It was only when Jesus walked the earth that all the bad stuff seemed to turn a new leaf; Jesus healed the lame, he restored hope to a people desperate for love, and created a movement that lasts to this day.
But the events of his life were overshadowed by a horrific travesty: his untimely death by an ancient method of public murder. Non-believers cast Jesus as a liar, a man who could save the world. Little did they know, for many Christians he did.
In our world, we know, from the text of the Bible, the story of Jesus and his work during his time. Joseph Moore, pastor of Central Presbyterian Church in Austin, believes it's relevant today.
"I think the good news of Christianity lies in the transformative nature of God in the present," said Moore. "The abundant life of Jesus talked about was a life meant to live now."
As we understand our world, we understand that story of Jesus wasn't the first injustice in the world, and it's not the last. Think about the terrible stories reported in the news of injustices: six girls murdered in Austin in the December 1991 yogurt shop case, and to this day no one has been definitively pinned to the crime; this year, just over a dozen people were killed on the post of Ft. Hood in Killeen when Maj. Nidal Hasan went on a shooting rampage because he allegedly didn't want to be deployed on an upcoming mission overseas; the Columbine High School massacre that left 15 people dead, including the shooters; the senseless deaths of 168 people at the hands of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols in 1995 when the suspects blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; the Waco siege of 76 people at the end of a stand-off between authorities and the Branch Davidians, led by David Koresh. It was two years to the day when McVeigh blew up the Murrah Building in retaliation against the government's actions in Waco.
Good Friday is the time Christians remember the moments leading up to possibly the greatest injustice of all time. Jesus was arrested, slain, and buried following a week of incredible events including the Last Supper, Passover, and Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem to a crowd of believers. The reason for the holiday is to restore the belief that, while injustices in the world happen consistently and without explanation, Jesus is considered by millions of people to be the everlasting redeemer with whom mystery and understanding are one in the same.
Many of the wrongdoing, murders, and unexplained events on earth is like the mystery of Jesus Christ. People during Jesus' time could not explain his mission. But, Christians believe one day they might understand the unexplained events of the world and Jesus' intense love for his people.
Until then, they rely on one thing to tide them over until that time comes. It's called faith. Good Friday, and the subsequent Easter holiday, are two more examples on the Christian calendar as to why people of faith should hold that quality close to their hearts, especially because of the injustices of our time.
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