he infused both his mortal body and the evolutionary ark of history with Divine Love, the most powerful force in all of creation. In this way, he embedded within the collective consciousness of the human race the possibility of a humanity divinized in body, mind, and spirit.
The mythological stories of resurrected heroes were a prefiguration of Jesus’ resurrection. In the resurrection of Jesus, myth and actual history are married. It is interesting to note that Catholics believe the body of Jesus’ mother, which was fully divinized, suffered no corruption at all and was assumed into heaven. In the Kriya tradition, Babaji, fully divinized, is known to be immortal. And after his death, Sri Yukteswar appeared to Yogananda in a resurrected, fully divinized form.
Indeed, Jesus’ crucifixion on that terrible Friday could be said to be “good” because through it he overcame the scourge of death vis-a-vis his resurrection, and his resurrection opened up new possibilities for you, me, and the entire human family. What does Good Friday mean for us on a daily basis? Remember his words on the cross, directed to those who were crucifying him: “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Jesus’ prayer of mercy was an expression of love. Such love does not come from human emotion, but from God’s Love, the most powerful force within all of creation. Could it be that the seeds of Jesus’ resurrection were sown in his Love-infused prayer of forgiveness? The path for us is clear: whenever we choose to be an instrument of God’s love, mercy, and compassion in the world, we ourselves are immersed more deeply in the divinizing force of God’s love. This immersion sows the seeds of our own divinization, including the divinization of our bodies. Jesus’ resurrection was not just for him, but for all of us.
Divine suffering Jesus,
On this day,
You taught me that
I can sow the seeds
Of my own resurrection
Through surrender,
love, and forgiveness.
