On this most solemn Friday of the Lord’s Passion, I want to focus on the virtue of obedience to God, of which the Lord gives us the perfect example. The counterexample is Adam. Adam’s disobedience was original sin. St. Paul wrote to the Romans, “For just as through the disobedience of one person the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19).

According to St. Thomas Aquinas, “the cross exemplifies every virtue”. How exceedingly it does with obedience to God! If we could imagine the magnitude of the Lord's suffering, we would understand even more the perfection of his obedience. The physical and spiritual endurance the Lord displays on the Cross is incredible.

Since the moment the Lord was apprehended on the eve of his Death, he became the victim of such physical and emotional abuse that only the Son of God could endure. The Lord endured such abuse and rejection because of his great love for his heavenly Father and for sinful humanity. After a sleepless night, he was taken from palace to palace to be judged. Pilate had him flogged, which was a form of torture. Once unjustly condemned to die on the Cross, the Lord carried his own deathbed.

The worst physical part of his suffering was yet to come. His hands and feet were pierced by nails. When the Cross was raised, his body was held up by nothing but his pierced hands and feet. Breathing in that position was torture because inhaling meant putting pressure on the feet and hands, which caused enormous pain. A crucified person would ultimately die from asphyxia.

The emotional abuse was even greater. The evil people who accused the Lord verbally insulted him. The Passion narratives tell us nothing about the role the devil played in the Lord's Passion. The temptation the devil proposed to the Lord must have been overwhelming. The devil must have used his best tricks to persuade the Lord to disobey the will of the heavenly Father. Amid all this physical and spiritual suffering, the Lord gave us the perfect example of obedience to God. Gold is refined in fire. Righteous people are tested in suffering.

When the Lord could endure no more, he used what little strength he still had left, inhaled one last breath with all the suffering it caused him, and spoke his last words very loudly so that everyone could hear. The Lord could have just said this mentally. Instead, he chose to do it out loud for our own benefit.

St. Luke’s Passion narrative, read last Sunday, tells us the last words the crucified Lord spoke: "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit" (Luke 23:46a). The Lord did not despair when he was pushed to the limit. The Lord's last words show his total abandonment to the will of the Father and the surrender of his own will. Next, St. Luke tells about the Lord’s Death: “And when he had said this, he breathed his last” (Luke 23:46b). The Lord's entire life was preparation for this final moment. The crucified Lord suffered so much on the cross to atone for sin.

John Calvin said that “Jesus [the Lord] saved us by the whole course of his obedience.” The Lord's entire life was an obedient response to God's will. Perfect obedience requires complete trust in the authority one obeys. The Lord's trust in his Father was absolute. Therefore, when he could no longer contain his spirit beside his dying body, the Lord placed it in the hands of the Father.

On this most solemn Friday of the Lord's Passion, we go down on our knees, deeply sorrowful for our sins and those of all humanity. And with all faith we humbly ask the crucified Lord to teach us to be obedient to the heavenly Father as he was even unto death. May the heavenly Father forgive us, for we do not know what we do.