Friday, April 15, 2022

Good Friday

 April 15 2022


Good Friday


It is interesting to stop and reflect today as we mark the point in the life of Jesus that He was executed by the Romans on behalf of the Jews…as part of God’s original plan to redeem sinful humanity. There are church services and events and dinners and, apropos to the era, hashtags for the day.

A couple of thoughts:

First, remember this as you remember Good Friday: yes, Jesus died. No, Jesus did not stay dead. It is valuable to remember that you are not obligated to live as if Jesus died today. You are, as a Christian, supposed to live every day in light of the fact that Jesus is risen. He is risen indeed, so let us not forget that. We should never forget or take lightly that our sin that brought the need. 

Don’t forget the Resurrection, though, and the Grace of God. Mourn, weep, dance, and celebrate on this day.

Second, remember that everything appearing to fall apart: the fullness of humanity, the great earthly empire of Rome, the great spiritual group of the Jews working together to execute the sinless Son of God was always God’s plan.

Always.

So very often we think that God is having to react to us people. That our actions are what drive God’s responses. This doesn’t hold, though. God does not experience doubt or uncertainty: He does not sit on the throne of the universe and hope it works out.

Nor does He wonder what we will do.

How God’s sovereignty and our freedom work together is the subject of a great many ink, pixel, and even blood battles over the years. I will not resolve it in my lifetime but I will trust God to know His business.

What that means for us is this: God is not surprised, therefore we do not need to be distressed. Concerned? Confused? Perhaps. But we can come back to knowing that it will all work out to point to His glory.

Is He glorified when life goes well for us? Yes. Is He glorified when we stay faithful in suffering? Yes.

The reality here is our need to learn to trust. And that’s a hard one.

Yet when we see Jesus go to the Cross, trusting His Father in Heaven, we see that humiliation and death—even death on a cross! (Philippians 2!) is able to bring glory to God and life to us all.

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