It Makes All The Difference

"We proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles." 1 Corinthians 1:23

Does the death of Jesus Christ twenty centuries ago make any difference to people like us who live in a world that he could not possibly have imagined, a world of people, many of whom believe God is dead? Is the Death of Christ a death that really matters any more except in the dim way that any noble death might be said to matter?

All I can say is that I would not be writing these words unless I believed that the answer is Yes, that his death does make all the difference, even for us. I believe that by his dying he released into the world an entirely new kind of life, his kind of life, that has flowed down through the tragic centuries like water through a dry land, making alive and whole all who will only kneel to drink. That is the only reason it is not blasphemy to speak of the Friday of his unspeakable death as Good Friday.

Prayer: Help me, O Crucified One, to stand under your cross on Good Friday, to accept the mystery of my redemption and to commit myself anew to your sacred Word and will in all things. Amen.

-Frederick Buechner