Good Friday

Today has gotten my thinking...today, Good Friday, always gets me thinking. The day in and of itself is designed to help us remember, to help us reflect and to point us to the truth found in God's word. Truth that we, sinful human beings, need a Savior and God in his perfect plan sent Jesus Christ to this earth to live a sinless life and to die a horribly painful death on a cross for me....and for you! Today is an important, somber, reflective day where we remember the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross. Jesus, a perfect, sinless man, who was all at once fully God and fully man, died a horrific death on a cross to save us. As I read through the accounts of Jesus' death found in the Gospels this morning, I was once again in awe of my Savior. I can't even begin to image the pain and the weight of the sins of the world on his shoulders. In Mark chapter 14 we get a small glimpse into how Jesus was feeling:

Mark 14:32-36 (NIV)
They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”

Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Jesus is deeply troubled and asks the Lord to take this cup from him, but he doesn't stop there...he says "Yet not what I will, but what you will." This is incredible! Jesus knows what is to come, he understands the level of pain and separation he will experience from God the Father when the sins of the world rest upon him, yet he willing says YES! 

What an incredible level of sacrifice and obedience to the will of God the Father. It makes me think...am I obedient? Is my first answer to God's call yes? Do I pray big prayers like Jesus, because "everything is possible" for my God? So often the answer to these questions is no. I can easily ignore God's call on my life, I can be chicken and not talk about my faith with others, I can pray prayers that only seem realistic to me in my human understanding. 

I don't know about you, but I want that all to change and I believe God is changing me! I want my answer to always be "yes...not my will, but your will Lord." I want to pray prayers that seem impossible in my mind, because human impossibility is just God possibility! We see that lived out in the Easter story! Jesus was arrested, flogged, had a crown of thorns placed on his head. He was spit at, mocked and then forced to carry his own cross. He was then placed on that cross, with nails driven into his feet and hands. He hung there, bloody, beaten, mocked...for you, for me! Why oh why do I forget this, why oh why does this not bring me to tears each day? 

Today we remember this:

Mark 15:33-38 (NIV)

At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).

When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”

Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.

With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.

The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”

Surely Jesus is the Son of God, he is the Savior of the world. If you haven't accepted him, why not? Look at the love that he has for you! He loves you enough that he gave up his life for you! 

John 3:16-17 (NIV) clearly states it all:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

God loves you! What does your yes need to be? Today, let's remember, reflect, and praise our God for his amazing plan and his gracious gift of Salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ! Friday is here, but Sunday is coming...death could not hold him! Jesus is RISEN and ALIVE!