This time of year comes around each year and it seems to be a great time. Spring is right around the corner and everything comes back to life. Then of course we get this holiday that we get a basket full of candy and goodies. Of course I could go on a tangent about how we take holidays as a day of goods and gifts but that is not as important as the meaning of Good Friday.
Christ died then rose again on the day that we call Easter but why do we call a day that our savior died GOOD Friday? I mean, what is so good about God being brutally murdered by people that refused to follow his beliefs? And it is often that we only see the matter that these nonbelievers killed Christ but did they really? How could they kill someone that has already sacrificed their life? They actually believed that this man that showed true signs of being the one and only God, was false. And they took the liberty of killing Him into their own hands.
When I came upon the different view on what Good Friday is, I was a little intrigued. We never really take into account about what Good Friday actually means. Try looking at that day beside a day that Christ died but as a day of fulfilled destiny. That day remains a huge milestone for us all and reveals so many emotions about us and Christ. We told his followers that some would deny Him and that He would give His life for us all. And people thought that death would be the solution but instead He gave life and changed the course of all eternity. He showed His loved on the cross but showed his love even more when He roamed the earth. But the key here is that he turned something that we perceive as bad into something good. God uses the reverse of things to show that He is truly the one in power and that he intends for good to come out of all things.
The Soldiers Mock Jesus
Some of the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters and called out the entire regiment. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him.They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it.When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified.
The Crucifixion
Along the way, they came across a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. And they went out to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”). The soldiers gave him wine mixed with bitter gall, but when he had tasted it, he refused to drink it. After they had nailed him to the cross, the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice. Then they sat around and kept guard as he hung there. A sign was fastened above Jesus’ head, announcing the charge against him. It read: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. “Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross!” The leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders also mocked Jesus. “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! So he is the King of Israel, is he? Let him come down from the cross right now, and we will believe in him! He trusted God, so let God rescue him now if he wants him! For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” Even the revolutionaries who were crucified with him ridiculed him in the same way.
The Death of Jesus
At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. At about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah.One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink. But the rest said, “Wait! Let’s see whether Elijah comes to save him.” Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit. At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart,and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead.They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people. The Roman officer and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, “This man truly was the Son of God!” And many women who had come from Galilee with Jesus to care for him were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James and Joseph), and the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee.
The Burial of Jesus
As evening approached, Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea who had become a follower of Jesus, went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. And Pilate issued an order to release it to him. Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a long sheet of clean linen cloth. He placed it in his own new tomb, which had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance and left. Both Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting across from the tomb and watching.
Readings taken from BibleGateway.com from the book of Matthew 27:27-61
Word of the Day: "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
~Romans 6:23
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