As a young teenager my Catechism class was asked to be the choir for three hours at our church’s all day Good Friday vigil. I think that the horror of what unfolded on that Good Friday was a shock to us all. We, who had been brought up on happy tales about Christ, and songs such as ‘Jesus wants me for a sunbeam’, were all of a sudden faced with the grim – and indeed, horrifying – reality of what Jesus went through on that fateful and awful day. ‘Why?’ went up the cry in our hearts. We, who had been taught that our God was a loving God, were suddenly faced with the hideousness of what Jesus went through at his Father’s behest.

In my old age I have come to understand and accept so much about our God. God started out with so much hope for humankind and yet, almost immediately, he found Adam and Eve disobeying what he asked of them. And the saga continued, humankind sometimes listening to God and the prophets he sent and at other times completely ignoring them. Fickle human beings doing their own thing. God had given human beings free will, but I think that he must have shaken his head so many times over the millennia at the antics and cruelties of humankind. But our God is a faithful God, and he kept trying. Finally, he sent his beloved son Jesus to Earth not only to preach and teach about his loving Father but also to expiate all the sins that humankind had committed down through the ages. And God could give no stronger proof of his love for humans than to let his beloved son die for the humans here on Earth. God wanted to give the people here the opportunity to start again their relationship with him. And yet, many would question how a loving Father could allow his son – a blameless person – to be treated as a criminal and crucified in such a barbaric way.

Good Friday is a pivotal time in the relationship of God with the people here on Earth. The God who must often have been in despair at the waywardness of the people of Earth was trying to wipe the slate clean and start again with his peoples. Looking at it dispassionately, as an outsider one might have wondered what was God thinking? He had tried other stratagems in the past – Noah and the Great Flood and so on – but none of them had succeeded in leading the people of Earth to not only believe in him but also remain true to him. Oh, there had always been a small group who had followed him but the size of that group – sometimes small, at other times much larger – still never achieved the numbers that he had hoped for.

The confusion and shock that stunned Jesus’ followers before Good Friday was followed by horror and despair at Christ’s crucifixion and death. Jesus’ followers had had such joy and hope in his presence, and it now seemed that Jesus’ life and teachings had all been for naught. And, indeed, not only had Jesus been killed but the lives of all of his followers were now in danger also. The Disciples and other close followers of Jesus hid away, talking only to each other, trying to make sense of what had happened and discussing what should they do now.

Many people down through the ages and indeed today have hit similar low points in their lives where they have been in despair and can see no good way forward. Jesus’ resurrection and reappearance gave his followers new hope and, dare I say it, a new, stronger belief in the God that Jesus had preached about. They were able to go out and tell others about Jesus and his great Father. Most of the people who heard their message never met Jesus, but the way those original followers spoke about Jesus and God resonated with others and their word spread – even down here to the 21st century. Life may not always be easy, and one may not always understand why things are happening the way they do. However, believers have come to accept that God has a plan. Humans so often can’t comprehend it but through Jesus’ teachings, life, death and especially his resurrection multitudes have come to believe in God and trust that he will be with them always no matter what befalls them. It is God’s and Jesus’ great gift to us. Hold fast to that thought – God loves us and is with us always. Hallelujah!