Reflections on Good Friday

I Corinthians 15:1, 3-4, “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, (NJKV)

Good Friday is really good for those who have come to the foot of the cross of Jesus, in repentance and faith. It is a commemoration for Christians of the ultimate and final sacrifice for the sins of the world. Through a cruel and grueling death, Christ gave His life—His body wreathed in pain, so the sick could be healed. He felt abandonment, so the rejected could be accepted. He knew no sin, but became sin, so sinners could be forgiven. 

Would you take a moment and read these words of Max Lucado as he writes about the Love of God that was revealed as well as declared on Good Friday as Jesus took our place on the cross.

Can a holy God overlook our mistakes? Should a kind God punish our mistakes? From our perspective there are only two equally unappealing solutions. But from God’s perspective there’s a third. It’s called “the Cross of Christ.” The cross is where God forgave his children without lowering his standards.

How could he do this? In a sentence: God put our sin on his Son and punished it there. “God put on him the wrong who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God” (2 Corinthians 5:21 MSG). Why did he do it? Because “God so loved the world that he gave his only son.” (John 3:16 NLT). Aren’t you glad the verse doesn’t read: “For God so loved the rich”? Or “For God so loved the famous?” No we simply (and happily) read: “For God so loved the world!” And you are included in that love! (Max Lucado) (Emphasis added)

Good Friday Prayer

We wait, on Friday, for the resurrection of Sunday
And sometimes our lives seem a succession of Fridays
And we cannot see what is “Good.”
Teach us to call your name
As Jesus did.
Make us to trust in you like little children.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
- Rachel Marie Stone