Today is Good Friday.
It is a day when Christians remember the killing of Jesus as a day of salvation. The murder of Jesus is paradoxically
understood to be both a tragedy and the gracious act of a merciful God. In so many Churches across the world the event
will be theatrically reenacted, preached about, hymned, and hailed as a day of
sadness and salvation. In and through
Jesus death, Christians proclaim, the world is saved from the power of sin,
death and evil.
As a Jew, I think of this day differently. In so many ways and on so many days Good
Friday was a dreaded day in the Jewish community. It was a day when Christians would relive the
death of their Lord and once again blame the Jews for having murdered their
God. The cross came to be a symbol of pogroms, abuse, vandalism, and much
worse.
Things have indeed changed.
Seventy years after the Holocaust many have recognized the terrible
things that were done in the name of Jesus and the cross. We have come to know each other better. We have become friends. We work together. We marry each other. We are reconciled. All is good!
What has not changed is the story. It is Good Friday and once again the story is
told, is read out loud, about the Jews conspiring with the Romans to kill Jesus. The Gospel stories many not have been originally
intended as an indictment against all Jews for all time. But they have functioned that way for two millennia.
On this Good Friday, both Jews and Christians need to remember and be
aware that the Gospel stories can function in a toxic manner. On this Good Friday, let us remember what
happened. Let us refuse to forget. And let us all say, “never again.”
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