And it was a Good Friday

"Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven..."

Through the suffering, humiliation, torture, and death of Jesus, we have been reconciled to God. This is my hope that even though I don't see Him yet, I know I'm ready to. I know that at any moment, I will see Him and not be destroyed. Not even the Patriarchs had that kind of confidence.

That's because they lived on the other side of Good Friday.

Yesterday after church I sat down to read the paper. I opened up to page 2 and saw that a prominent minister in our denomination called for the Good Friday public holiday here in Australia to be replaced with a National Reconciliation Day in honour of the Australian Aboriginal communities. Reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous Australia is a crucial goal politically, ethically, and spiritually for the health of the nation. It's importance was brought to the forefront by the Prime Minister in February on the now famous "Sorry Day."

But is reconciliation possible without Good Friday?

Can the noble goal of this minister, Mr. Rudd, and countless others be realized without the cross? It might seem odd that one act of brutal vigilantism a couple of millenia ago has something to do with similar injustice today. But if I understand the passage above, only the horrific beauty of the cross has the power to reconcile the murderers--all of us--to our Creator. And then in turn, those who are now free to see God are also free to embrace their neighbours for no other reason than that they resemble Him.

Yes, Good Friday is reconciliation day. But not because we said so.