Good Friday

I am watching the sun rise over the top of my computer as I write this post.......as I sit here and reflect upon what this day means to believers.

Why is the day that Jesus died a cruel and humiliating death on a rough hewn cross called "good?"

This day in the life of Jesus is "good" because it is the fulfilment of God's plan of salvation for His people who were born under the debt of sin....a debt we could never repay, a situation we could never get ourselves out of without God's direct intervention.

Starting with the Lord's Supper on the eve of Jesus' death until three days later when Christ rose from the grave victorious, these events were the fulfilment of God plan of grace for His loved ones.

Yes it was for Jesus a humanly excruciating time. Read Jesus' prayer in the garden of Gethsemane......

Luke 22:42 "Father, if Thou art willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Thine be done."

In all of the gruesomeness of His situation and what lay ahead the next day.....He prayed for God's will to be done......

What was God's will? That Jesus would die and by his blood pay the penalty of our sin (rebellion) against God.

So "good" describes His death on the cross for us who believe.......

It was good that Jesus did the will of His Father planned before the foundation of the earth.
It was good that God did not remove "this cup" from Jesus.
It was good that He died on the cross on this "Good Friday."

Jesus prayed on the cross, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing."

The Jewish leaders of the day who allowed Jesus to be crucified didn't know that they were part
of God's sovereign plan of salvation for all people.

May today be a time of great reverence and awe for all of us who love the Lord.

O, the magnitude of the love of God toward those of us who believe.....