The question to begin: Have you ever wondered what is good about Good Friday?
What is good about a day that commemorates the torture and execution of Jesus on a cross?
It’s easy to think of Good Friday as a dark day, it was the day Jesus died on the cross for our sins, but it is also a day of good news, Jesus death on the cross provided the way for our relationship with God to be restored.
It started on Maundy Thursday when Jesus was arrested after the Last Supper with His disciples.
Jesus endured the mockery of two trials; He was beaten, mocked, spat upon, ridiculed with a robe and a crown of thorns.
He had his back lacerated by the Roman “cat-o-nine tails” whip. A whip that did more than just breaking the skin, it tore into his flesh.
It was a horrible weapon that caused bleeding, cramps and dizziness.
Then Jesus began His walk to Golgotha’s Hill carrying the heavy cross that he would be nailed onto.
Jesus suffered the shame of the cross - a punishment for criminals.
Jesus was publicly humiliated and shamed.
He was stripped naked.
He suffered the horror of anticipated death.
The pain of untended wounds and the unnatural position of His body on the cross.
Throbbing with pain, anguish, torment and a terrible thirst!
On the Cross Jesus cries out “Tetelesti” which we translate in our English Bibles as “It is Finished!”
What an awesome promise!
The price for our sin was paid in full by Jesus! God’s wrath for our sin is completely, perfectly satisfied in His son Jesus Christ!
Tetelesti is a declaration of victory not defeat
What is good about that Friday?
WHY did Jesus do all of that?
Why did He allow Himself to suffer?
Why did He die?
Because He loves YOU so much, because He loves ME so much.
That is why!
I am in awe of God’s great redeeming love! John 3:16 says: “For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”
How much does God love you? {STRETCH ARMS OUT} THIS MUCH.
Isn’t that amazing, isn’t that wonderful? He loves you enough to die for you, to set you free from the punishment of your sins, to restore you into a real living relationship with Him, to give you the assurance of a place in Heaven.
He died so that you live in freedom from sin, He died to save you from a lost eternity in Hell.
For all who believe in Him, for all who trust Jesus, as Saviour and Lord, for everyone that truly becomes His disciple the promise is forgiveness, salvation, eternal life.
Praise God for His love, His mercy, His endless grace.
But Jesus did not stay dead, he conquered the power of sin, he defeated death, and Jesus’ death was followed by His resurrection on Easter Sunday.
This is the good news that Jesus has asked us, His disciples to spread, the good news, the Gospel Message, is that on Good Friday, Jesus dealt with the penalty for our sin. The good news is when we trust in Jesus as our Lord and Saviour our sins are forgiven.
The good news of Good Friday is the good news of salvation. To really appreciate the Good News of Good Friday, we need to understand what Jesus endured on Good Friday for us. God is a just god who demands justice and hates sin. Because he hates sin, and because he wants to restore a loving relationship with us, someone had to pay the price for our sins.
In Old Testament times, sins were paid for by sacrificing animals. In Old Testament times, when the priest laid his hands on the animal, the priest symbolically transferred sins to the animal, and the animal’s death symbolically cleansed the people from their sins. But there was a problem. Those sacrifices had to be repeated every time someone sinned, and because the priests were human, they also had a sinful nature. There needed to be one perfect sacrifice that would be pay the price for all our sins, past, present and future sins.
Jesus was the perfect sacrifice for us because He was sinless. We can’t fully grasp the importance of what Jesus did for us on the cross.
Before his death, we were separated from God. No one could approach God except for the high priest, and even then he could only enter it once a year on the Day of Atonement.
When Jesus’ died the veil that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Temple was torn from top to bottom.
God provided the way for us to be reconciled to Him. Jesus removed the barriers for anyone who wanted to know and worship God.
Today, we can enter into a direct personal relationship with God. We can serve the Lord and abide in his presence.
When we accept what Christ did for us on Good Friday, we are set free from the penalty for our sin. The Holy Spirit comes to live within us and help us.
The writer of Hebrews encourages us that God will never abandon us. Today as believers in Jesus, as disciples of Christ, we can be confident because God will never abandon us. When we confess our sins and ask God to forgive us We are forgiven because of what Jesus has done for us. Because of what Jesus did for us, we have the promise of eternal life.
That is why Good Friday is good. Salvation is available to all who place their trust in Christ because of what he did on Good Friday. The truth of the cross is that Jesus paid the price for every single sin that every believer has ever committed or will commit. In our place, Jesus took the punishment for each and every one of our sins.
His righteousness is imparted to us so that we stand before God spotless. God forgets our sins because Jesus took them upon Himself for us.
The penalty has been paid, and our sin debt has been forgiven.
God promises in Hebrews 10:17-18
“I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds.” And when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices.
Jesus was the perfect sacrifice. When we place our trust in Jesus, Father God will forgive us. We are saved by our faith in Him.
Believing in the forgiveness of our sins, believing in Jesus as Lord and Saviour requires us to live our lives in a way that shows we are truly disciples of Jesus.
We are saved to live lives that are aligned with God’s plan for our lives.
When we live with God’s forgiveness in our hearts, our hope of forgiveness, our assurance of forgiveness, comes from the pain Jesus endured on Good Friday.
God sees all our sins, but because Jesus has made the ultimate sacrifice for us with His blood, we are forgiven.
As I close, let me encourage you this Easter, to remember Christ has taken care of all your sins, and that is why we call that dark and terrible Friday, Good Friday.
All of us are sinful, all of us need a Saviour. Has God spoken to you this morning?
Perhaps you have never entered into a personal relationship with Jesus before, today are you willing to accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour?
Or if you have already placed your trust in Jesus as your saviour are you willing to reaffirm your commitment to Him this morning?
Can you see what Christ did Christ did for you on Good Friday?
Will you accept Jesus and His sacrifice for you?
Are you willing to really be His follower, His dynamic disciple?
