Good Friday: Why is it Good?3/29/2024 Photo by Alicia Quan on Unsplash 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. 1 Peter 2:24 ESV When I was a kid, I was very confused on why it was called Good Friday. God the Son was murdered in the most awful way possible. So why is it called good? Although I understand now what makes Good Friday “good,” I’m sure there are some still confused. It almost doesn’t feel right to call it Good Friday. I don’t think it is a bad thing to feel this way, in fact I think it is exactly how we should feel. Good Friday should be a day filled with joyful grief. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 ESV Good Friday is good because God the Son died as a sacrifice for our sin so that whoever believes in him will gain eternal life. “…without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22b ESV). Without Christ’s sacrifice we have no hope. If Christ is not nailed to the cross, if his blood was not poured out, our sins would not be forgiven. We would be left to pay sin’s eternal price. Thanks be to the Eternal Son of God who paid that price for us on the cross! “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV). Not only did God the Son take our sin but He also gives us His own righteousness. Jesus didn’t just wipe our sin debt to zero, he also added to our account His infinite righteousness. Considering this, we can see how just how GOOD, Good Friday is! There is overwhelming joy for those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ! Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Matthew 26:26-28 ESV Like I said above Good Friday should be a day filled with joyful grief. There is joy in knowing that we have peace with God, however, the price that had to be paid was great. Before Christ was betrayed, Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper. Good Friday and the Lord’s Supper should bring us joyful grief. The grief is in understanding that Christ suffered in such an awful way because of OUR sin. “But he was pierced for OUR transgressions; he was crushed for OUR iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5 ESV emphasis added). The sinless Holy Holy Holy Eternal Son of God, the one who created all things and holds all things together, was viciously mocked, beaten, and murdered because of OUR sin. His flesh being broken, and blood poured out, is the price that had to be paid to reverse the curse of OUR sin. We are so undeserving of His sacrifice. This makes me feel like the Psalmist who said “what is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man that you care for him?” (Psalm 8:4 ESV). The grief is in remembering what my depravity cost Christ, the joy is in His great love for me that He would die for me! “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8 ESV). Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” Revelation 5:11-13 ESV What ultimately makes Good Friday good is that God gets the glory! Good Friday was not an accident. Jesus’ death was not a mistake or miscalculation. Jesus’ death was an act of God’s sovereign providence. “Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief” (Isaiah 53:10a ESV). This was God’s plan from the beginning! The Lamb who was slain is the object of heaven’s worship! God is glorified in the redemption of man through the sacrifice of the Son of God. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Matthew 27:51a ESV The curtain in the temple represents the separation between God and man because of sin. On Good Friday when Christ died that curtain was torn, showing that through Christ, the Mediator between God and man, we have access to God. Today take time to confess your sins to the Lord and repent. Thank Him for dying for your sins, paying the price you could not. Then take time to join with the angels in heaven and sing “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain!” Grieve your sin with joy, knowing that Christ has paid the price! With joy remember Sunday is coming!
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The Humility of Christ3/28/2024 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. John 13:5 ESV
The day before Christ would go to the cross and die, He did something far beneath Him. When Jesus and His twelve disciples gathered in the upper room to celebrate the Passover meal, it was just them present. There was no servant there to wash their feet. None of the disciples volunteered to take that role and were satisfied to just have stinky, dirty feet. This was not just a servant’s job; it was usually reserved for the lowest servant. No one wanted this job. However, Jesus gets up to do this job. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones of dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Colossians 1:15-17 ESV Jesus is the Eternal Son of God. He is the creator of heaven and earth. He establishes thrones and dominions. He holds all things together. Yet He gets up, kneels, and does the work of a servant. In Luke’s gospel he tells us that during the Passover supper the disciples get in an argument over which one was the greatest. No wonder not even one of them thinks they should do the job of washing feet. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him “Lord, do you wash my feet?” Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” John 13:6-9 ESV Was Peter confused? Absolutely! Jesus’ response to Peter that “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me” shows us that Jesus washing their feet had a greater meaning. By Jesus doing the job of a servant and washing the disciple’s feet He was humbling himself. The next day Jesus will humble Himself even more so. The Son of God will be mocked, spat upon, beaten, and killed. With His own blood He will wash not feet but souls. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:3-11 ESV As Christians we are called to humility. The Eternal Son of God took on flesh. He humbled Himself as to become human. The Creator of the Universe came down to our level for what reason? To be beaten, mocked, and brutally killed and by doing be a sacrifice for our sin. God served man. As Christians we are to see Christ’s humble act of servanthood as an example to how we are to live our lives. The best way we can be humble and serve others is by sacrificing our time, energy, money, and effort to share the gospel with the world around us. As we enter the Easter weekend pray now and prepare now to share the gospel this weekend! To share the gospel, it will take time it may inconvenience your plans even. But count others more important than yourself. Count other’s eternal souls as more important than your plans. Count the glory of God through the spreading of the gospel more important than yourself! Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents |