As I thought about what to write about today I began to think back to when I was a kid and I struggled so bad with calling this "Good Friday". I could remember thinking how bad that sounded because I didn't quite understand what made it so good...I mean Jesus died today? However, today I see how not just Good this day is....but how Great it is because of Jesus! He had to die to be raised and live again!
Because of Easter messages, TV shows and movies, this day is probably the day that people know the most about, so I won't go into all the details. We know the words Jesus proclaimed just days before did happen, and we know prophecy was fulfilled....all in one day.
The journey to the cross begins when the priests took Jesus to Caiaphas. Caiaphas would be the first to start the line of questioning to Jesus with the point blank question of "are you the Son of God?". And Jesus would say He was. This angered them and they accused Jesus of blasphemy. They did not have the authority to kill Jesus, so they hit Him with with their fists, slapped Him, spit on him and made fun of Him.
Next they took Jesus to the governor, Pilate, to convince Him to have Jesus killed. Pilate asked Jesus if He was the king of the Jews. And Jesus said He was. The priests brought accusations against Jesus, but with each thing they said, Jesus would not defend Himself. He would answer their questions, but Jesus knew who He was and what He had done, so there was nothing to defend. Pilate, (even after trying to send Jesus to Herod so He did not have to make this decision), did not want to have to make this choice, so he decided to allow the crowd to make the choice and release 1 prisoner. (due to a holiday custom of that time) After seeing how the crowd loved Jesus just a week before, he thought for sure they would release Jesus, but they did not. Instead they insisted Barrabas (a hated murderer) be released and that Jesus be crucified. Pilate washed his hands of the situation, gave the crowd what they wanted (even against his wife's wishes), and gave Jesus over to the soldiers to be beaten....and crucified.
From this point on, Jesus Christ, a perfect man, a man who knew NO sin, a man who did NO wrong, a man who taught and gave and healed and loved, was treated worse than probably any human in recorded history....They took Jesus and stripped Him naked...as if to destroy any dignity Jesus had. They tied Jesus to a post and literally took turns beating Jesus with a whipping tool we would today call a "cat of nine tails". This "tool" would have had several whips connected into 1 handle with shards of glass or or metal chunks so that as it hit the skin of Jesus, it would have ripped out chunks of flesh from Him. I say this not be grotesque in my description, but so you can imagine the immense pain that Jesus' body would have gone through. And then at some point through all of this they dressed Him in a scarlet robe and mocked Him as a king. Even pressing a crown made of thorns down onto His head and continued to hit Him in the head with a stick. Pressing the thorns deeper down into his skin. They hit Him, spit on Him and mocked him. I'm not one for Hollywood drama, but if you have seen The Passion of the Christ, then I would say it is one time that they could not have "overdone" the beating they showed Jesus receiving. There is no denying that it was brutal....extremely brutal. Even to the point that it is noted He could not even carry His own cross to Golgotha, and someone had to carry it for him to the place He would be nailed and hung on a cross to die.
God's word goes on to tell us that even while Jesus was on the cross He was mocked, and tortured worse. And He took it all until He took His last breath. And in that moment Jesus said the words "It is finished", and He died. And it was...The part on this earth that Jesus was sent to do, was done. It was 33 1/2 years of Jesus life...and roughly 3 years of His ministry...all to come to this moment, to this place. And in that moment, everything that God sent Jesus to do had been done. And the Word says the veil in the temple was ripped from top to bottom. And something that has been destroyed by the first sin in the garden, was now available again. We now had direct relationship with God again. Jesus died and would raise again 3 days later to defeat sin and death. No longer would "the law" and "works" be needed to have a relationship with God. Jesus paid it all so that we could be SET FREE. He took what we deserved, and He opened a new way for us to be IN fellowship with our creator.
No matter how hard I would try, the pain that both Jesus and God had to feel that day is beyond the description of words. Both God and Jesus went through this out of their own free will. Jesus took this upon Himself. He was not forced into this, He ALLOWED it to happen. And God ALLOWED it to happen to His son. So when you think about Grace and Forgiveness...when you think about the fact that you can pray to God in Jesus' name....when you think about the relationship that you may take for granted that you have with God....please remember what was done for YOU.
God....today as I lift up a prayer to you I find myself at a loss for many words. All I can utter when I think about this day is...Thank You and I Love You. In Jesus name, Amen
I would highly recommend taking 9 minutes out of your day to watch the following video. I have seen it several times, and it still tears me up to listen to how Judah Smith describes God's unending, unconditional love for us. Barrabas Video by Judah Smith
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