Good Friday. A day of betrayal, anguish, stress, anxiety, abandonment, slander, loneliness, abuse, injustice, and oppression.
Yet, we call it good.
On this day, Jesus faced accusers, detractors, and hate; people came after him with clubs, bats, and swords. They came after him the same way they would go after a criminal.
Yet, we call it good.
On this day he was beaten, spat on, a crown of thorns was put on his head; he was shamed, bruised, accused, and condemned.
Yet, we call it good.
He was sentenced to the worst kind of death possible. Nails were driven through his hands and through his feet. He quietly suffered. On his body he received undue punishment; it was unfair, unjust, and unwarranted.
Yet, we call it good.
Why?
‘…Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame… ‘ – Hebrews 12:2
Jesus’s eyes looked beyond the cross. He anticipated the joy that was on the other side. For every lashing he suffered would be turned into healing; every act of hatred he endured, would be turned into love. Because of Jesus, today, the cross is a symbol of hope, not of torture. His tomb is a place of life, not death. It is Good Friday because on this day, every demon we face, every fear that creeps upon us, every ailment that comes to destroy us, had to bend the knee. They could not affect him or deter him. He conquered death and its devils, all to give us His kind of life.
It is all available to you. You too can look beyond your present circumstance and fix your eyes on the one who endured it all, and find freedom in Him.
It all began on Good Friday. And that is Good News.
-JD
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