The love revealed on the Cross is stronger than any war.
- Rev Robert Moses
- Apr 3
- 3 min read
Lessons, Good Friday: Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Psalm 22; Hebrews 10:16-25; John 18:1-19:42
Today we stand at the foot of the Cross. On this day, we remember not an idea, not a symbol, but a real suffering—Jesus, beaten, abandoned, executed. Good Friday confronts us with a hard truth: the world is capable of terrible violence. And yet, in the middle of that violence, God chooses not to destroy—but to suffer with us.
The Cross reveals both the worst of humanity and the deepest heart of God.
And this year, it is impossible for me to hear the Passion without thinking about the suffering in our world—the refugee crisis that continues to unfold in Europe; the immigration crackdown the United States; the hunger crises racking Syria, Gaza, and Sudan; and, the ongoing violent conflicts in central Africa, Ukraine, Myanmar, and Palestine. And, I imagine like the rest of you, I can’t help but think about the war in Iran. This war, which began just weeks ago, has already brought devastation: lives lost, families shattered, fear spreading across nations. We hear of bombs and retaliation. We hear of leaders invoking strength and power. We hear of leaders invoking their Christian faith as justification.
Good Friday asks us a piercing question: Where is God in all of this?
The answer is not found in power. Not in victory. Not in domination. God is on the Cross. God is with the wounded, the grieving mother, the frightened child. God is with every person whose life is caught in the machinery of war.
Voices in the Church have reminded us of this truth. Pope Leo XIV spoke clearly: God is a God of peace, and cannot be used to justify violence. He said that God “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war” and reminded the world that Jesus rejected violence, even when He Himself was arrested and killed.
That is Good Friday. Jesus had every opportunity to fight back. He could have called down angels. He could have crushed His enemies. Instead, He chose love. He chose forgiveness: “Father, forgive them.” Those words echo across centuries—and they challenge us today.
Because if we are honest, we often prefer a different kind of God. A God who takes sides. A God who punishes our enemies. A God who justifies our anger. But the Cross refuses that image. The Cross shows us a God who absorbs violence rather than returns it. A God who breaks the cycle of hatred—not by force, but by sacrificial love.
And so Good Friday is not just something we remember—it is something we are called to live. In a world at war, we are called to be people of peace. In a culture of revenge, we are called to forgive. In a time of division, we are called to stand at the foot of the Cross and see every human being—on every side—as someone Christ died for.
This does not mean ignoring injustice. It does not mean pretending evil is not real. But it does mean refusing to let hatred have the final word.
On Good Friday, it looks like hatred wins. But we know something the world does not yet see. Sunday is coming. The Cross is not the end of the story.
Today, as we venerate the Cross, we bring with us the pain of the world—the suffering in Iran, the fear in so many hearts, the violence that seems unending. And we lay it all at the feet of Jesus…not with easy answers, but with trust that somehow, through this mystery of suffering and love, God is still at work.
Even now, in the darkest places, redemption is possible. Even now, peace is still worth praying for. The love revealed on the Cross is stronger than any war.
Amen.
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