Today marks the remembrance of one of the most solemn, sacred, sorrow-filled days in the Christian calendar: Jesus' crucifixion.
Intellectually we know that Jesus had to sacrifice himself so that we can be reunited with God, but emotionally the gift of his death for our sins can be overwhelming.
When I first recognized what Good Friday actually represented, I couldn't understand why such a day was marked as "good".
Jesus was wrongfully accused, persecuted with out a fair trial, flogged, betrayed by his friends, rejected by the masses who had five days earlier worshipped him, nailed to a cross and placed in a tomb.
Anyway you look at this day, it was not a good day for Jesus or for those who love him.
But, God made the day, so therefore it must be good. He orchestrated the entire day to bring about His greatest desire: to be reconciled with each of us.
Good Friday, in so many ways, is tied to Genesis 1.
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. ...God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. (Gen 1: 27, 31)
God created man and it was very good. God desperately wanted to be reconciled with His "very good" creation which had become "very not so good". He wanted the reconciliation so badly that He gave up His Son, a part of Himself, as a sacrifice to atone for all of the world's sin.
As much as it pains us to remember the sacrifice of Jesus - as many tears as will be shed on this day in sorrow over the gift - let us not forget that God declared today "good" because today allowed us to begin to move back to being the very good creation of His heart.
Today is good because God also gave us Sunday.
In the midst of today's sorrow and grief, remember with aching joy that you have a Savior who loves you so much he was willing to allow the most horrific death to befall him so that you would one day be called God's "very good" creation.
Scripture
Quote of the Day
God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.
~St. Augustine
Question of the Day
How does your view of Good Friday change in light of knowing you are God's good creation?
Great!
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