04/08/2023
Growing up I couldn’t wrap my mind around Good Friday. What in the actual heck? This day was a flat-out tragedy steeped in injustice. The good guy didn’t even win in the story.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord? I mean that song . . . we would sing it and I’d fight back tears. How could people have done this to Jesus?
I didn’t get what was good about it.
There is actually debate about how it came to be called Good Friday. Some say it was derived from Holy Friday. Or God’s Friday. In some countries, it is called Sorrowful Friday which is a name I would have gotten behind.
But I now, man now I see that Good Friday is entirely appropriate. Good Friday works. It took me a while to see how GOOD this day was. Jesus died for our sins. He died for us. He experienced all the pain and suffering that went along with this to pay the price so we wouldn’t have to.
It is a good beyond comprehension.
And today, you may be thinking He did that for us, sure. But you might not be feeling in your heart that he did this for YOU.
I am here to tell you He DID.
He died for you.
Even if you never pray.
Even if you are cranky.
Even if you haven’t gone to church in years.
Even if you are tired in your bones.
Even if you are not sure you believe.
Even if you feel like you’ve just been too big of a sinner.
Even if actual Christian people have forsaken you and have told you you do not belong.
EVEN IF.
All the even ifs . . . all of them.
He died for YOU. And you are redeemed by His sacrifice and His love.
His grace is all yours.
You have a place in His Kingdom.
Today, can you challenge yourself to believe this right in your heart?
He loves you so much and longs for you to follow Him.
It’s not always an easy path, but man is it one that is filled with actual joy (please note: joy is very different from the world’s promise of fleeting happiness). This path might be filled with sacrifice but it’s this sacrifice that inexplicably fills your soul.
Jesus is a whole thing.
And today He died for you, so that you may live with Him forever.
Good Friday is truly good. All the amens.
(Photo credit: In 2001, medical artist Richard Neave—along with a team of Israeli and British forensic anthropologists and computer programmers—created a new image of Jesus, based on the typical 1st century, Palestinian Jewish features: It is believed this might be close to what Jesus could have looked like . . . fascinating)
Shared with permission from Amy Betters-Midtvedt
