Read John 18-19; Matthew 27; Mark 15; Luke 23
Good Friday. Sounds like a oxymoron - a contradiction of terms, doesn't it? Really. How can the day we honor the death of our Lord and Saviour be 'good'?
We don't even really know how the term originated. Cruising around the internet, some countries say it was derived from 'God's Friday'; some countries say that it actually means Great or Holy Friday; some countries call it Long Friday; and some call it Sorrowful or Suffering Friday. These do sound more appropriate and make sense to our finite minds, don't they?
I've come to believe that what make this day 'good' is that it turns the hearts of God's people, and even those who are yet to come into His grace and mercy, a time to really think about what Jesus did for us. What Father gave up.
He was led like a lamb to slaughter. He was beaten and whipped and bruised and his body was unrecognizable - Isaiah 51:13-15.
Some other tidbits of what may have occurred to someone who was cruelly crucified... excerpt from:
Turn down sound - piano is kinda loud.
- His skin was whipped off (Psalm 22:17),
- His beard was torn out of his cheeks (Isaiah 50:6),
- They spit in His face (Matthew 26:67),
- His head pierced with thorns (Mark 15:17),
- His face beaten to a pulp. He was unrecognizable. The Bible says that Jesus' face was more marred than ANY man (Matthew 26:67; Isaiah 52:14; Mark 14:65),
- His hands and feet were nailed through with spikes (John 20:25; Colossians 2:14),
- His side pierced with a spear after He died (John 19:34).
For those who have children, who have sent them off to war and have lost them, I'm sorry for your loss. I believe that comes very close to what Father felt by sending His only Son to earth - to a battle that He knew would end (at least for a time) in the death of His Son. Father had never turned His face away from His Son, but the Bible records Matthew and Mark that Jesus cried out Eli, Eli, Lema Sabachthani? MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME? Until then, Jesus had always sensed or KNEW Father was with Him, but He could no longer sense Father because of all the sin of all of us and those before us and those ahead of us was on Him.
I saw this morning that the traditional view that God turned His Face away, was really not the case. Father had to look on the sin in order to judge it and to judge Jesus. As I write this, there are tears in my eyes because I know the times that I've FELT Father or Jesus wasn't with me, but Jesus felt it millions of times more.
So, for us the 'good' part of today, is in remember that there was the One God, Who sent His Only Son, to die for our sins so that if we accept what He's done for us and ask forgiveness of our sins and invite Him to come into our hearts - He will. He promises He will forgive all our sins, because He's already taken them, we only need to receive it.
Above All - Michael W. Smith
I am so loving the blog. -z
ReplyDeleteThank you.... me too :)
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