In 2015 Good Friday falls on 3 April, and Passover on 4 April. Jewish holidays begin at sundown the day before the date specified for the holiday so this year the two observances overlap each other.
This coincidence lends unusual poignancy to the Gospel story of the Last Supper, which is told in relation to the feast of Passover in St Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 26:17) and which we commemorated on Maundy Thursday, yesterday.
Today at 2.30 pm there is a Meditation at the Foot of the Cross in church. The service is focused on Christ’s suffering and death on the Cross. It takes place in a church that has been stripped of all adornments. It can be a bleak experience. People who attend usually leave very quietly afterwards.
Those who attended the crucifixion when it happened must have felt very much worse for their experience: they had no way of knowing that this was not the end.
We are very fortunate to know the sequel.
