Good Friday

We call it Good Friday. And since it is when Jesus died for our sins, it is a very Good Friday.

But it wasn't good for those who actually lived through the events. Can you imagine what this day was like for them?

As Jesus suffered, His mother Mary stood faithfully beside Him watching these events unfold. She witnessed the treatment He received from the Roman soldiers; she saw them nail the spikes into His hands and feet; she saw them raise the cross and slam it into its hole in the ground. She saw her son take His last earthly breath. On that Friday she experienced what Simeon the prophet had foretold many years before: "a sword will pierce your own soul." [Luke 2:35] That Good Friday her soul was pierced.

This day was not a Good Friday for the disciples either. One of their trusted friends, a comrade they had shared life with, turned into a betrayer. Consequently, Jesus was ripped from them. Fear gripped their hearts. Peter pledged to stand with Jesus no matter what happened. But within a few hours, he denied that he even knew the Lord. And the rest of the disciples? Most of them had already fled the scene by the time Peter denied Jesus.

And on that Good Friday, Jesus suffered. He suffered at the hands of the Jews; He suffered in the hands of the Romans. He prayed that if it be the will of the Father that this cup would pass from Him. But it was the will of the Father for Him to bear the shame, the mocking, the beatings, the desertions. And beyond all understanding it was the will of the Father to turn His back on His holy, beloved Son as the sin of the world was cast upon Him.

Therefore Jesus cried,
“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”

I can still hear that cry echoing through the pages of time. The holy, beloved Son was alone, separated from His Abba, Father as He bore my sin.

..."why have you forsaken me?”




How can it be that you and I are the answer to that question?

"The Lord Jesus Christ gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen." [Galatians 1:4] Amen and amen!

It is Good Friday.