\n| \nA few years ago, my Jewish friend Estelle called me and wished me a happy Good Friday. I found her sentiment puzzling and surprising, and asked her what she meant. She responded quickly: Aren\u2019t you the people who think that God died for them? Doesn\u2019t that make this a good day? Happy Good Friday!<\/p>\n Christianity, as a religion, is defined not only by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but also by the cross that caused his death. We must know Christ crucified before we can know him risen. Even people who are not Christian know that the cross is central to our faith.<\/p>\n The cross is an ugly thing. It is an instrument of torture, a symbol of violence. There are many Christians who do not like Good Friday. Good Friday is a painful reminder that humanity is vulnerable to the terrible powers of suffering and death. We would prefer to skip the suffering. <\/p>\n In our own lives, there is always some level of suffering. If our suffering is prolonged, it is natural to feel as if we have been abandoned by God. Many human beings long for the God who will reduce or take away our Good Friday experiences of suffering.<\/p>\n Why did Jesus have to die? Why the cross? I struggle with what is called the theology of atonement. If it were necessary for Jesus to die in our place, if God wanted the sacrifice of Jesus to pay for our sins, that implies that God is a bloodthirsty and violent Father, a terrifying reflection of the worst of humanity. That sort of abusive parent is not good or holy. God is not abusive. I am certain that God is love.<\/p>\n Why did Jesus have to die? Why the cross? J\u00fcrgen Moltmann says that when the crucified Jesus is called “the image of the invisible God,” the meaning is that THIS is God, and God is like THIS. The crucified God is the image of love. God in Christ was willing to suffer on earth as a human being. The crucified God has a credibility that the invulnerable, transcendent God cannot have. <\/p>\n Why did Jesus have to die? Why the cross? On the cross, Jesus died the violent death of a criminal, understood in the Jewish tradition as a death marked by abandonment by God. His suffering was more than physical: it was deepened by abandonment, rejection by God, his Father.<\/p>\n Jesus descended into suffering and death and hell, in order to meet us there and to bring us home.<\/p>\n In the cross, I do not see a vindictive God who is satisfied by the blood of the pure sacrifice. I see a God who willingly sacrifices all of himself, in opposition to the violence which we demand. I see a God who chooses to be among the godforsaken. <\/p>\n It is a good day, this Good Friday. God has chosen to sanctify and redeem the worst of our lives.<\/p>\n And this descent into death in itself is not the last word because Sunday is coming.\n<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | \nHace unos a\u00f1os, mi amigo jud\u00edo Estelle me llam\u00f3 y me dese\u00f3 un feliz Viernes Santo. Encontr\u00e9 su sentimiento desconcertante y sorprendente, y le pregunt\u00e9 a qu\u00e9 se refer\u00eda. Ella respondi\u00f3 r\u00e1pidamente: \u00bfNo son cristianos la gente que piensa que Dios muri\u00f3 por ellos? \u00bfEso no hacen de este un buen d\u00eda? Feliz Viernes Santo!<\/p>\n El cristianismo, como religi\u00f3n, no s\u00f3lo se define por la resurrecci\u00f3n de Jesucristo, sino tambi\u00e9n por la cruz que le caus\u00f3 la muerte. Debemos conocer a Cristo crucificado antes de que lo podemos saber resucitado. Incluso las personas que no son cristianos saben que la cruz es el centro de nuestra fe.<\/p>\n La cruz es una cosa fea. Es un instrumento de tortura, un s\u00edmbolo de la violencia. Hay muchos cristianos que no les gusta el Viernes Santo. El Viernes Santo es un doloroso recordatorio de que la humanidad es vulnerable a los terribles poderes del sufrimiento y de la muerte. Preferir\u00edamos saltarse el sufrimiento.<\/p>\n En nuestra propia vida, siempre hay un cierto nivel de sufrimiento. Si se prolonga nuestro sufrimiento, es natural sentir como si hemos sido abandonados por Dios. Muchos seres humanos largos para el Dios que reducir o quitar nuestros Buenas experiencias Viernes de sufrimiento.