To be an Easter Sunday person it is necessary to be Friday Calvary person. There is an essential link between Easter Sunday and Calvary Friday. They are two ways of looking at the one event. Without Calvary Friday, Easter Sunday is meaningless. Without Easter Sunday, Calvary Friday is meaningless. The words of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane show that what is taking place is something between the Father and Jesus. “And going a little further, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said “Abba Father, all things are possible to you: remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what you will. (Mk 14:35-36)
Jesus is the way to the Father (Jn 14:6), which affirms that the way to glory is the way of the cross. So many are willing to share the glory of Easter, but balk at the challenge of the cross. Yet there is no other way. “If anyone will come after me let them deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me.” (LK: 9:23) Jesus denied what he would have chosen to embrace the cross which was the will of the Father. It was for this reason that the Father raised him to glory.
The meaning of Calvary cannot be determined by what they did to Jesus, as they did it to two other men that day., The key is what Jeus did, what was in his heart as he passed through his passion and death. The words at Gethsemane give us the insight into Jesus’ heart. The cross is about the heart of Jesus directed to the Father, and the resurrection is the Father’s response.
St Paul sees this in his letter to the Philippians: “he became obedient unto death, even death of the cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and given him name that is above every name. “(Phil 2:8-9). And again, the letter to the Romans in applying it to Christian baptism. “You have been taught that when we were baptised in Christ Jesus we were baptised into his death, in other words, when we were baptised, we went into the tomb with him and joined him in death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father’s glory, we too might live a new life. “(Rom 6:3-4)
To focus just on calvary or the resurrection is like going to a wedding and taking a photograph of either the bride or the groom. Both are necessary to understand the event. Both Jesus and the Father are necessary to understand the event of our salvation as it unfolds on Calvary.
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