Holy Week: "Good" Friday - Denise Pass
Matthew 27:45-46
Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
1 Peter 2:24
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
Not every culture refers to Good Friday as “good”. To the casual observer, God being crucified cruelly on a cross is not a good thing. The day when God the Son chose to be rejected by God the Father in order to save the entire world is not adequately described by the word “good” either.
In His justice and righteousness, our Holy God exacted a punishment and a consequence for sin. The wages or cost of our sins was death. We were in need of an intermediary, but the perpetual slaughter of animals could not cleanse us of our habitual sin pattern.
In the middle of that desperate need, God provided Himself as the sacrificial Lamb. Bearing all of the abuse, infirmity and suffering in all the world, He, for the “joy” set before Him, chose to pay our debt.
How is it that we should obtain such grace? That the One Who made us and saw every sinful inclination of our hearts would look on us with love and choose to die, knowing we were enemies and cheering on His death?
One of my biggest pet peeves is fake people – when people pretend to be my friend but talk about me behind my back or secretly plot harm against me. They think I do not see. Christ was not fooled, either. We are all just as guilty of unfaithfulness before our God Whose costly sacrifice was given on our behalf, even while we faltered in our devotion to Him.
Jesus did not entrust Himself to any man, but He gave Himself for every man.
The most powerful Being was the most humble, lavishly loving those Who were not worthy of such love.
With such a sacrifice offered for us, may God help us to die, too – to sin – and live Holy lives to bring Him glory and others to salvation. His death seemed like an end, but Christ conquered death in dying when He overcame the cross and the grave. Now that is not just good news, but the best news ever.
Lord, thank You for dying for us. We can never thank You enough. Help us to live grateful lives, spent sharing the message of the cross and the empty tomb. You are Good, God, and all You do is good.
