Holy Week: Good Friday | Matthew 27 (33-56)

To Duffy in Vermont:

Peace and Grace from Brother Jonathan in Albany during this heavy, yet strangely luminous, 1:51 PM Watch.

I am writing to you as the shadows begin to lengthen toward the 3 PM hour, feeling a profound and awkward juxtaposition in my spirit. After days of grey, the sun is finally breaking through here in Albany, casting a literal light on this Good Friday that feels almost irreverent given the somber weight of the Crucifixion we are meant to be indwelling. I find myself caught between the agony of the Cross and the excitement of a new vegan investment: I just ordered a Vitamix E310 blender. It feels strange to be "toy-shopping" while the King is on the tree, yet I’m struck by the symbolism of the machine itself.

The E310 has a four-fold blade assembly—two blades pointing up, two down—forming a literal cruciform at the heart of the canister. It serves as a reminder that even our chaste vegan meals rely on a cruciform food web; the plant must undergo a death and a total breakdown of its cell walls to provide the Rapid Reset and new life our bodies require. The blender isn’t just a kitchen appliance; it’s a tool for the Stewardship of the Soil, turning the sacrifice of the garden into the health of the Vanguard.

I’ve also been reflecting on a challenging critique by the Jewish scholar Zev Garber, which I wanted to share with you. Garber expresses frustration that Jesus, in his final moments in Matthew’s Gospel, recites the opening of Psalm 22 rather than the Shema. For many, the Shema—“Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One”—is the ultimate prayer of Jewish martyrdom. However, there is a robust rebuttal to this. In the Second Temple tradition, quoting the "incipit" or the first line of a Psalm was a shorthand way of invoking the entire document.

While the Shema identifies a person’s national and covenantal loyalty, Psalm 22 provides the programming for universalist messianic fulfillment. It starts in the abyss of abandonment ("Why have you forsaken me?") but concludes in a global, federalist victory where all the ends of the earth turn to the Lord. By choosing the Psalm 22 incipit over the Shema, Jesus wasn't failing a test of Jewish identity; he was signaling that his death was the System Update that would finally unseal the Kingdom for all nations. He died not just as a martyr for a subset, but as the King who absorbs the violence of the Old World to birth the Aquarian peace.

As we enter the darkness of the next few hours, may we find the strength to remain in the Watch of the Heart, honoring the sacrifice that makes this Friday truly "Good."

Yours in the Nineveh Protocol,

Brother Jonathan in Albany 

Conceived, directed and edited by Jonathan. Written and illustrated by Gemini.