Churches remind of Easter’s cost

Published by [email protected] at April 15, 2022

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Posted: Friday, April 15, 2022. 1:59 pm CST.

By Aaron Humes: In the Christian tradition, Jesus of Nazareth met his demise on a Friday sometime between the years 30 to 33 AD, after a scant few years of ministry to the people of Judea.

By order of the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate, supported by sub-rulers such as Herod of Judea and clerics, in Biblical tradition, he was crucified along with two common thieves. The tradition holds that Jesus was resurrected two days later and after a final meeting with his disciples, ascended to heaven and will return to commence the final separation of his followers from those who have worked against him.

So while what Christians mark today is not necessarily good in the current meaning of the word, the name “Good Friday” recognizes the original sense of pious and holy per the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition. Indeed, it is more often referred to elsewhere as Holy Friday or even Great Friday (in a similar sense as Good Friday).

This week, three religious leaders developed the themes of Easter and the sacrifice one man-made, in Christian thought, to save the world.

Bishop Phillip Wright of the Anglican Diocese of Belize in his Easter message noted that Jesus was innocent, yet considered more popular and dangerous than the common criminals tried alongside him: “Let’s bear in mind that towards the close of this week, an innocent man, we are recalling where an innocent man was brought to trial and you know what the popular vote was? Free the robber, free the murderer and crucify the innocent man. I just want to leave that with us that the [popular] vote with the larger crowd, the bigger voice, is not always the right voice and it’s not always the voice of justice. So, let’s reflect on these things this week, especially as we journey with our Lord to the cross and watch an innocent victim killed.”

From the Evangelical view, Pastor Lance Lewis, National Evangelical Association of Belize reminded us of the importance of prayer and commitment to God and the church’s commitment to spreading the word of the man in which it believes: “…there’s no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved and we have to preach the gospel and tell the people that unless a man is born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Roman Catholic priest Father Jeremy Zipple, of St. Martin’s de Porres Church, said Jesus was a man of the worst times as well as the best: “Christ during Holy Week takes the cross. He doesn’t take the glory, he doesn’t take the joyful times, the celebration times, he takes the cross which represents the absolute lowest that we can go as human beings, you know. … We like to see the victorious Jesus who’s conquered all this, but if you really take his humanness seriously, both God and man, he was right there in the loneliness and the utter rejection, feeling the worst of it. …we’ve all felt those terribly low moments in our lives when we’re just like, can I even make it another day… The message is that Jesus has been there too and because he has walked through it and reached victory because the resurrection is on the other end of the corner, he will be there walking with us in those moments in our lives.”

Churches will be offering regular service throughout this critical period.

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