Good Friday

Matthew 27 & 28
Mark 15 & 16
Luke 23 & 24
John 19 & 20

The accounts of Jesus' death and resurrection are a powerful read this morning, on Good Friday. Reading them together gives an incredible 360 view of the scene.

Reading the Bible through the lens God has given me, I'm usually drawn to the women in the narrative. None of these accounts of Christ's death and resurrection disappoint. The women are there. They follow him to the hill of crucifixion, they stay with him as he dies, care for him and watch over him in death and first witness the empty tomb and his resurrection. Jesus addressed them on numerous occasions, to comfort them, to care for them and finally to send them as the first messengers of the gospel.

It is incredible but not surprising to see Jesus in his final hours reaffirming the presence and integrality of women. Throughout his life Jesus never missed an opportunity to include women and to elevate them to the status of human, bucking social norms of the times. 

It's possibly difficult sometimes to understand just how amazing this was, living as we do in a western society which on a superficial level at least, appears to be relatively egalitarian. 

If we were to translate Jesus actions to today he would have been tearing away that superficiality and exposing the misogyny which still runs deep. For example, the discomfort we feel at the latest report on the Police force, uncovering an institution with misogyny and racism at its core, the disbelief that a system we hold up as protective, isn't ultimately 'good'? THAT is the same plaster Jesus was ripping off at the time. It was exposing and confronting and demanded action. 

Good Friday is good news for everyone, Jesus' actions on that day placed the marginalised on the same front row seat as everyone else. Equal opportunity not only in the spectacle of salvation, but in the church.

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