Get a full version of Good Friday here at John 18 and 19
“You are no friend of the emperor” (John 19.12)
In his account of Jesus’ last day, John tells us Jesus answers several enquiries by saying, ‘I am he’, or more literally from the Greek, ‘I am’. It is a sign that this is to do with the presence of God: ‘I AM’. So what do we learn of God’s presence through these things?
While the officers and police arrive heavily armed, prompting Peter to strike out, Jesus responds, ‘Put your sword back in its sheath’, suggesting that God’s presence rejects the use of violence …
The world carries on, business-as-usual: A priest plots, negotiating a solution with the Empire’s man. Peter denies he knows Jesus. Pilate purports to be above these things, but is troubled by Jesus’ talk of a new kingdom. And the crowd cries out for Barabbas, their freedom-fighter, someone who will more obviously resist the Romans, while knowing that ‘everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the emperor’ (19:12) … So, while the imperial world flexes its muscles, Jesus shows a different way: he speaks openly of a new kind of kingdom, and absorbs the world’s violence and abuses of power, without retaliating. Such is God’s presence, even now: the God of truth exposes and absorbs the world’s very worst, suffering in solidarity with the powerless … but who will have the last word?
Graham Adams
Lees Street Congregational Church, East Manchester
We pray for Graham and the church of Lees Street for their witness to Jesus in their housing estate, the messychurch outreach, the musical society and their host congregation. God be with them in their Good Friday and Easter. Amen
