Good Friday?
Good Friday... What an odd way to describe this significant day. There really wasn't much good about this day at all- it was actually quite awful! Jesus went through intense suffering and died on this day and yet we call it good- this seems so odd to me!
Carl's sermon last Sunday was amazing. It gave me many different insights and revelations on what actually happened on this day 2005 and years ago. I have heard this story many times in my life- it is often very sugar coated and watered down to the point that it doesn't mean very much any more, well maybe it never meant much to me before. I was always grateful for the results of Christ work on the cross, but I never understood it from His perspective and what the cost was for my salvation that I so selfishly receive as He so generously gives it.
Now it is overwhelming to even get a hint of the cost that Christ pain for my life. I am so grateful for what He has done. I am so thankful for my Savior- I need Him desperately.
Jesus wept as he took on our pain, our sin and our sufferings. He was perfect and with out sin- but yet He took on the sin of everyone everywhere. We think- of course He can do this because He was God. Yes, He was God... but He was God in human form with our human limitations and that is very important to remember.
It was not a nail that kept Him on the cross. It was not that He could not get down from the cross in an instant if He didn't want to endure it any longer. He could easily have just moved his hands and feet and come down- but it was his intense and passionate love that held him on the cross- that was stronger than any nail through a tree.
Jesus could see the legions of angels all around Him wanting to rescue Him and save Him from dying this horrible and shameful death. But Jesus did not call on them for assistance. His love held Him on the cross. His love for you and His love for me.
This hurt Him, physically yes... but it pierced His spirit even more! He was separated from God and God was separated from Him. He did not know exactly how the outcome would be for Him. He was acting by faith in this moment that He was the Messiah and the Son of God. Faith held them on the cross even through His questioning of His father- "My God, my God why have you forsaken me?"
This had to break God's heart as well! It is written that the curtain in the temple was ripped in two when Jesus was crucified. These curtains were very thick and they blocked the way from the Holy of Holies which is where it was believed that God dwelt. The temple is God's dwelling place. By Him ripping the curtain in two it was as if He was rending His garments. All throughout history the rending of garments was used as a symbol of great morning and deep anguish and pain. God did this. He rended His garments over His intense grief. He was separated from His son and it broke His heart. All of creation cried out in anguish, the earth quaked and the sky turned black on this day 2005 years ago and yet we call it good?
Here is another interesting theological thought: Have you ever thought that the devil might have been trying to convince Jesus to come down off the cross? It is a question that Carl asked me the other day. It has really got me thinking about it all differently.
Satan knew that Jesus was the Messiah and that if He completed the work on the cross that the power of sin and death would be broken forever- basically that satan's power would be broken forever! I believe satan was well aware of this because he studies the scriptures and knows them. When he tempted Jesus in the wilderness he used scriptures in his temptations. Since the scriptures prophecy of Jesus, I am confident that satan saw these prophecies being fulfilled in Jesus and that he knew what was at stake in this moment as Jesus hung on the cross.
Jesus was tempted 3 different times to come down off of the cross and to save himself. I think satan was behind those temptations. I do not think satan actually wanted Jesus to die because he knew all that would be lost as a result of Christ's love and obedience to His father's will.
So you see Jesus was amazing. He held himself on the cross selflessly. No one and nothing forced Him to be there. It was His great love that held Him there. He was thinking of you as He hung there. He was whispering your name as encouragement to remain in the intense pain because He knew what He was doing was worth it. He knew it would mean He could share an eternity with you if you choose to believe in His finished work.
He chose you and has called you by name. All He desires is you to come as you are and embrace Him and all He has accomplished in the cross. To believe that He is the only Way and Life. To believe He is and that His work is finished for you. What He did was enough- more than enough to bring you into everlasting life with Him. Your part is to choose that life abiding with Him. The life lived by faith. He simply desires you!
There is obviously so much more to Christ and what He did on the cross. It is beautifully complex and beyond what my human mind can comprehend. I am simply grateful and in awe of His sacrifice for me.
posted by Kellie # 11:25 AM
