I have often wondered why this Friday is called “Good.” It wasn’t good for our Lord and Savior to be treated the way he was. He was tried unfairly, convicted by sinful men when he himself had never committed any sin, flogged and whipped, mocked and betrayed, abandoned and rejected. The King of the Jews was treated like a condemned criminal slave.
On Good Friday, nearly 2000 years ago the God-man Jesus Christ died. Jesus was and is fully God and fully man. Since his person cannot be divided it is altogether appropriate to use the title God to describe every aspect of Jesus’ life. We can say that on Good Friday, God shed his blood and died on the cross. To say, “God is dead” is shocking enough, but we are confronted with an insurmountable challenge to our concept of God with Jesus’ words to his Father: “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?”
I cannot explain this to my own rational curiosity. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are bound eternally as one God. For a time, however, there was rejection of the Son. Jesus was holding on to our guilt and our sins. A perfect God cannot tolerate sin and guilt. Look what it did to Jesus! He died a miserable, convicted death.
But the Father’s rejection of Jesus his Son was not permanent. We see that Jesus completed the payment for our sins in his words, “It is finished.” (Tetelestai in Greek.) This word means “Made complete, having reached its conclusion, perfected. It is a word that was used to describe a complete payment in ancient commerce. The word brings comfort to the Christian because we know that every sin ever committed by anyone has been paid for. No one is excluded from this universal grace. Jesus died for you!
On Easter Day, we celebrate the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Having made full payment for all sin, and having suffered our punishment in gross humiliation, God the Father raised him by the Spirit’s power. Every promise he made is true! All power and glory in heaven and earth is restored to him! He lives and reigns forever for us.
So on this Friday, ironically called “Good,” we see that it really is good–for us, for the world, and especially for those who believe in and trust this amazing Savior-God.
Tags: Good Friday, Jesus
