Dear Readers,
I’ve been thinking a lot about Jesus lately:
- We remember that He went to the grave for our sins, and then came back to life!
- I’m reading a Bible app devotional about Holy Week through the book of Mark;
- “The Chosen,” a series about the life of Christ has live-streamed through Holy Week and starts Season 2 Easter Sunday;
- And my fourth wedding anniversary is Friday — yes, you read that right, on GOOD FRIDAY!
You might think that is a strange day to get married, but we chose it for an important reason. My husband, Tim, and I met on Good Friday in 2015, and I strongly believe that God brought us together. When he proposed on my birthday in June 2016 I knew instantly what day we would wed.
Good Friday appears to be a day of sadness and death and fear, but it also is a day of hope and redemption.
On the Positively Joy podcast, The Rev. Dr. Leah Schade and I talked about how movies depict the life of Christ and some, like “The Last Temptation of Christ,” and “The Passion,” feature all the blood and gore of a horror movie.
But remember all the people Christ came in contact with, even on His way on the Via Dolorosa: Simon of Cyrene, who helped carry Jesus’ cross. He was forced by Roman soldiers, but Simon had compassion for Jesus.
Think about the criminals he was hanged beside. One only thought of himself, asking Jesus to save them, but one was transformed being near Jesus, and asked him to remember Him in Heaven.
It is hope, compassion and kindness that Jesus evoked to most who were near Him. And that is why I was happy to be married on Good Friday.
Technically, the wedding day was Friday, April 14, 2017. That was Good Friday in 2017 but since then, Good Friday, like Easter, moves around on the calendar.
We celebrate the day every Good Friday:
In 2018, it was March 30
In 2019, it was April 19
In 2020 it was April 10
and this year, my anniversary date is Friday April 2. (Whew, glad we cleared April Fool’s day!)
I looked back at the ceremony. Our officiant Wendy Meyer told us that day, “Nothing beats a marriage built on Christ.”
In my vows, I told Tim, “You are the kind of man I need, but in the past my shortcomings might not have allowed me to pick you. BUT GOD has his own plans. The song lyric goes:
“When you speak and when you move
When you do what only you can do
It changes us, it changes what we see and what we seek.”
In his vows, Tim told me, “In my eternal life, it is my desire to seek God’s face so that I may be with Him in the next.” He then quoted Ecclesiates 4:9–10: “Two are better than one because they have good return for their works. If one falls down his friend can help him up.”
“Here where earth, sky and ocean meet, I pledge my love to thee.”
Good Friday isn’t about pain, it’s about relief. It’s about sacrifice in love. It’s about redemption and provision.
And our wedding and marriage aren’t about each other — Tim and Yvette — it’s about the love of Christ, and how that love keeps our marriage holy.
Amen.
