GOOD FRIDAY 2011
Behold I will do something new,
Now it will spring forth;
Will you not be aware of it?
I will make a roadway in the wilderness,
Rivers in the desert.
Isaiah 43:19
This bible verse shows how God designs a way to change things from bad to good. Like making a path for the desert traveler, and providing life-giving water along the way. Like making a path to Him as we walk in our life through this dry land.
Verse 25 of the same chapter explains how He does it:
I, even I am the one who
Wipes out your transgressions
For my own sake;
And I will not remember your sins.
Why is today called “Good Friday?” To commemorate the terrible suffering and death of Jesus Christ on a cross.
Oh, someone will say that Good Friday is a “Christian” holiday. Yep. It was Christ who died. If you think long on the details of the day, you might imagine it should be called Bad Friday. An innocent man was put to death, a gruesome, tortuous, painful death… because God was changing things from bad to good. Since he was doing it for you and for me, it really is Good.
Here’s the reality:
Jesus, Son of God, born of Mary, fully God and fully man, lived a perfect life on earth and taught us how to follow Him. But we continue to come up short. He never sinned; we keep sinning. If God the Father were to have judged his Son’s earthly life, he would have found him blameless, innocent, perfect. We, however, under that same scrutiny, would be found guilty of our sin and our penalty would include eternal separation from God. He desires to have us abide with him. He is perfect and pure and will not have sin in his presence.
In order to change this bad hopeless scenario into something good, a good man had to bear the penalty of the bad. That’s the way God’s perfect justice works. It’s his design.
Jesus, who was good, was judged by God and found guilty as if bad, because he voluntarily carried all the sins of the world with Him to the cross. In his death Jesus was essentially separated from his Father.
This is why he uttered at the end, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” ans “It is finished,” literally, “Paid in Full.” This is why the whole earth went dark for three hours at the moment he died, starting at mid-day. This is why, in solemn observance, Tree of Life Nursery closes every year at noon on Good Friday.
The story doesn’t end here. Jesus’ body was placed into a dark tomb.
But wait! Wait for Sunday! Exactly as he had promised, Jesus rose from the grave on the third day. From deep darkness came a great light.
He lives today as the eternal resurrected Christ… the light of the world. He is risen. He is risen indeed! We wish you a very Happy Easter. Reflect on these truths, as they form the basis of our faith.
Just as he promised, God continues to do “something new” in the lives of all who follow Jesus.
“I will make a roadway in the wilderness,
Rivers in the desert.”
Blessings,
ME