Good Friday: Jesus Amidst the Crucified

The Black theologian James Cone calls Jesus “the first lynchee,” foreshadowing all the lynched Black bodies on American soil. Ignacio Ellacuria, a Salvadoran theologian, calls the oppression of the poor in Latin America a form of crucifixion. These are just two of many theologians who challenge us to consider the connections between the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross and the sufferings and deaths of Black, brown, indigenous, and poor peoples across the world today.

Today, our journey with Jesus to the cross reaches its end. We watch as Jesus is arrested, tried, tortured, and then finally, executed on a Roman cross. We raise our voices in remembering and mourning the suffering and death of Jesus, our teacher and friend. But I do not think it is possible for us to truly mourn the suffering and death of Jesus on Good Friday without also mourning the suffering and death of crucified peoples today. As Cone says, “Until we can see the cross and the lynching tree together … there can be no genuine understanding of Christian identity in America, and no deliverance from the brutal legacy of slavery and white supremacy.”

Our service today is grounded on this premise. As we sing, read, and pray together, I invite you to consider what it means to mourn Christ’s suffering and death in a world of constant crucifixions. Consider how we are complicit in these crucifixions, both through our action and our inaction. And consider what it really means to follow Jesus to the cross, knowing that the cross is as present today as it was all those years ago.

This post was Pastor Nii Addo’s opening reflection at our Good Friday service this year. Want more?

• Listen to “Rose Petals” by Common Hymnal.
• Check out this visual reflection on Good Friday from Diana Butler Bass.