Some people are known as not taking ‘NO’ as an answer!
By definition, they keep on trying, trying to make you agree to something even if you have refused.
This could be said of… God!
Our betrayals, our denials, our refusals to trust him – all these will never make him give up on us!
This is, somehow, a summary of what the celebration of Good Friday is about (John 18:1 – 19:42).
We see Jesus – God among us – betrayed by one of his apostles.
He is denied three times by another of them.
Apart from one, the others keep prudently away while he is being tortured.
The religious leaders of his people are his accusers and will not rest till he hangs on the cross.
The Roman governor responsible for rendering justice simply washes his hands.
A fellow convict sneers at him.
Some bystanders mock him and challenge him to free himself.
Rejection, abandon, condemnation – God has known it all… from us, human beings.
Yet… yet, he remains present when we experience all these –
present to sustain us, comfort us, assure us that…
That after what seems to be the end, there is a new beginning.
He knows it from experience!
And he offers to us this new beginning!…
Note: Another text is available on a different theme, in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/vencredi-saint-annee-a-2023/
Source: Image: piercedhearts.org
The Good Friday celebration includes, of course, the text of the Passion of Jesus (John 18:1 – 19:42).