Good Friday and Easter

Understanding the name "Good Friday" is not easy for a non-Christian. Nevertheless, the events surrounding it are noteworthy for all who believe in one God and the life after death.

Good Friday refers to the Friday when, according to Christian sources, Jesus (pbuh) was crucified. Before going any further, let's see why such an event took place in the place. In doing so, I am going to take the Quran and the Bible as my reference to stitch a plausible and rational story.

Around the time when Jesus's mother, Mary, was born, the Jewish community was in expectation of a new messenger of God that would bring prosperity to the Jews and revive their faith. However, the expected birth brought a female, and not a male. This was very disappointing, because messengers were all male. So, with Mary not fitting the bill by virtue of being a female, attentions were up again for someone else. However, unbeknownst to the people, the expected person was to come from Mary. And God's plan was to prepare people for the drastic changes approaching them.

According to that plan, when Mary was admitted to the temple as a devotee, fruits of all seasons would come to her as a miracle, and this would perplex people. They could not explain how fruits of winter would be available in summer and vice versa. But, there they were for Mary. Extremely deterministic and rule-based mind of the Jews was shaken by this miracle being revealed on a female. However, these events were also preparation for Mary, herself, for what was to come upon her.

Later on, when the angel Gabriel appeared to her and told about her pregnancy for Jesus, son of Mary, she was shocked, because that was impossible, given that she had never been with a man for such an end. But the angel told her that "when God wills something, it suffices Him to say 'be', and it 'is'." Such was the start of Mary's pregnancy for Jesus. But of course, people didn't know it.

And she hid it, and she secluded away from people as the birth neared. After Jesus was born, both she and the Jewish minds were shocked by the miraculous birth of Jesus and his brief talk when he was a baby, again as a miracle. Had it not been for this miracle, they could have stoned Mary for adultery, as their law told.

As Jesus grew, he learned about the divine books revealed before, and he was given wisdom from God. In his young age, energized by the divine wisdom and guidance, he challenged the Jewish rabbis, and accused them of distorting the message revealed by God. These distortions were enabled by two major factors. One, the rabbis kept the scripture only to themselves in the temple. So, it was not available to people. This meant that the public were at the mercy of their religious leaders. If they skipped or hid something from the divine revelation, it did not reach people. What is more serious, jurisdictions were made in the name of God by these religious leaders. So, what they said was the law, and was regarded as the divine will.

The second factor that enabled the distortion of the divine message by the religious leaders was the genius of the Jewish people. Genetically speaking, they represent an intelligent progeny in the human race. So, when it came to interpreting the divine words to justify what they wanted, they didn't have a hard time.

And it was these two factors what drove Jesus furious, who was also a Jew. He called people to be humans when understanding and interpreting the revelation. That is, he reminded people of their hearts besides their minds. Thus, was seeded a spirit of combining the mind and the heart. Thanks to his ministry, the inherent mercy in the divine message found representation in real life. But that did not make everyone happy.

Emergence of a human-centered interpretation of the divine words removed the rabbis and the temple from being the focus of religious life. So, those who lost their authorities tried to entice the Roman rulers against Jesus. They spread the rumor that Jesus was claiming to be the king of the Jews, and so, was a threat to the Roman dominion.

At first, the Roman governors did not see the case as a substantiated crime. So they dropped the case. But the Jewish rabbis' and a group of Jews' rage and hatred did not diminish. They insisted on the punishment of Jesus by the Romans. In order to re-establish order and calm the upheavals, at last the Romans opened the way for Jesus's crucifixion.

Although the Quran and Bible diverge on the exact event of crucifixion, the common belief is that Jesus was taken to heaven after this event. And that marks the Good Friday. What makes this name incomprehensible from the non-Christian perspective is that the killing of Jesus by people is referred to as something good. I am not going to go into further discussion on this, because that is not my intention here. Rather, I want to proceed to the Sunday following the Good Friday: Easter.

From the New Testament, we learn that Jesus reappeared to his followers on the Easter Sunday, and stayed with them for a while. During this time, he not only continued his teachings but also gave orders for his message to be spread to others. Plus, just like Jesus pbuh healed people as a miracle, his disciples were enabled by God to heal people miraculously, as a sign of their truthfulness.

Here, we conclude the brief explanation of the Good Friday and Easter. Now, what is the take home message for us today?

Near the end of time, we are told that Jesus is going to descend from the heavens. Considering what he did before, we can see what he might do upon his second coming. For example, in the Islamic tradition, we are told that Jesus is going to serve in the Muslim nation. So, it is possible that he is going to challenge the religious authorities who are distorting the divine message by their interpretations or by keeping people from reaching and reading the word of God themselves. It is possible that he is going to call the believers to true faith by making them  face their merciless, and so Godless, acts in the name of God. Again, it is possible that he is going to show people wisdom that is going to contain both the mind and the heart and will awaken people from consumerism.

And most importantly, Jesus's second coming may seed the resurrection of a body of true believers, who might have been killed dramatically due to hatred, rage and blind faith of others. By virtue of being fatherless, Jesus may work out of a governmental or political circle. By virtue of his healing power over the possessed ones, he may open the eyes of those who have been blinded by the Anti-Christ. And, similar to the three days between the Good Friday and Easter, all these may come to pass only three "days" after the death of the body of true believers. Just like those three days during which Zachariah could not do his ministry but which were mere a sign for the birth of John the Baptist; the one who cleanses people for the arrival of the Messiah.