There are many meaningful moments in Christ's life, but none so profound as these last days. Here is both the tragedy and the glory of his short earthly life. How do we sort through it all and get to the essence of it in our own lives? How do we see his self-offering? What glimpse of humanity comes to us through his sacrificial love?

Seen through the eyes of our modern day society the death of Jesus on the cross may be viewed as just one more execution. Killing has become the taproot of violence in our society. Violence touches every life on this planet as we hear for example of civil strife in the Sudan, of war in Kosovo, of unrest in the Middle East and of family violence and inhumanity to others in our own midst. We have not become yet like our brothers and sisters in the States. But violent crime is certainly on the rise in our Canadian cities. If you must buy a weapon to defend yourself then you will begin to understand that violence is the only way to live. How then can you begin to understand a person who chooses to break the cycle of violence?

Jesus refused even to enter that cycle. Others have followed his example. It has been said that if Jesus taught us anything it was how to die, not how to kill! Martin Luther King Jr. put it, "To our most bitter opponents we say: 'we shall match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure. We shall meet your physical force with soul force. Do to us what you will, and we shall continue to love you. We shall appeal to your heart and conscience that we shall win you in the process, and our victory will be a double victory.'"

Oscar Romero, the Bishop of El Salvador preached in a sermon shortly before being gunned down in his church, "They may kill me, but I shall rise up in the people of San Salvador."

We can view the story through the eyes of the participants in the events of those final hours of Jesus' life. Then it becomes a story of intrigue, of betrayal, of bad choices, and of denial. It becomes too a story of transformation, of life rising from the degradation of death, and of great hope.

There is Judas who betrayed Jesus. What could have gone wrong in their relationship to cause such a rift in their friendship? The times he must have spent listening to Jesus speak, seeing the wonderful works that he was doing and yet, when it came down to it, their friendship meant nothing. He thought only of what profit he could make. He sold him out.

Peter, brash Peter, one moment totally on fire and committed to the cause. The next moment betraying Jesus and leaving him to face terror, humiliation and death alone.

We hear the mocking voices of the crowd who a short time ago followed Jesus, praising the very ground on which he walked. We stand with them taunting and shouting those terrible words, "Crucify him!" We stand jeering without really understanding the horror of the torture that Jesus is going through – for us. Can we even conceive that crucifixion is as painful and terrible a death as ever was invented? Terrible enough that John simply says, "And there they crucified him," and leaves it at that.

The writer of the gospel asks us to look at the crucifixion as a fulfillment of Scripture. In our despair we are to meet God. On the cross the light shines against the darkness of the sky turned black. Death claims the Prince of life. The last chance for the world seems over. It seems hopeless. It is the midnight of the soul. Jesus calls out with a loud voice. "It is finished!"

In Chicken Soup for the Soul there is a story of a little girl named Liza was suffering from a rare and serious disease. Her only hope of recovery was to receive a blood transfusion from her brother who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to the little boy and asked if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. He hesitated for a moment and then said, "Yes, I'll do it if it will save Liza."

As the transfusion progressed, he lay in a bed next to his sister and smiled, as they all did, seeing the colour come back to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, 'Will I start to die right away?'

You see, he thought that he would have to give her all his blood.

Jesus gave all his blood – for us. His life ebbed out of his body. "It is finished!" he said. But it wasn't. For there was real glory to come! The sounds that follow are not sounds of death. They are sounds of power and glory – bursting fetters, breaking chains, crumbling prison walls, rending veils, overthrown barriers and opening gates. They are the cry of victory. What Christ came to do is accomplished!

Christ has closed the unbridgeable gulf between God and us. Forgiven by Christ, empowered by the Spirit, God has opened up new possibilities. Hope is restored. For God has offered the greatest gift of all to the human race –selfless love. And so we experience the goodness of this Friday. Amen.