A Very Good Day
Good Friday is celebrated by many in remembrance of Jesus' gruesome death and it's considered 'good' because without that death, there would have been an unmet penalty. And humanity would've been looked to for debt collection. Sin had entered the world way back when Lucifer fell from Heaven. And it entered humanity after Adam and Eve bit from that tree. Ever since then, sin has been running rampant. But God knew that sin would come and He knew it would bring with it a divide between the people He created and His holy self. So He lovingly left His home and entered ours. He took on our form and allowed Himself to be killed. No, not killed, murdered. No, destroyed. The Bible states that due to the atrocious whipping that Jesus endured, His body was destroyed beyond recognition.** Can you imagine that? Being beaten past being recognized? And what's more is that Jesus did this while we were still sinners.** While we were still against Him. Not thinking of Him. He didn't look at our awfulness and decide to wait until we got it together before He saved us. He knew we needed saving and He showed us mercy (He delighted in and desired to help us in our weakness) and laid down His life to rescue us.
He had thick, weighty nails (or spikes) hammered into His flesh. They tore through arteries and blood vessels and connected, secured Him to the cross from which He hung. And all of this while He was awake. Radiated doesn't even begin to describe how the pain was throughout His body. And let's not forget that crown He wore which penetrated His scalp with its thorny fingers. It was driven into His head so that the wind would not have been able to remove it if it blew. And all this, Jesus did for us. While we were far from Him... in every way we could be. He took on the pain and anguish of the world, the sickness and disease of the world, the death of the world, the brokenness. The sin.
Jesus took on the sin which humanity owned and wore it as His personal garment. And as He did that, He felt our separation from the Father as if He himself had sinned. But of course, Jesus is sinless. The only truly perfect one. And that is why this sacrifice was sufficient. It was enough. Way back in the day, whenever there needed to be an atonement for sin, before Jesus was alive, people would take innocent, pure lambs and kill them as a sacrifice for their wrongdoing. But Jesus did away with that method on that Good Friday and that is why He is called (among many things) the Lamb of God. He was and is the spotless and sinless one Who is the only one capable of removing the stain of sin. And we needn't look for another sacrifice. None other can nor will ever be found. Jesus is enough and the grace that He gives us is enough to cover our humanity so that we may have fellowship with Him again like Adam and Eve enjoyed before things got ugly.
His sacrifice does not only serve as a way to reunite us to Himself, but as a source of healing. The Scriptures put it this way... He was wounded for our sins and bruised for our iniquities, the punishment for our peace was upon Him and by His stripes, we are healed and made whole.** So what does that even mean? It means that we can receive healing from the pain that Jesus suffered; physical, mental, spiritual healing. It means that we do not have to be tortured with mental illness forever because Jesus defeated that as He wore His crown of thorns. It means He knows the anguish we feel. He is aquatinted with the hurt we go through.** And He rules over it.
But how can that be? Jesus died and was even buried on that Friday.
Just wait my friends. A lot can happen in three days.
And Sunday is coming.
Romans 5:8; Isaiah 53:5; Hebrews 4:15
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