When I was in elementary school, we would sometimes play a game called “What Time Is It, Mr. Fox?” It’s not a complicated game. One person is Mr. Fox, who stands at the far side of a gym or field, facing away from the other players. Everyone else is, well, honestly, I forget what they are, but they all ask together, “What time is it, Mr. Fox?” and Mr. Fox calls out an hour of the day (say, 3:00). The others then have to take 3 steps towards Mr. Fox. If they get past Mr. Fox, they’re safe, but if Mr. Fox yells “Midnight,” then it’s a game of tag, and if you get tagged, you’re out. The last person left becomes the next Mr. Fox.
What on earth does this have to do with Good Friday? Well, throughout John’s Gospel (we heard the Passion according to St. John today), Jesus talks about His hour. At the wedding at Cana in chapter 2, Jesus says to the Blessed Mother, “‘Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.’” With the Samaritan Woman at the well in chapter 4, Jesus says to the woman, “‘Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem….the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth.” In John chapter six, after healing a man who had been ill for 38 years, Jesus says, “‘Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God….the hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come out, those who have done good deeds to the resurrection of life…’” As the hatred of the scribes and Pharisees grow, St. John himself notes in chapter seven, “no one laid a hand upon him, because [Jesus’] hour had not yet come.” and in chapter eight, “But no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.” In chapter 12, after the entry into Jerusalem, Jesus says, “‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified’” and “‘Yet what should I say? “Father, save me from this hour”? But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour.’” And finally, in chapters 13 through 17, which covers the Last Supper, Jesus talks about His hour 3 separate times, concluding with “‘Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you.’”
Jesus’ hour has come. The hour for the Son of Man to be glorified is precisely the hour at which the Son of Man, the Lamb of God, is sacrificed for the salvation of the world. That’s what we’re celebrating here: the hour of the immolation, and yet the glorification, of Jesus. All eternity points to this moment, to the death of the Incarnate God on the Cross. All the past points to it, and all the future references back to it.
Why then? Why at that hour? Because it was God’s will. That answer may not feel satisfactory. But it’s the only answer we have, and before God’s will, we can only kneel down in wonder and awe and say, “Thy will be done.” According to Divine Providence, God the Father chose that day at that time in that gruesome manner for His Son to save us from sin and death. And so it was the most fitting day (the day that the Jews were slaughtering the Passover lambs), the most fitting time (at the time that the daily evening sacrifice was offered and the Passover lambs were usually slain), in a way that demonstrated just how far God would go in order to save the creation He had made in His own image and likeness.
So why are we going through this pestilence now? Why can’t we come to church to celebrate the mysteries of our Lord’s redemption as the People of God? All I can say is that this is part of God’s plan in Divine Providence, not to send us this virus, but to allow this virus to draw us closer to Him. St. Paul reminds us that all things work for the good of those who love God. Somehow, even our current suffering can work towards good. If the death of the Son of God can bring us new life, then certainly our suffering, united to Jesus on the cross, can also bring us new life, new appreciation, new love of God.
Honestly, we don’t know why this hour. But just as the crucifixion was the hour for the Son of Man to be glorified through His suffering, so this hour can be for the children of God to be glorified through our suffering. That is our faith. That is our hope. That is our confidence. We were chosen for this hour, to be a part of God’s plan for the glorification of God, and for our salvation. Come, let us worship!
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| Calvary, presently inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem |
