What To Do With Good Friday

As we prepare our hearts for this coming Sunday, Easter Sunday, as many refer to it, or Resurrection Sunday as others prefer, it might be good for our souls to stop and pause to reflect on just what happened before Jesus rose triumphantly from the grave.

Today is Good Friday. The very name we have given it, calling it “Good” Friday, points to the victory over death and sin that Jesus secured on the cross and the resurrection that came on Sunday. But lest we lean towards taking this for granted, we should look back on the night before.

Having warned the disciples of what was about to happened, resulting in Peter’s over-confident ability in his flesh to stand behind Jesus all the way to death, Jesus spent Thursday night overwhelmed with grief.

Matthew 26:36-46  

Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.”  And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled.  Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.”  And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”  And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour?  Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”  And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.  So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again.  Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

Oddly, maybe because I struggle with depression and have spent many hours praying though them, the narrative of Jesus in the Garden praying, is one of my favorite passages to read. I just think it is an imperative to fully grasp what Jesus was feeling in this time of prayer.

Luke 22:44 reveals the anguish He was experiencing as it says that, “being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”

Jesus was in a state of despair and agony that I can only imagine was nearly unbearable.

But why? Though Jesus was fully man, He was also fully God and would have known the outcome. He knew the process of the actual crucifixion would last around six hours. Yes, He knew He would be facing a terrible beating before, that would have Him near death before they even nailed Him to the cross. He understood the pain and slow torture the cross would bring, so obviously he had good cause to agonize the night before. In His humanity, He knew pain and He knew the temptation to fear that we all have.

But even for the idea of all that pain, there was something far more horrendous and far more painful that He would endure and that is what drove Him to His knees in prayer, prayer so intense that he would sweat blood.

We must try and understand something that we cannot fully grasp and that is the concept of eternity and the concept of unity that transcends time.

Jesus, The Father, and The Holy Spirit had been in perfect unity and harmony for eternity. They had never known separation. Their bond of love and perfect unity is beyond our understanding. Our sin nature prevents us from having perfect relationships that are free of conflict. But the Holy Trinity is a perfect marriage that was never in conflict. And had never been pulled apart in any way.

We also fail to understand that we really have never been completely separated from God. Though our sin does separate us in the relationship, God’s omniscient nature and the Holy Spirit’s work means that God is always here. The unsaved are also under the umbrella and influence of God’s sovereignty at all times. The worst part of Hell will be that it will be a separation from God as we have also never known.

What Jesus suffered on the cross was that separation, that penalty for sin that we deserve. For Him to be separate from the Father and the Spirit, was an unbearable ordeal as the weight of every single person’s sin was heaped upon Him. The weight of our own sin is enough to drive many to suicide, imagine the weight of the entire world’s sin for all time being placed upon Him. It would have Him go to the Garden and pray in agony for another way. It would have Him cry out, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

So, today as we reflect on what this day is about, let us lament the sorrows of our sin. Let us repent with broken and contrite hearts. Let us remember exactly the price Jesus paid for us.

Then, when we get to Sunday, let us rejoice and worship God as we never have before. Let us lift high the name of Jesus. Let us commit to a life that is worthy of what he has done for us, walking in the power of the Spirit he has sent to live in us. Let us share the good news of the Gospel to all who do not know Him.

Finding Hope Even in the Midst of Evil

Easter Sunday, the day we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. It is the pinnacle of the yearly calendar to the Christian. Even many of the unsaved will flock to churches today in response to the holiday, not because they believe in Jesus or in His resurrection, but for varying reasons, such as, Mom asked them to, they go. Why is Easter Sunday so popular? Because whether we are avid followers of Christ or merely go to church to keep mom happy, humans need hope and if nothing else, there is hope found in this concept of resurrection.

It seems appropriate that my morning reading and study this morning finds me here.

Romans 8:28

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

It is easy on Easter morning to have hope while sitting in a church, wearing your Sunday best clothes, next to your family who loves you, with a nice ham in the oven at home, where all will gather for a nice meal and a fun day watching your children hunt down little plastic eggs filled with candy on a beautiful spring day.

But what about all those out there this morning who just lost a loved one to addiction? Or whose little boy went missing last week and whose little body was dragged from a lake Saturday morning? Or whose body is made weak with cancer that has spread into parts of their body that will not only inflict severe pain, but will at its peak, take the life of someone who is only in their thirties? The truth is, this world is filled with all sorts of horrible and terrifying events. There is evil and there is suffering all across this world. How do we live with any sense of peace and hope in the midst of such dreadful suffering?

The answer is found in Romans 8:28.

Romans 8:28

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

First of all, we see that the promise is only for those who love God. We also see that it is for those who are called according to His purposes. The truth of the words that tell us this are deeply theological and profound. Maybe you do not understand them. Maybe you misunderstand them. While it is important to seek the deep theological aspects of knowing God, that is not the necessary requirement of salvation. Faith is what saves us. Ephesians 2:8 tells us that “by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”

Maybe you are reading this and not sure that you are called by God to have this saving faith. But I offer that if you are reading this and even asking this question, then you are being led by God, through the conviction of the Holy Spirit, to seek to know Him. As long as you have breath, you can reach out to Jesus and call on His name. Jesus said this in John 6:37, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” If you call on His name, He will never cast you out.

This is where the great promise of Romans 8:28 kicks in for those who love God. It tells us that “for those who love God all things work together for good.” This might be the greatest promise of the Bible. If you hang around with me long, you will find that it is a verse I hold dear to me heart. God has made an unbelievable promise here. He has promised that if you are His by faith in His Son, Jesus, then every single thing that ever occurs in your life, He is working out for good.

The death of Christ is the perfect example. Imagine the wonders and joy of having Jesus as your friend and teacher who you spent every day with for three years and then is suddenly arrested for doing nothing wrong, given a bogus trial and is wrongly convicted, and sentenced to death, and then killed in the most excruciating way possible, hung on a cross to die a slow death. What could be any more devastating than that?

Yet, the death of Christ was the means by which sinful, evil people, could be saved from the penalty of their own sins and would result in eternal life spent in the presence of God, where suffering and pain will no longer exist. God worked it all out for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purposes. This is the hope of Easter Sunday. We. Like Christ, can be resurrected to new life.

That new life never promises an earthly life of ease, no it actually promises Christians will face suffering, persecution, and difficult circumstances. But the promise God in Romans 8:28 is that no matter what we face on earth, He is working it out for good.

Everything. Bad or good is being worked out by God for good. Everything.

So, this morning if you are Christ’s, if you have been led to call on the name of Jesus, then you can know that whatever has happened, whatever is happening, whatever will happen, is being worked out for good by our God.

If you are not Christ’s but you feel Him calling you to reach out to Him, then He will use all these things in your life for good as He causes you to call on His name, even in desperation and a sense of hopelessness, for there is hope in Him and that hope is a sure hope.

Today is Easter Sunday. It is Resurrection Sunday. Call on Jesus. He will resurrect you to new life and cause you to be born again. The promise of scripture will be yours and you can live in joy no matter the circumstances you find yourself in.

I leave you with this wonderful description of the life of the Christian as we are led by our Great Shepherd.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness

for his name's sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord

forever.

Happy Easter!

The Story of Easter - What It Means

Tomorrow the churches will be full. Some will go to church who haven’t given Jesus a single thought out the whole year. Others have casually considered Him. But there is a question to ask yourself. It is from Isaiah 53:1

“Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?”

The answer determines our eternal fate. Easter Sunday is more than family day at church. More than Easter egg hunts and baskets of candy. It is a day to seriously understand the history of why all this fuss happens twice a year; once on Christmas and once on Easter. Those are fun days for our kids and I am not against any of that. But at some point, we need to get serious and understand the truth. That truth is found in Isaiah. Take a minute to read the truth.

Isaiah 53:2-12
 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?
 His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth. But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.

Take hold of the salient points of this scripture reading.

“He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him.”

Our transgressions. Our iniquities. Our chastening. It all fell upon Him.

“All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way.”

All of us. We’ve gone astray. Each of us. Tuned to our own way.

Yet He was without sin. He was the perfect man. He was holy in all ways.

“His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.”

He was the perfect sacrifice.

Check this out. Imagine how much you love your children. God’s love for His Son was far greater than ours because God’s love, unlike ours, is perfect love. But listen.

“But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief.”

God was pleased to allow His only Son to suffer as He did.

Why?

John 3:16
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

That my friends is what Easter is about. Enjoy the egg hunt. Relish the morning time with your kids as they enjoy their candy. Dress everybody up and go to church tomorrow. Celebrate.

But then commit every day, every moment to loving God with all your heart, soul, and mind. Humble yourself before God. Admit it is you who put Christ on the cross and then believe every word of the scriptures and trust only in Jesus for your salvation. Make every day from this moment a day of worship, praise, and thanksgiving to Almighty God.

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Happy Easter!