Good Friday?
What makes Good Friday good? How could this day, on which Christians commemorate Christ’s suffering, offer anything beautiful—anything good? On this dark day when evil seemingly triumphed, when unspeakable evil and brutality descended upon heaven’s perfect Lamb, what is good about Good Friday?
It is good because, through His monumental and strategic sacrifice, He broke Eden’s curse against us and, in the process, redeemed humanity from eternal damnation. It was the day of great sacrifice that purchased our freedom from the kingdom of darkness and death, and brought us into His kingdom of light and life.
The curse descended upon mankind in Eden, and the prophecy was uttered by God Himself:
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)
Throughout the epochs of time, bearded sages scratched the message of His coming onto scrolls, and weathered prophets proclaimed his coming.
Moses declared: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers, it is to him you shall listen—“. (Deuteronomy 18:15)
The prophet Isaiah described Him in great detail as the suffering servant in Isaiah 53.
Micah 5:2 declares: “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.”
The Apostle John describes His coming in this way: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
Humanity’s great offense against God’s holiness required a sacrifice, but not any sacrifice. It required a perfect sacrifice, and only Jesus could fulfil that requirement. Because He was God in human form, He could pay our sin debt in human blood. Because He remained God while in human form, He could lay down His life and take it up again.
His sacrifice in our place would break the ancient curse against us, free us from the stranglehold of sin, and burst open the doors to eternal life with God—if we would accept His sacrifice on our behalf, and allow His blood to purchase our redemption from the slave market of sin and death.
Hell's greatest weapon is death, and hell unleashed its fury upon the sinless Son of God. What looked like the triumph of darkness was its greatest loss. The demons likely shrieked in fiendish glee over their perceived victory; however, what seemed like their greatest triumph was truly their spectacular defeat.
It was indeed the day of great suffering—suffering that paid for our redemption from the chains of slavery and darkness to the kingdom of freedom and light. We are free because of the sacrifice of Good Friday.
Colossians 2:13-15 says it this way: “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”
So today, we linger in the dark shadow of Good Friday. To fast-forward through Good Friday is to minimize our egregious offenses against a holy God--the sacrifice that forced God to turn His face away from His Son, and made darkness fall at midday. To rush to the glories of Resurrection morning is to rush past the depth of the cost of our redemption.
The resounding triumph of Resurrection Day is coming, and we await the glorious day of celebration. However, today is Friday—brutal, costly Good Friday. So we bow our heads in reverent worship, and raise our voices in humble gratitude along with the hymn writer, and sing:
“Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.”