Gill writes:
I should probably warn you that if you are having a reflective, intentionally quiet Good Friday then it might be worth playing this song when you are ready for a bit of noise. Maybe you might even want to leave it until tomorrow.
When I first heard this song just over a month ago, it took me straight to what I think the first Good Friday might have felt and sounded like. I wasn’t sure whether this would be a helpful Good Friday Fix – we generally opt for tracks that might sit in that quiet, thoughtful space better. But I had a couple of nudges including Red Rum Club opening with this song at their gig at Trinity Centre, Bristol (a former church) when I saw them live a couple of weeks ago, so I thought let’s go for it.
I’ve been thinking about that first Good Friday and how it must have been for the followers, friends and family of Jesus that day. Jesus followers today have a day of contemplation, lament and sorrow; Jesus followers then would have had an emotionally-charged day that was frenetic and full of incredulity. Some will have seen parts of it; others will have heard about it rather than been there. Some will have been alongside and ‘in it’ all (as much as they could be), others might not have heard until it was all over.
The common thing that would have bound them all together would have been the feelings about this complete and utter injustice; the sense of disbelief, anger, uncertainty, helplessness, shame, guilt and the desire for revenge. These are the feelings that barrel around our bodies when we are confronted with injustice. The time for contemplation and lament comes later.
I’ve lost my way, misunderstood
Should I pray for explanation?
I wait all day for something good
But nothin’ good ever comes from waitin’
Each one would have replayed moments of that day and week, alongside the times that they had spent with Jesus over the years. Trying to make sense of it all. Asking questions of themselves. Could they have done anything differently? Could they have found some way of intervening? Why did God let this happen? God? Is there even a God?
Give me a God to believe in
I fear the Heavens have left us now
The one I believed in let me down
From the late-night arrest in Gethsemene to the tortuous (probably literally) trial in the early hours at the High Priest’s house to the early morning sentencing by Pontius Pilate to the carrying of the cross to Golgotha and the crucifixion around 9am (the commonly believed time), we can sense the chaotic scramble of the Romans to process and sentence this seditious Jesus once and for all.
And there he is hanging on a tree with others beside him. Being mocked. Being laughed at. Being helplessly watched by his mother and a couple of friends. Even Jesus at one point asks why he’s been forsaken by God – even Jesus had a moment of feeling let down.
Give me a God to believe in
I fear the Heavens have left us now
The one I believed in let me down
And after it was over, the chaos continued as the body of Jesus was taken down and carried to the tomb – maybe with a sense of needing to get him buried and sealed in a tomb as quickly as possible, just in case the authorities wanted the body for some reason. Who knows what might happen when an occupying and brutal force is ruling your country. Let’s get Jesus safe and buried.
The fallen sun
Has been and gone, now darkness
Falls apart, you and me
The fallen sun
Has been and gone, now darkness
Falls apart, you and me
What a day.
You can find out more about Red Rum Club at https://www.redrumclub.com.
The Friday Fix 