And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many of God’s people who had died were raised to life.

Matthew 27:50-52

It’s Good Friday. I’ve always thought it strange that this day is called “good” when it’s the day Jesus died a brutal death on the cross. Today we are on the dying side of Easter.  The wrong side of the fence.

But then…it does make sense in a weird sort of way when I consider my day. I woke up late this morning, took my depression meds, kicked myself for the mistakes I made yesterday, and immediately felt overwhelmed by everything I need to do today. Just a normal day.

Don’t we, in some way or another, fight with death every day? Good Friday is the recognition of the dark and dying side of our beat up, imperfect lives.

Matthew 27:50-52 is one of my favorites bits of scripture. Because get this: at the moment Jesus died, the curtain of the temple was torn. That curtain supposedly separated the holy space of the temple from the unholy space of us. At the moment Jesus died, there was no more separation.

Jesus tore down the fence between us and God.

This pic is one of many I have taken in Over-the-Rhine. I’m drawn to OTR partly because there it’s clear how close death and life are to each other; just as death and life are close within each of us, and within our world.

The words on the wall and hidden behind the trash are: Repair, Rebuild, Restore.

Do you see the fence? On the other side, there is life.

That’s the fence that Jesus tore.