<\/p>\n \u00bfPor qu\u00e9 Jes\u00fas tuvo que morir? \u00bfPor qu\u00e9 la cruz? Lucho con lo que se llama la teolog\u00eda de la expiaci\u00f3n. Si fuera necesario que Jes\u00fas muri\u00f3 en nuestro lugar, si Dios quer\u00eda que el sacrificio de Jes\u00fas para pagar por nuestros pecados, que implica que Dios es un Padre sanguinario y violento, un reflejo aterradora de lo peor de la humanidad. Ese tipo de padre abusivo no es bueno o santo. Dios no es abusivo. Estoy seguro de que Dios es amor.<\/p>\n \u00bfPor qu\u00e9 Jes\u00fas tuvo que morir? \u00bfPor qu\u00e9 la cruz? El te\u00f3logo J\u00fcrgen Moltmann dice que cuando Jes\u00fas crucificado se le llama “la imagen del Dios invisible”, el significado es que esto es Dios, y Dios es as\u00ed. El Dios crucificado es la imagen del amor. Dios en Cristo estaba dispuesto a sufrir en la tierra como un ser humano. El Dios crucificado tiene una credibilidad que la invulnerable, Dios trascendente no puede tener.<\/p>\n \u00bfPor qu\u00e9 Jes\u00fas tuvo que morir? \u00bfPor qu\u00e9 la cruz? En la cruz, Jes\u00fas muri\u00f3 la muerte violenta de un criminal, entendida en la tradici\u00f3n jud\u00eda como una muerte marcada por el abandono de Dios. Su sufrimiento era m\u00e1s que f\u00edsico: se profundiz\u00f3 por el abandono, el rechazo de Dios, su Padre.<\/p>\n Jes\u00fas descendi\u00f3 al sufrimiento y la muerte y el infierno, con el fin de reunirse con nosotros y para llevarnos a casa.<\/p>\n En la cruz, no veo un Dios vengativo que est\u00e1 satisfecha con la sangre del sacrificio puro. Veo un Dios que voluntariamente sacrifica todo de s\u00ed mismo, en oposici\u00f3n a la violencia que exigimos. Veo un Dios que elige para estar entre los olvidado por Dios.<\/p>\n Es un buen d\u00eda, este Viernes Santo. Dios ha escogido para santificar y redimir a la peor de nuestras vidas.<\/p>\n Y este descenso a la muerte en s\u00ed misma no es la \u00faltima palabra porque el domingo que viene.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n Resource:
\nP.J. Lockhart. http:\/\/revplockhart.blogspot.com\/2013\/03\/a-few-words-for-friday.html<\/a>
\nJ\u00fcrgen Moltmann, The Crucified God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sermon for April 3, 2015 (Good Friday)
\nSerm\u00f3n de 3 de abril 2015 (Viernes Santo)
\nRev. Amy Welin:<\/strong>
In the cross, I do not see a vindictive God who is satisfied by the blood of the pure sacrifice. I see a God who willingly sacrifices all of himself, in opposition to the violence which we demand. I see a God who chooses to be among the godforsaken. En la cruz, no veo un Dios vengativo que est\u00e1 satisfecha con la sangre del sacrificio puro. Veo un Dios que voluntariamente sacrifica todo de s\u00ed mismo, en oposici\u00f3n a la violencia que exigimos. Veo un Dios que elige para estar entre los olvidado por Dios.<\/font> Read More \u2022 Lea m\u00e1s <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7770,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,274],"tags":[106,136,210,116,234,107,114,104,137,105],"class_list":["post-1204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sermones","category-sermons","tag-episcopal","tag-good-friday","tag-iglesia-de-san-juan","tag-rev-amy-welin","tag-saint-johns","tag-sermon","tag-sermones","tag-st-johns","tag-viernes-santo","tag-waterbury"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stjohnsonthegreen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stjohnsonthegreen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stjohnsonthegreen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stjohnsonthegreen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stjohnsonthegreen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1204"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.stjohnsonthegreen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5169,"href":"https:\/\/www.stjohnsonthegreen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1204\/revisions\/5169"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stjohnsonthegreen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stjohnsonthegreen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stjohnsonthegreen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stjohnsonthegreen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} |
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.stjohnsonthegreen.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/welin-linkedin-90x90.jpg\")
Rev. Amy Welin:<\/strong>