Bad Friday

It was a Bad Friday for Jesus, since He suffered unbearable pain and anguish on that day.

But it was a Good Friday for us, since all of our sins were atoned for by His suffering and death. On Good Friday He hung suspended on the cross for 6 hours, including those dark afternoon hours. About 3:00 PM Jesus said in a loud voice, “It is finished!” (Jn 19: 30). Shortly thereafter “He bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” He died.

Jesus said, “It is finished!” What was finished?

His life?

His sufferings?

Yes, but even more than that….His mission was accomplished.

All that He had come to do for us and for our salvation was accomplished. “It is finished!” With that He is telling us, “Be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven!” “It is finished!” is the guarantee of the peace of mind that we can have in knowing that our sins are fully paid for and we are thus reconciled to God.

“It is finished!” is His assurance to us that the way has been cleared for us to someday enter eternal life in heaven.

On this Good Friday we will again be standing beneath the cross of Christ. We could say we were there when they crucified our Lord. We were there, because our sins were there. God laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Our sins were there and they were fully atoned for by Him.

That’s why this is a Good Friday for us and why we take great comfort in Jesus’ words, “It is finished!”

WB “Sermons & Devotions” Journal

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Bearing It All

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21

Jesus bore the sins of the Assyrians, who gloated over the captives they had skinned alive; the sins of SS troops, machine-gunning women and children running from burning synagogues with clothing ablaze.

Jesus bore the sins of child molesters, making sure their victims never have to testify; the sins of the Pharaohs, sacrificing thousands of laborers' lives, to build themselves deifying tombs.

Jesus was tossed about in these endless storms: enraged fathers beating toddlers to death; pimps seducing runaways into lives of drugs and prostitution; church ladies cannibalizing other church ladies over coffee; Canaanites throwing their children to Moloch, their sun god; impoverished parents in China selling their children into slavery.

Jesus bore the sins of embezzlers; gangsters; bullies; rapists; liars; the indifferent; the sadistic; the self-righteous Bible-believing leaders praying long and loud, while their wives sat in back pews praying that heavy make-up covered their bruises.

It is a scene of unbearable horror and unspeakable madness. He is the accused for us all, bearing the weight of abused children; families destroyed by adultery or apathy; civilizations decaying; wars ravaging victims.

Yet, through it all, deep in the terror of hell, He keeps His eyes wide open. He is not just a bystander caught in the accident; He has come deliberately.

He will accept it all, absorbing the full force of this storm of wrath in His body, His mind, His heart, and His soul, until there is nothing left to feel.

Finally, the tumbling will slow a bit; the storm will slacken, and Jesus will lift Himself on His nailed feet to snatch a gasp of air and force His swollen tongue to shout, "It is finished—I've come; I've seen; I've paid for it all."

Christ died for the worst of sinners, and loved the most hateful of enemies. What a powerful reminder of God's enormous love! Christ bore our sin and our punishment so we could bear His righteousness and His reward.

This is the greatest reversal in all of human history: Sinners become sons of God, because the Son of God became sin . . . for us!