The lectionary readings for Good Friday remind us that the early Christian writers, as well as Christians throughout history, grappled with and interpreted the death of Jesus in a myriad of ways. Why did Jesus, the community’s teacher and leader, die? What was Jesus’ role in and reaction to his death? How do we interpret the community’s existence in light of Jesus’ death? The New Testament writers took different approaches to answer these questions.

These authors often turned to the Hebrew Scripture for answers. The gospels of Matthew and Mark interpreted the death of Jesus with the help of Psalm 22. In both gospels, Jesus’ last words come from this psalm: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1; Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34). By saying this, the dying Jesus shows weakness and a feeling of abandonment by God.

	When have you or the community been weak and felt abandoned by God? How did you restore hope in those situations? How has the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered community expressed our own sense of weakness, abandonment and hope?

Psalm 22, however, also goes on to affirm that God remains near and continually sustains God’s servant(s). At the moment of anguish and the question of “Why me?” (verses 1-21a), the psalmist turns to a colorful verse of praise and thanksgiving in front of the congregation. At the center of this reversal is the recognition and proclamation that even in the time of despair, God remains present and faithful. For people on the social margins such as people of color, women, lower social classes and yes — the LGBT community the psalm articulates a real experience of distress, anguish, hope, thanks and victory. We are affirmed in our own quest for justice and life that while disappointment and pain is real, so is hope and deliverance.

	What are creative ways in which your community can affirm both feelings of despair and hope as authentic and Christian?

Isaiah’s “suffering servant” continues the motif of understanding victory in death, particularly Jesus’ death. The suffering servant in Isaiah 52:13-53:12 passively endures harm by God and humans. The servant is like a sacrificial lamb (53:7) and an “offering for sin” (Isaiah 53:10) who bears the sins of humanity and allows for forgiveness. The Bible passion narratives in the books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke that emphasize the suffering of the Messiah draw from this portrait of the suffering servant.

The author of the book of Hebrews, likewise, sees Jesus as a sacrifice for forgiveness. Hebrews 10:16-25 draws from cultic tradition to interpret Jesus’ death. Jesus is both a sacrifice (verse 18-20) and the great priest in the temple (Hebrews 10:21; 4:14). The author of Hebrews agrees with Matthew and Mark that “Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission” (Hebrews 5:7). This author sees Jesus as submissive and pained in a sacrificial death, yet not abandoned by God. Interestingly, God’s presence is the hope — we dare say, the guarantee – that victory is yet at hand.

Yet, the gospel of John’s passion narrative completely alters the picture of the pained, suffering Jesus on the cross. In John 18:1-19:42, Jesus is in control of everything that happens to him. When Judas and the soldiers approach Jesus in the garden, Jesus knows what will happen and is the first to speak and question his adversaries (verse 4). After Jesus’ self-identification of “I am,” the soldiers, Pharisees, and chief priests fall to the ground (verse 6). Instead of crying out to God to “take this cup from me” (Mark 14:36; Luke 22:42; Matthew 26:42), Jesus says to Peter, “Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?” (18:11). Jesus owns his final moments. Jesus replies to Pilate’s questions and proclaims that he has always spoken openly, just as he speaks openly and boldly to Pilate. Jesus carries his cross “by himself” (19:12). Finally, Jesus’ last words and actions from the cross indicate his control over his situation: “He said, ‘It is finished.’ Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John 19:30). John does not show a defeated, suffering, or submissive Jesus, but instead shows Jesus, the one sent by God who is not abandoned by God.

	In what ways have you and your community publicly owned and acted out your call to love and fight for justice?

The different versions of Jesus’ response to his death in our lectionary readings should not be something we avoid. Rather, it should be a welcome break from claim that only one way exists to face our struggles in life and death situations.

As a community seeking to eradicate the injustices of poverty, war, chronic illnesses, oppression, prejudice, homophobia, racism, classicism, sexism among others we understand there exists unlimited options for how we face those challenges and they can feel at times overwhelming. The scripture passages remind us that whether in despair or assurance, we must face these struggles. We must stand for what is just, right and life-giving. Why? – because our confidence does not lie in ourselves. We are confident in the God who is the “I Am,” the one is always present. We are confident in a just God who will bring life to fulfillment even in the wake of death.