A Good Friday Communion Service Meditation
[Sermon Intro]
Why Good Friday? Why do we call this Friday, good? This is the day that we see Christ dying on the cross. A day of remembrance like this would be more appropriately termed Mourning Friday, for that is what the disciples were doing -- grieving over their assumed loss. But then we’re faced with a hopeless and depressing gospel message.
In some churches, for Good Friday, they cover all of their statues, pictures, and crosses with black cloth to symbolize the mourning they’re remembering. What’s so good about that?
I’ve read that the word good used to have a secondary meaning of holy. That’s getting better! But still, what’s so holy about death? Especially God’s Son!? Granted, I’d rather call this day Holy Friday, for the word holy, applied to this day, has a much more elusive meaning.
Some others of you have probably asked yourself that same question this Easter season, or during other Easters: Why do we call Good Friday, good? [Fallen Condition Focus] We ask that question and wonder about the word ‘good’ because all we see is an old form of execution, a man dying on a cross, a man that is supposed to be God’s Son, our Savior -- God in the flesh -- and yet he’s dying.
[Main Point] What do we see?
What do you see today? When you think of Good Friday, what do you see? What you see on Good Friday will determine how you answer this question: Why call Good Friday, good?
[Explanation]
1 Corinthians 1:18 says,
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
Here is the beginning of our solution, or answer. It’s a matter of perspective. That’s why I say that it matters how you see this day. This Good Friday, this sacrifice on the cross -- or as we read, “the message of the cross” -- is foolish to those who don’t know Christ or understand his perspective, or his purpose. They see it as a foolish sacrifice; how can you give up your life for someone? Why would you? But to us who are being saved, we understand his teaching and his life, which lays in stark contrast to the opinions and perspectives of the world. We understand why he did what he did.
It goes on to say in verse 28,
“He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things -- and the things that are not -- to nullify the things that are, 29so that no one may boast before him.”
So there IS something that we’re not seeing.
1 Peter 1:23 explains what that is,
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24For,
"All men are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
25but the word of the Lord stands forever."
In other words, suffering and death last for only a short while. Physical death does not last long -- compared to eternity. To us, however, it feels like forever. But there is a life that will last forever.
2 Corinthians 4:18 says,
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
Our eyes are so consumed with the physical realm; we see only a death; we see only blood shed; we see a dying man -- and we ask, FOR WHAT? What is this accomplishing? Why this needless pain and suffering -- and a dead Savior?
[Illustration]
Max Lucado (as found in his ‘God’s Inspirational Promise Book’, but written for his book, ‘In the Eye of the Storm’), told this fictional story of an angel trying to find another way for salvation:
“He looked around the hill and foresaw a scene. Three figures hung on three crosses. Arms spread. Heads fallen forward. They moaned with the wind.
Men clad in religion stood off to one side…Arrogant, cocky.
Women clad in sorrow huddled at the foot of the hill…Faces tear streaked.
All heaven stood to fight. All nature rose to rescue. All eternity poise to protect. But the Creator gave no command. ‘It must be done…,” he said, and withdrew.
The angel spoke again. “It would be less painful…”
The Creator interrupted softly. “But it wouldn’t be love.”
[Application]
It’s because of what Christ’s death is accomplishing for us, that we can call this day good.
Mark 10:45 says,
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Christ admonished his disciples in this passage with a holy principle, a principle not of this world. He told them that greatness comes through lowliness. That’s not what we naturally see. We ask, How can we become great by serving? We see service as demeaning, whereas being served is a measure of success.
Christ came to give himself up; he came to serve; his prominent characteristic was that of humility. And he’s exhorting us today to do the same. He’s shown us the best way, the holy way, the GOOD way, which is the path opposite of the way we naturally want to go. And yet we ask ourselves, why is this day called Good? Well it depends on the way we see it.
Isaiah 53:5 says,
“But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.”
He was wounded for US!! Do you usually see that? What do you see this Good Friday? Do you see a man, the Son of God, your Savior simply dying on a cross for sins? Or do you see Jesus Christ dying on the cross for you -- specifically for you -- because he loves you? He’s dying for your sins, for your forgiveness, for your life. Do you see his love for you?
[Personal Story] I have to admit, the other day, while I was preparing for a Bible study, I completely missed Christ’s love. He was engaged in a conversation with a rich man. The rich man was asking Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. And with what Jesus said to cause the rich man to go away sad, is what I missed. The question in the Bible study, asked, “What emotions do you think Jesus feels here?” I immediately wrote down, disgust. But then I decided to look at the passage I was studying in Mark, and there realized that I was completely wrong. For in Mark 10:21, it said, “Jesus looked at him and loved him.” I felt so humbled and loved in that moment of revelation. He looks at us and loves us!!
John states that there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for another. He says that this is how we know what love is: that Christ laid down his life for us. (John 15:13; 1 John 3:16)
Romans 5:8 says,
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
WHILE we were STILL sinners…Even without obeying him, he’ll still give up his life for us…how deep is his love for us! He didn’t care whether or not we were willing to accept his sacrifice and salvation because he cared about us; he valued us and showed us his love…while we were still sinners.
[Conclusion]
People, during this Good Friday -- & Easter -- do not miss Christ’s love, his intense, unending, undying, undeniable, indescribable, eternal love that he has for you.
Whether you call this day GOOD, HOLY, MOURNING, or otherwise, you’re faced with a self-sacrificing Savior whose love for you caused him to put himself in our place.
Dennis Bratcher said,
Good Friday is not a day of celebration but of mourning, both for the death of Jesus and for the sins of the world that his death represents. Yet, although Friday is a solemn time, it is not without its own joy. For while it is important to place the Resurrection against the darkness of Good Friday, likewise the somberness of Good Friday should always be seen with the hope of Resurrection Sunday. As the well- known sermon title vividly illustrates: "It’s Friday. But Sunday’s a’comin’!"
