I have often wondered if the first disciples of Jesus felt it was appropriate to call the Friday Jesus died “good.” It is difficult to fathom how anything that took place that Friday afternoon could have been considered good. Trumped charges led to a bogus trial and led which to the execution of an innocent man. The circumstances of that day are anything but good.
This evening, during our services, we had a time of confession and repentance. It was a time where we could reflect and submit to God those sins holding us back from fully surrendering to God. It was a powerful moment. At the end of the service, I could see the slips of paper that had been laid upon the cross of Jesus. As I stood there looking at them, the following thought passed through my mind.
If these represent one confessed sin (among the many possibilities) of one fellowship of believers, how must have the cross looked to God when the sins of the world, for all time, were laid upon Jesus?
I was stunned by the reality of how our sinfulness had affected the purest life to have ever walked upon the earth. The unstained, undefiled, unadulterated beauty and perfection of Jesus was ravaged by our sin. He hung on a cross, suffering because if I had to do it I would go to hell. It was the innocence of Jesus that revealed the diabolical nature of our sin. We will never fully understand what the cross of Calvary means. We can experience its benefits. We can know we have been changed, redeemed, and set upon a new path. We just do not have the capacity to process all God did for us in Christ.
Today is Good Friday, not because it was good for Jesus, but because it was good for us!
Remember the sorrow this day represents, but look forward, for Sunday is yet to come. The following video is such a wonderful reminder of this simple reality.
(If you can’t see the video click HERE)
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