Understanding Good Friday
It’s Friday. Good Friday. Though this day has typically involved something powerful happening at a church for me, it was just another workday today. Today was filled with a lot of people who had a great day…and rightly so! It was indeed a good day at work. But I felt weird. That same conflict that comes around Christmastime when you’ve heard the story a million times and you struggle to find meaning in it again in what seems like a forced observance of an event that should continually be remembered. This conflict was meshed with a general weirdness that came from working straight through a day that reflects the most important event in human history. Added to the mix was a general conflict I felt as I continue to battle with strongholds in my personal life.
No talk of God?
But most odd to me was that everyone at work was so…unaffected. The only mentions of Easter that I heard involved colored plastic eggs and a general feeling that perhaps we should be having fish for lunch. This isn’t meant in an accusatory or demeaning way, of course! Workplace protocol expects a level of restraint regarding spiritual matters, and if one does not believe in the existence or works of Jesus, then it is certainly better to remain silent on the issue than speak insincerely.
It’s just that, as I sat around a table with four coworkers whom I would gladly call friends, I found myself in a position where I would have simply loved to talk about Jesus, to talk about the cross, to talk about what is commemorated on this special day. Even a discussion with someone who disagrees with my views would have been welcome - but to sit among friends and reserve a deep part of myself can be a difficult thing, and I suppose that’s part of what inspired this writing.
Who understands Good Friday?
Another bit of inspiration came from a thought that I had while I was on my way to work: How many people actually know what is being commemorated on Good Friday? People have no doubt heard about Jesus, the cross, the resurrection. But, without understanding why it happened, what’s the point?
And so, from the bottom of my heart, I would like to share with anyone who would care to read further the story of God, the story that has changed my life, motives, and general mindset permanently. I invite you to either learn the story or be refreshed in it.
The story of God (one of them, anyways)
God is - and that’s where the story begins. It begins with a God who lives in such a higher plane of existence that time truly has no meaning. He is eternal. He is also described as holy, a term that is described as set apart, whole, perfect, complete. Perfectly holy - it means that sin has never and will never touch him. He didn’t just make the laws - he IS the law. Every rule that humans are asked to respect and everything that touches our conscience when we do wrong is born directly out of God.
It is this utter and complete perfection that becomes the problem for a fallen world. God does not allow sin into his throne room, and so the sin had to be paid for. God showed his people a system of sacrifices that would shed blood for the forgiveness of sins. People would bring their own sacrifices for their wrongdoing, and once a year, the holiest man in all of Israel, the high priest, would go inside the holiest place in the temple, the place where the very presence of God was said to reside on earth. Here he would offer a sacrifice for the sins of the entire nation.
The system only truly worked in the sense that it showed humanity that we cannot live up to God’s standard. The Old Testament of the Bible is filled with stories about people who would live for God, then fall away, and then return, and then fall away again. Even the greats like Moses and David all had deep flaws, which showed us that no one is holy, not one person can stand before God and claim sinlessness, a requirement to spend eternity with him. The sacrifices had to be continually offered, with no end in sight.
What is God to do? He is loving…he is described AS love! But, he is also described as just, and he will not let sin go unpunished. It seems like a paradox, until you learn about the one called Jesus of Nazareth.
Enter Jesus
Jesus is God. God is Jesus. How they can be equally one yet different manifestations is beyond the comprehensions of finite humans in three dimensions, to be sure. But what we know is that Jesus gave up his position in heaven to walk among men. He chose to limit himself enough to experience the fullness of what it means to be human: to be born, to grow up, to learn a trade, to work hard, to be tempted to do wrong, to laugh, to cry, to be angry at wrongdoing, to feel hunger, to feel pain. He lived a life that was literally perfect, and from the ages of thirty to thirty-three he ran a ministry that impacted thousands and shook the very religious and political foundations of his little corner of the world.
I’ve heard this sentiment before: Why won’t God just show himself to us? The question does cause a slight smile to come to my face. It’s a simple and honest question, but the answer is equally so: He did! His name was Jesus, and we rejected him, mocked him, spat on him, beat him, and killed him. How grateful our ancestors were that God would give up the vastness of eternity for a small human frame!
And this takes us to Good Friday. The day that Jesus, God in the flesh, died for us. He knew from the start that this was the plan, that this is what had to happen. A loving God had to serve justice on his own son, making him the sacrifice for the sins of the world. Jesus could be the sacrifice because he had blood to shed, and his record was spotless - truly a perfect sacrifice in every way. It is appropriate, then, that as he died on the cross, as his bloody and bruised body had the life suffocated out if it by the most cruel method of execution ever conceived, the curtain that separated the holiest place in the temple from the rest of the world was torn in two by an earthquake. This was no ordinary curtain - it was tall, thick, and seamless. But it was no match for the presence of God, no match for the fact that Jesus’ death on the cross provides a way for every man and woman to experience the presence of God, on this side and the other side of eternity.
Christianity is not like other religions
This is what makes Christianity different from any other religious worldview. Some say there is no God. Some say that God set things in motion and walked away. Some say you have to work your way to God. But Christianity offers what no other religion does - a savior. Grace. Mercy.
Christianity is not about doing good things or being a good person. Its purpose is not to provide additional meaning to life. Christianity is about a relationship with the God of the universe, a personal connection to an eternal being who is beyond description. It’s about placing your sins on the cross, square on the shoulders of Jesus and declaring that I am a sinner, that I cannot work my way to God, that I am broken and cannot be repaired apart from this cross.
This is a big deal!
Can you see why Good Friday is a big deal? It’s not about what food you eat during Lent, or about showing up for church on Easter Sunday. It’s about a relationship. Do you know God? More importantly, does he know you? Even a demon believes in God, so it’s the acceptance of the gift that Jesus Christ freely gives that puts us in a right relationship with God again.
I’m not here to convert you. I want you to be converted, of course, but my job is merely to get you to understand the truth about the greatest day in the history of the world. What you do with this is between you and God.
If you are a Christian, then I hope that this helps you to reflect and find new meaning in the most central event in your life. I hope that you put your sins on Jesus and start trusting in his other gift (the Holy Spirit) to live a life that is pleasing to God, casting aside the things that keep getting you down. That’s where I’m at.
If you’re not a Christian, then I hope that you at least consider these words. I urge to accept them, but if not, I will be glad to know that an accurate context has been established around events that you might have taken for granted.
Thank you for indulging a friend as he shares what the most valuable thing in his life.
Grace and peace,
Brendan
