Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, where are you going?’ Jesus answered, ‘Where I am going, you cannot follow me now; but you will follow afterwards.’ Peter said to him, ‘Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.’ Jesus answered, ‘Will you lay down your life for me? Very truly, I tell you, before the cock crows, you will have denied me three times.
[john 13:36-38 nrsv]
| DAILY OFFICE READINGS – April 3, 2026 |
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| AM Psalm 95 [for the Invitatory], 22; PM Psalm 40:1-14 (15-19), 54 Lam. 3:1-9, 19-33; 1 Pet. 1:10-20; John 13:36-38 [AM]; John 19:38-42 [PM] |
It is Good Friday.
Today, we stand at the foot of the cross.
On this day, we confront the reality of death.
This, after all, is the Christian message of the Cross – that God entered our human experience fully, even unto death.
Last Sunday, I preached at the funeral of a friend.
He had requested I do this several years ago when he was first diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I agreed, but in the back of my mind, it was a sermon I thought I would never have to do.
We had begun our relationship as colleagues in ministry, but that relationship grew into a friendship that only strengthened over the years.
When the call came two weeks ago, I was challenged to put into words what his friendship meant to me while at the same time keeping front and center the message of the gospel.
Today, in much the same way, we remember, we pay attention, we grieve.
And if we allow ourselves to be immersed into the scriptures, our thoughts can embrace and mourn for all those who are suffering because of the death of a loved one.
God gave us the capacity to grieve.
We are allowed to shed tears and to cry out in supplication.
God hears us. God shares in our suffering.
Being crucified on a cross was not only a gruesome way to die; it was also marked as the lowest and most cursed way to die.
The Romans knew not only how to inflict pain, but they went to extremes to humiliate and shame their victims.
The whole purpose of Roman crucifixion was to publicly humiliate an enemy of the state. What better way than to nail a man naked on a stake and tack a sign above him saying “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.”
Yet the relationship of the cross to our salvation, the connection between the suffering of Christ and human suffering, the need for God to become physically entangled in the world’s evil and pain is too great a mystery for our limited minds to comprehend.
For those of us who grieve over the world’s suffering, this teaches us not to expect miracles but to be reassured that we have a God who hears our cry and understands our pain.
Several years ago, the late evangelist Dr. Tony Campolo wrote a book titled, It’s Friday, but Sunday’s Comin’!
Think of all that happened on that week we call Holy Week. Jesus was betrayed by Judas. He was arrested. After a hurried trial, most of the disciples scattered. Peter denied knowing Jesus. And then Jesus was crucified. He died on the cross, and the body was hastily placed in a borrowed tomb just before the Sabbath began.
In many ways, we have been living Good Friday for a number of weeks, to the point that one day runs into another with little difference other than the increase in the chaos, confusion, and conflict of our nation and our world economically, socially, and politically.
We are united in our fear. We are united in our pain.
No matter what class, race, ethnicity or gender, all are vulnerable. However, as is usually the case, the elderly, the poor, the migrants and refugees, suffer in greater proportion.
It’s Friday, but Sunday’s Comin’!
How appropriate that title seems for what we are living these days.
This day of remembered death, we grieve, and at the same time, we cry out to a God who hears us.
On this day, we are drawn to the simple truth that “Jesus did it all for you, for me, for us.”
It was that cruel death that proved God’s undying love for us.
And because of that remembered death, we can now gather at the foot of the cross each subsequent Good Friday, not only to grieve, but to strengthen and renew our faith.
It’s Friday, but Sunday’s Comin’!
Thanks be to God!
Let us pray:
Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(Book of Common Prayer, p. 99)
Feature Image: Peter denies Jesus. Courtesy: Jesus Mafa Community, Cameroon, Africa
Walking Together in Faith 
Thank you very much, a very meaningful teaching.
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