Good Friday Message And National Development

Today is Good Friday, a day Christians all over the world commemorate the crucifixion  of Jesus Christ by the Roman Army and his death at calvary over 2000 years ago.

Believers of Jesus Christ see this  day as very symbolic in the life of the Christian Church because it stands as the key that opened the door of salvation. They believe that on Easter day, the door of salvation was made open for people which gave humanity the opportunity of becoming Christians, but the key to that door was Good Friday.

The Vicar General, Catholic Diocese of Port Harcourt, Msgr Cyprain Onwuli said Good Friday is a day that reminds Christians that they must die, and offers them the opportunity to reflect on where they will be after death.

“It is a day that reminds us that we must die, and if we die, where do we go? Do we want to die forever or to live forever? If we want to live forever, then we have to be Christ-like. We have to be conscious of tomorrow and act as Christ did. Which means, we have to be in firm control of overselves, live good lives, be accommodating, loving, caring and also be children of God”, he said.

He stressed that Good Friday is also a day that reminds mankind that injustice must be wiped out from the earth. The question we should “ask ourselves is, why did Jesus die? What was the cause? Injustice!

“He did the will of God, he taught people the way God desired. He came to liberate us but because people wanted to remain where they were, they wanted to be rulers, they didn’t want anybody to disturb them in their secured positions, they had to put Him to death. So, it is a day really, we have to think of removing injustice from the face of the earth, bringing in love, peace, the consciousness of all of us being united as children of God,” he noted.

In the same vain, the Rivers District Superintendent, Assemblies of God Church, Nigeria, Rev Daddy Ibulubo, said the message of Good Friday is the message of how much God loved the world and gave His life for the survival of the entire humanity, so that the human race will be delivered from demonic operations, satanic affliction, sin and all its entanglements.

He said the greater lessons of Good Friday can be drawn from the circumstances of the ultimate dehumanisation of Jesus Christ, the Lord and Saviour of the world, the cooked up allegations, phony trial, eventual sentencing, remission of sin and the salvation of mankind.

To really highlight the pains Jesus went through on Good Friday, some churches usually dramatise the passion of Christ, His journey from Garden of Gethsameni, through the palace of Pontius Pilate where He was condemned to die, to Mount Calvary where He was crucified. In some churches like the Roman Catholic Church, members abstain from meat on Good Friday in reverence to the blood Jesus shed on that day. A lot of other Christians also engage in one form of mortification or another all in a bid to suffer with Jesus.

These are all commendable. But some people say Good Friday should not just be a physical expression of what Christians believe in.

Rather, it should be spiritual and carry a human face. Christians, they say should emulate the Lord and Saviour who expressed His love by His selflessness, compassion and kindness. By His love, He diminished distinction of tribes and tongues and brought all people together.

Nigeria needs these virtues more than anything now in order to move this nation forward.

Rev Ibulubo opined that the message of Good Friday will help in developing the nation when every Nigerian realises that He does not need to be selfish, noting that if Jesus had been selfish, He wouldn’t have come to save the world.

He said, “The Scripture says, “greater love has no man than for a man to lay down his life for his friends.” Today, we are talking about corruption in Nigeria. What is the root of corruption?

“It is selfishness, greed. Today, we’re talking about malpracticesof different kinds, different  kinds of evil that have permeated the lives of men and our nation. All of them have their root in selfishness.

“So, if we come to realise that we don’t need to be selfish, we don’t need to be self centred, that Christ has come to share this great love, we will be able to share love.” He wondered how some Nigerians would embezzle billions of naira belonging to the public and be happy to enjoy the looted fund while millions of the masses the money was meant for, continued to live in penury.

In his contribution, the Clerical Synod Secretary, Diocese of Niger Delta North, Anglican Communion, Ven Ken Onu said a major lesson of Good Friday is that both individually and as a nation, Nigerians should learn to fall back on God when faced with difficult situations.

He explained that prior to Jesus execution on Good Friday, there was both spiritual and emotional tension among the disciples and Jesus himself.

