Good Friday

What does Good Friday mean to you? To many people it is a day off from work or school or the beginning of Spring Break. Maybe you should take a moment today to think about what Good Friday represents in your life.

On this day over two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ was ridiculed, beaten, spit upon and abandoned by the majority of those who had been cheering his entry into Jerusalem just days before. Matthew 27 shows us a glimpse of what transpired that day:

27Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said. 30They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. 31After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

Sometimes our actions have the same result on Jesus as the actions of the Roman soldiers. When we live our lives far from him, we are ridiculing Him and mocking Him. Are you taking His sacrifice for granted?

The humiliation is carried out to the very extreme as Jesus takes the weight of the world's sin upon his back. Matthew 27 further describes the events of that fateful day so long ago:

45From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. 46About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" 47When some of those standing there heard this, they said, "He's calling Elijah." 48Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. 49The rest said, "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to save him." 50And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. 51At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. 52The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. 54When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, "Surely he was the Son of God!"

On Good Friday, Jesus paid the ultimate price for us. There could be no darker moment in history than at that time on the cross. The Son of God died for us.

Take a moment and reflect on your Good Friday. What difficulties are in your life? Have you lost a job, lost a loved one, are you having financial difficulties? Is there something in your life keeping you from walking close with Jesus? Don't give up! For as we will see, this is not the end of the story. There is hope. A brighter day is ahead.