Posted by
Bob Siegel on Friday, April 10, 2009 7:05:14 PM
Good Friday. Where on Earth did they come up with a name like that? It sure wasn't a good Friday for the disillusioned followers of Jesus. They wanted a king, somebody who would push the tyrannical Romans off their conquered land, not a disappointing impostor who was going to allow himself to be executed by the most shameful, painful torture that the world had ever known.
Naturally, they cheered up on Sunday. You know the rest of the story. To some, it's just that; a story. Many do not believe in the Sunday Sequel, but Sunday's impact on the subsequent two-thousand years of history cannot be denied. Face facts: Something unusual must have happened, unusual enough even for non-Christian historians of the time to acknowledge the trial, death, miracles and ( in some cases) even the resurrection of Jesus (Josephus, Tacitus, Talmud, Acts of Pilate).
Just think: This common man from a poor family, a simple carpenter who never fought a war, never ruled as king, never encouraged a violent revolution and never wrote a book, influenced the world so much that we even count the calendar differently. (You can say "Before Common Era" instead of Before Christ, but everyone knows this is no different than calling Easter Vacation "Spring Break" or Christmas Vacation a "Winter Carnival." The customs all started somewhere.
Even people who do not believe in Jesus, use his name constantly to the exclusion of other religious figures. When is the last time you heard somebody accidentally catch his finger in the door and cry out, "Buddha!" "or "Mohammad!"?
Yes, something happened on Sunday. But back to Friday. What seemed like an unforeseen tragedy turned out to be the very plan of God. Jesus did not fail in his mission by dying on the cross, He intended from the beginning to die on the cross. He did this as a way of paying for the selfish deeds and selfish natures of human kind.
The message of Christianity: Love, mercy and forgiveness.
What Christianity is NOT about: Judgment and condemnation. Please understand. I'm not saying God won't judge the world someday or that we will not answer to Him in the next life. Instead, I'm reminding us that the whole idea behind the cross was a savior who wanted to spare us the judgment we deserve by taking it on Himself. Nothing you have done; no word, no action, no thought, can separate you from the forgiveness of God, if only you will let Him forgive you. Yes, we must also repent. But I have met so many who have refused to change their torn lives only because they thought God wanted nothing to do with them. In fact, God was offering supernatural help (His Spirit) to help them with the task.
How unfortunate that people listen to the gospel and somehow hear the opposite of its message. They think Christians are yelling at them about not being good enough for God. Sometimes the communication breakdown springs from the damaged, wounded, discouraged soul who thinks he/she is at a point of no return. But all too often, tactless Christians are responsible, coming across as holier than thou or better than everyone else. The message of Jesus is that we are all in the same boat, all selfish (or sinful as the Bible calls it). We are not people who have earned favor with God. We are people who gave up and threw ourselves at the mercy of the court, hoping for a pardon, while the judge himself pays our fine. As I once heard it put; "A true Christian is just one beggar telling another beggar where the bread is."
That is what Jesus had to accomplish on the cross before He could rise from the dead. And that is why Good Friday is good after all.
NOTE: A brief portion of this article was inspired by the anonymous poem, One Solitary Life.
Also by Bob Siegel:
Questions
and Concerns About Christianity