But when Jesus saw the agony of Good Friday, He went to pray, to be able to face the challenges before Him and that prayer empowered Him to go on.

“God has a plan for every one of us, but the accomplishment of that plan could be taskful. But when we get to the point of that tension, we should fall back on God. And when we fall back on God, He will give us the grace to pass through”, he admonished.

Ven Onu further stated that the Good Friday episode should also make Nigerians realise the need to support those in authority and do away with unhealthy competitions.

According to him, “we need to realise that salvation does not come to people through everybody. It is not common that when we go to a family, everybody is at par concerning wealth. There must be one person that is the pillar and we’ll support that person, not going to make unnecessary competition, because Peter, James, John had come to compete with Jesus, ‘no, it is not only you that will die, we would have missed the mark. So that’s the lesson, that if I see you as carrying a vision in Nigeria, I should support you. That’s how we can be a great nation”.

Explaining the Good Friday message further, he said the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on a cross calls for national teaching by families, churches, departments and others. He said people need to be taught the dangers of carrying arms and the importance of peace and unity.

“All of us come from villages and we know the criminals among us. This is the time to talk to ourselves, ‘this person you are killing in the name of so, so and so anger is a Nigerian: He is your brother, you buy from him, he buys from you. Your child may attend a school where his son or daughter is teaching. If you kill him, who will educate you tomorrow?.

We have to let our people realise that by blowing our one pipelines, we are destroying our ecosystem. And when we do it, our parents, brothers and sisters, by the time they eat fruits from the land, they eat poison and who has killed the person? It is not Shell but the man who blew the pipe”.

He emphasised the need for prayers, saying that Good Friday did not take place until Jesus spent time in prayer. “So, we need to go back to God in prayer. Not a prayer of let my enemy die, but a prayer of God help us to be useful to you and to one another”.

Good Friday indeed calls for more commitment and sacrifice in the promotion of peace and progress in the country. That is probably why Msgr Onwuli disagrees with some preachers who preach painless Christianity. He said hardship and suffering cannot be ruled out in the life of  a true followers of Jesus, adding, that anybody who preaches painless Christianity is not imitating Christ and will find it difficult to reach heaven.

“Jesus did not rule out cross in the life of anybody. He said if you want to be my follower, carry your cross everyday and follow me. Arriving at Heaven which is a happy journey goes with suffering as it was in the life of Jesus”, says Onwuli.

Onwuli, who is the secretary, Christian Association of Nigeria, Rivers State, re-echoed the need for Christians and other religions alike not to see Good Friday and Easter as merely another public holiday for merry making. He said it should instead be a moment for sober reflection on the future of the state and nation and make the nation a better place to live.

According to him, the commemoration of Good Friday should help us think of ways of building a unified, strong nation. His message, “the message of Good Friday can help us build our nation when all of us are ready to suffer for Nigeria. Nigeria should come first before the individual. The major problem we have in this country is my stomach my family, my town, my state before you start talking of Nigeria. Nigeria should come frist before the individual because if Nigria is  not there, your home may not be there, because your home is within the boundaries of Nigeria and it is Nigeria that gives your home a meaning.

“So, Nigeria must always be first in our lives and if we are ready to contribute to building Nigeria, we must be ready to suffer. Just like Jesus said, ‘seek ye first the kingdom of God and all other things shall be added unto you, I say seek ye the kingdom of Nigeria and all other things will be possible”.

Most importantly, Rev Ibulubo urged Nigerians particularly those in public service to be good ambassadors of Christ. He said Christians in elective positions should eschew corruption and similar vices, be ready to sacrifice their comfort for the comfort of the masses, to ensure that whatever comes through them should flow to better the society.

Obviously, if leaders, Christians and Nigerians in general should always bear in mind that Christ died for love, it will propel all to love one another and promote other people’s cause.

This way, Jesus’s death on the cross will help us build a nation we can all be proud of.

Calista Ezeaku