Today is Good Friday. And I have to be honest, I’ve always wondered why they call it Good Friday when it is a day that held such extreme suffering for our Savior. It doesn’t seem like a good day at all when we think about the agonizing and painful way Jesus died.
Yet Good Friday celebrates what we believe as Christians to be the most momentous, life-changing weekend in the history of the world. And the reality is, Jesus had to die in order for us to have the joy of the empty grave.
Jesus went to the cross willingly because He knew His story wasn’t going to end there. He took on our sin and our shame knowing that His resurrection would secure full and complete access for all of us to God’s mercy and salvation.
It’s the place that’s described in Psalm 85:
Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other.
Psalm 85:20 (NIV)
Jesus loved us so much and was so faithful to His Heavenly Father that He made the choice to go to that horrifying cross. I saw firsthand when I visited Jerusalem that it would have been so easy for Him to simply run the other way and escape when the mob led by Judas came to arrest him. But He stayed put because He was faithful, and He acted out of perfect love.
Jesus knew His faithfulness would lead to our righteousness. He went to the cross knowing resurrection was on the horizon.
As we study the life of Jesus, we see that He was always in the resurrection business!
He raised dead people like Lazarus back to life.
He brought the paralyzed man’s muscles back to life when He told him to get up and walk.
He gave the bleeding woman a whole new life when she simply touched the hem of His garment.
He brought resurrection and new life to people who were lost, broken, left out, left behind, forgotten.
Jesus loved the people on the margins like no one else before Him ever had.
So I ask you, my friend, is there something in your life that needs resurrection?
A marriage that feels dead and hopeless
The loss of a job or a career that feels like it's going nowhere
Financial strain that won’t seem to ever end
A feeling of hopelessness deep in your soul
A dream you’ve given up on long ago
A hurt, habit or hang-up that you need to let go of once and for all
As we ponder Good Friday and the horrible death of Jesus, I believe it's the perfect time to examine our own lives and see what needs resurrection. What in our lives is it time to let die so new life can come? What has already died within us that needs to be reborn?
Here’s the beautiful thing, resurrection isn’t only for Easter. Yes, the empty grave is what gives us salvation. It’s the key to everything good in our lives.
But God doesn’t want to stop there. He wants to give us a taste of heaven right here on earth before we go to our eternal home, the place Jesus prepared for us.
And the truth is, sometimes things have to die in order to prepare the way for a new, richer life.
So go ahead, lay the dead things in your life at the cross. Remind yourself that Jesus is still in the resurrection business.
Sunday is coming, Resurrection is on the horizon!
Hugs and love,
Jill