Trust Throughout Suffering

Homily for Good Friday

Just as I did last night, I would like to begin this homily by recalling the responsorial psalm that we use immediately after the first reading from the Prophet Isaiah. Psalm 31 is an expression of undying trust in God. Although we do not have the complete psalm in the responsorial, throughout this psalm of trust, the psalmist refers to God as rock, refuge, fortress, and fortified city. In the first stanza alone, the psalmist expects God to deliver, to listen, to hurry and rescue, to save, to lead, to guide, to free, and to redeem. As the psalm progresses, God is trusted to punish the enemies and save the faithful psalmist from distress. God’s face will shine upon the one who suffers and will become a shelter from enemies. Toward the end, the psalmist, who has suffered so terribly, can exhort all believers to have courage, to trust and love God. God has heard the plea of this person who was forgotten like the dead and shattered like a dish. All who hope in the Lord can hope to be heard.

Just as Matthew and Mark put Psalm 22 in the mouth of Jesus at the moment of his death, so Luke uses Psalm 31: “Into your hands I commend my spirit.” The psalm and expression of trust in mortal suffering is fitting for the passion narrative and for Good Friday.

The reading which precedes the psalm on Good Friday is the fourth Servant Song from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. The servant’s suffering makes him repulsive to those who see him. Yet his suffering is our suffering; he endures the consequences of our sins. His silent suffering was justification for many. His suffering becomes his victory. This understanding of vicarious suffering is virtually unique in the Hebrew Scriptures. The mysterious figure of the servant is sometimes understood to be Israel itself, whose endurance through suffering preserved the covenant for future generations. Sometimes the figure is thought to be a prophet, caught between God and the people, who faithfully delivers God’s message in spite of suffering. From the time of the Gospels, Christians have used the wisdom of the Servant Songs to interpret the passion and death of Jesus.

The Gospel for Good Friday is the passion narrative from the Gospel of St. John. Jesus, in this narrative, is completely in control of events. Thus, his submission from the moment of his arrest until his death is a dramatic expression of obedience to his Father. The reading from the letter to the Hebrews interprets the event: “Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered.” This obedience has become the source of our salvation.

Psalm 31 is well chosen to highlight these readings. The verses selected emphasize the element of trust and the hopelessness of suffering. Like the Servant, at the very moment that he is a horror to all who see him, Christ wins their salvation if they will accept it. His total trust is in his Father, and his trust is not in vain. God does indeed rescue him in faithful love. We have every reason to be strong and take heart as we make the psalmist’s and Christ’s words our own.

Though our emotions are frayed at the thought of the crucifixion of this innocent and loving man, Jesus, the psalmist helps us to pray through suffering, through distress, and through hopelessness by remembering the love of our God and teaching us to trust in that love. This is precisely why we call this day “Good” Friday as we all know that through this horrible death, Jesus has earned not only glory for the Father and for himself, he has also won for us the glory of life eternal spent with the God who was willing to sacrifice even his only Son for our sake.