Good Friday 2017

Welcome to Good Friday. That title has always been a little confusing to me. Growing up there was the joke that went around saying it was good because we got out of school and it was typically good weather so we could enjoy the day off.

I would find out later that it was called Good Friday because on this day around 33AD, Jesus Christ was crucified for the sins of the world (Matthew 27; Mark 15; Luke 23; John 19).

How could something that was so brutal, so shameful, so wrong be considered good in any sense? What sadistic person said, “Let’s remember this day as something good and put it on the calendar to remind us!”?

I’m not sure who that person was, but I am so grateful that they did.  It is days like this that I am reminded of just how often that God wants us to see that there is so much more than what appears on the surface.

The saddest day in history is also one of the greatest.  On this day… on that hill called Golgotha/Calvary… the Son of God took the sins of the world and dealt with them!  It turns my stomach to think about all that Jesus went through – the mockery, the shame, the beatings, the torture – it was all because of my sin.  All that junk that Jesus went through was meant for me.  But because of the love that God has for us, He took it so I didn’t have to.

May this day be so much more than another “day off” for us.  My prayer is that it would be a day of reflection… a day that we remember the high price that Jesus was willing to pay just to redeem us.  If anyone needs any proof that they are cared about, they need only to turn their eyes to that hill called Calvary and see God hanging there with arms wide open saying, “I love you this much!”

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Silent Saturday

Anxious days.

I can't stand anxious days. Those days when you know something is coming (or you hope so), and you have to wait for it. Yesterday, I did good with the wait of my birthday present. I was told what it would be (new iPad mini) but had to wait until Friday to go get it. On the way, we had a make a detour due to a child who got carsick.

With all the wait, I thought back to a moment when I was a little child and waiting on Christmas morning. I laid there all night long awaiting what would greet me under the tree that morning.

This morning my thoughts went back to what seems to me the most anxious day in the history of mankind: the Saturday between the crucifixion and the resurrection.

Think about it.

There was all kinds of emotions swirling as Jesus paid our sin debt upon the cross. The skies turning black at midday. The earthquake. The veil in the Temple tearing. There is no doubt that Friday was a full day.

We look now and know that that Sunday morning was filled with excitement as Jesus proved to be exactly who He said He was. He defeated death and hell! The new life that God promised was finally available to those who would believe in Jesus!

That Saturday in between had to be the worst day of history. The anxiousness of the day would have done me in. After coming down from the emotions of Friday only to be welcomed by thoughts and maybe small reminders of Jesus' words...

For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. (Matthew 12:40 HCSB)

Those thoughts I believe would have torn me to pieces. Would He really be back? What would happen on that third day? So many questions. But Jesus answered them all on Sunday morning when He said, "I'm back!"

How will you spend this day of pondering? I would encourage you to think about the price Jesus paid for your sins - He gave His life. Let that prepare you for the celebration that will take place all across our globe Sunday morning, as the Church declares: "He is risen!"

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