Good Friday... but how so?
It's called Good Friday, but what's so good about it? If I was going to pick a name that described the day, I don't think that 'good' would be one of the top choices. Maybe Sad Friday would fit better. Maybe Scary Friday would work, too. Because I'm fairly certain that those who lived through the first Good Friday saw everything play out but good.
There is no goodness found in injustice. No goodness in watching someone you love go through pain or death. There was no goodness as Jesus was falsely accused for a crime he never committed. It wasn't good when he was beaten and bruised. When his skin was torn, when his brow was pierced, when blood seeped through his flesh wounds, no one saw anything good. When he struggled under the weight of the cross, bearing the heavy burden of an unfair death penalty on his shoulders, good was no where to be found. And when he made it to that hill, Golgotha, carrying the sins of the world on his shoulders, good did not follow. They nailed his feet, they nailed his hands, and the left him to die a slow and painful death on a cross. Now you tell me, how is any of that good?
There is no goodness found in injustice. No goodness in watching someone you love go through pain or death. There was no goodness as Jesus was falsely accused for a crime he never committed. It wasn't good when he was beaten and bruised. When his skin was torn, when his brow was pierced, when blood seeped through his flesh wounds, no one saw anything good. When he struggled under the weight of the cross, bearing the heavy burden of an unfair death penalty on his shoulders, good was no where to be found. And when he made it to that hill, Golgotha, carrying the sins of the world on his shoulders, good did not follow. They nailed his feet, they nailed his hands, and the left him to die a slow and painful death on a cross. Now you tell me, how is any of that good?
"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." - Romans 12:21
It was that day, a scary and sad day, that the course of history was changed for good. It was that divinely appointed day that Jesus' precious blood spilled out for sinners, for you and for me, so that we might find forgiveness, grace, and eternal life. It was a day when sin was defeated and death was overcome. Evil overcome by good. Because goodness hung on the cross. An act derived by the evil hearts of mankind was the very thing God used for the good of His people. For all who would willingly believe it, and for all who would willing receive it. It was the only way it could happen. The only way anything good could possibly come. The only way we could be saved. Good was poured out to wipe away evil. And because of His goodness, we overcome.
"Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” - John 16:33
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