Today is the Christian holy day, called “Good Friday.” It commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday.
As I thought about the notion of “good” associated with a day of suffering and death, I mused on how much of the teachings of Jesus are comprised of similar apparent contradictions. In fact, paradox could rightly be called the “source code” of Jesus' teachings. In his parables and aphorisms, there is a voiceprint of illogic that disrupts the surface mind and requires a fresh and deeper insight to recognize the pearl of Truth within the tandem arrangement of conflicting notions. That this is neither random nor occasional but consistent throughout his many teachings, suggests Jesus' intent was to disturb our rational understanding and open a narrow perspective into a transcendent reality that belies reason.
We see this pattern repeatedly in the parables about the kingdom of God. In the parable of the servant and his debt before the King, (Mt 18:23-35) we find a cause for judgment is really an occasion of forgiveness, while what appears to be a cause for forgiveness is really an occasion of judgment. The story resolves with an unexpected twist in which humility is really a cause for exaltation, and what appears to be a cause for exaltation is really the grounds for humility.
At the banquet (Luke 14: 16-24), those who would not expect an invitation to the banquet, are the ones who accept the masters call. Those who expect to be included are excluded, and those who expect to be excluded are included. The insiders are out, as the outsiders are in.
In the parable of the mustard seed, (Mark 4:30-32 and elsewhere in Gospels) the paradox is what appears to be the smallest of all is really the seed of the greatest.
Jesus repeatedly conflated all notions of a future kingdom and pointed to an immediate realization of the Divine reality at hand. When asked when the kingdom would come, he said it "would not come with expectation" since “the fields are already ripe,” and we should pray to believe that you have received for the Heavenly realm that is sought is "at hand" and "within."
This is the gospel, the Good news of Jesus. What we are looking for; the love, the peace, the joy, is neither conditional nor separated from us by time or space. What happened on that fateful Friday at Calvary was no less a demonstration of the paradoxical nature of Truth. The essence of Jesus, the truth of his being, did not die on the cross. That was the passing of a form, a cloaking device for the soul, not the real Self that God created. And so it is with each of us. Who and what we are cannot be, destroyed, or even diminished.
No matter what happens in this world, there can be no absence of good, because there can be no absence of God, in which we live and move and have our being. It is in this context that Jesus proclaimed with characteristic paradox, “There will be trial and tribulations in this world, be of good cheer.” There is an overcoming power within us that will never fail to love us back to wholeness and set us free. This is indeed a cause for joy and celebration.
Happy Easter dear friends,
Larry
The "cross", in other words, is cross-purposes? Reminds me of Paul's "we teach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and Greeks". Great reflections, Larry. Jesus, the koan.
Happy Easter, Denise and Larry. I will watch the Easter service via computer. I watched the Goid Friday service at St. Peter's church in Rome. I cried when they unveiled the statue of Jesus on the cross. A Franciscan priest gave a powerful message including the virus. All the time I was praying for the people in Italy. I love Italy and the people there, whom I saw when I traveled there.