Good Friday

Posted on April 22, 2022 by Catey Stover in Freedom Fighters

The day began with betrayal and ended in death… And we call the day ‘good’… The only way to face a day like this is in prayer… And that’s where we find Jesus… After a dinner full of extraordinary events, Jesus headed to the garden. There His anguished soul was shrouded in grief as He poured out His heart before His Father. “Adonai, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

He was as confident of His Father’s goodness as He was of the very cost it would take to show that goodness to the world. At dinner, “Jesus said, “I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins. For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.” He took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God. Then he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. For I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come.” He took some bread and gave thanks to God… Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” After supper, he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.” (Luke 22:15-20 NLT)

 

Although they did not understand the implications of what Jesus was saying, the symbols were very familiar to these Jewish men. It was the beginning of the festival season, and Passover, the Feast of Unleavened bread, and Firstfruits were upon them; the lambs had been chosen and would be sacrificed the following afternoon… As would the “Lamb of God that takes away the world’s sins.’

 

1300 years before this specific PASSOVER Celebration, the redemption of Israel cost all the firstborn males of both the men and beasts in Egypt. More precisely, those who were not under the lamb’s blood sacrificed for them. On this particular Passover, the cost would be the Father’s Beloved Son, given out of His Love for the world. On the cross, Jesus would shed His blood so death would ‘pass over’ all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ … All those who have His blood on the door frame of their hearts.

 

The festival of Unleavened Bread immediately follows this solemn day; In Hebrew terms, Bread represents all provisions necessary for life. When Israel left Egypt in haste, this unleavened Bread was all they had to sustain them on the first part of their trip; soon to follow would be the manna… the enhanced image of the Bread of Life that comes down from Heaven to save man from death. No yeast in the dough means no decay… no decay means no death.

 

When Paul writes to the Corinthians about the sin they allowed fester in the Church, he describes their action in this similar way; “Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old “yeast” by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us. So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old Bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new Bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Corinthians 5:6-8 NLT)

Jesus is the Bread of life that is broken for you and me… Isaiah gives this vivid description for our understanding, “Surely, he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds, we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:4-5 ESV)

 

As his body lay in the tomb, broken and battered, Jesus fulfilled the pattern given us in the Festival of Unleavened Bread; as the unblemished Lamb of God, who could not decay, “Death” could not hold Him in the grave.

 

Just as He said, Jesus rose again on the third day. As the resurrected Savior, He became the Firstfruits of all those who would believe; these Believers will be resurrected into new life and as new creations. Paul explains, “When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first. And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting. Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed. It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. When we die, our earthly bodies are planted in the ground, but they will be raised to live forever. Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. Just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.” (1 Corinthians 15:36-38, 42-44 NLT) So we who study and hear God’s word have hope. When we place our faith in the faithful God, we can face tomorrow as joy rises and shines in the morning.

 

Yes, this day is good… It is good when you comprehend that God determines what is good… and not us.    Good is what is in accordance with His nature and will. But, one thing we must understand, while God is “working all things for Good for those who love Him, “… there will also be pain and darkness involved. Barbara Brown Taylor writes, “I have learned things in the dark that I could never have learned in the light, things that have saved my life over and over again, so there is really only one logical conclusion. I need darkness as much as I need light.”

 

Three hours of agonizing darkness lay over the land as Jesus hung on the cross that Passover day (Mark 15:33). It was supernatural darkness. It was not night, for the sun was at its zenith. (Noon until 3pm). As Mr. Spurgeon well said, “It was midnight at midday.” It was no eclipse. Competent astronomers tell us that the moon was at her farthest from the sun at the time of the crucifixion. It is the cry of Christ that gives the meaning of the darkness, as the darkness gives us the meaning of that bitter cry… “My God, My God, why has though forsaken ME?” One thing alone can explain this darkness, as one thing alone can interpret this cry—that Christ had taken the place of the guilty; He was now in the position of “sin-bearing,” and He was enduring the judgment due mankind… the cup…  now “He Who knew no sin was “made sin” for us.” And with His final words, “It is finished,” the will of the Father was accomplished, and it was “Good.”

 

Our salvation was purchased for us by the “Blood of the true Passover Lamb” and “His broken Sinless body.” In God’s economy, this is why Jesus is called “The Bread of Life, and the Way” This is good, for, by His wounds, our relationship with God is healed. Through the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, we are redeemed from the power of sin by the blood and Unleavened Bread, and through Christ’s righteousness, we are declared justified in God’s sight and enabled to walk boldly into His Presence! Amen… this is good.

 

Written by David Brown: David is a husband, father, grandfather, Pastor with a Masters of Religious Studies and a Professor of Philosophy and Comparative Religions. Dave is the Associate Pastor of Pemberton’s First Baptist Church. He is the author of two devotional books, “From a Chair by the Window.” And “#PrayerWinsThe Day”.


Think About This: “Once you have surrendered yourself, you make yourself receptive. In receiving from God, you are perfected and completed.” ― Fulton J. Sheen

The Daily Bible Reading: 2 Samuel 4-6; Luke 18:18-43| You can download our 2022 Daily Bible Reading Plan by clicking here. 

This Week’s Verse to Memorize: “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” – Colossians 3:17

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