Luke 26:46. And (Jesus) said unto them. Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day.
GOOD FRIDAY!
Ah Friends, it’s Friday; Good Friday, time for your sacrificial demise! How does it feel now that the moment is truly at hand eh? Many of us are off work today because it’s a public holiday in Christian societies, so there’s no need to shout ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!’ implying a grateful release from our weekly labours. In fact, I doubt that any of us would really be thanking God for this particular Friday, if it truly meant our sacrificial demise on a wooden cross, because we’re all afraid, not so much of dying per se, but dying such a horrible, excruciating death. Fear of the terrible pain, the endless humiliation, the hot sun beating down on our bruised and battered bodies, would bring immense concern to any normal human being. And Jesus was a normal human being in one sense; He felt pain and sorrow like us all, thus the thought of His sacrificial demise did affect Him, although He knew that was the major purpose for His birth. Now that ability to experience pain and suffering, and so understand ours, is just one more thing that enamours us to Him. Consequently, on the night prior to His crucifixion, Jesus went up into a spacious but quiet Garden, Gethsemane, along with His disciples. He left the majority at one spot, telling them: ‘Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder (over there).’ (Matt.26:36) Then He took Peter, James and John and went deeper into the garden, ‘and began to be sorrowful (deeply grieved) and very heavy (deeply distressed).’ (Matt.26:37) The pressure was getting to Him. And His next words to the three with Him, clearly manifests this. ‘My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye (stay) here and watch with me. And he went a little further and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.’ (Matt.26:38-39) Note that Jesus desired His favourite trio to watch and pray with Him, but unfortunately they didn’t understand the true significance of His actions and fell asleep. None of them really believed that His crucifixion was imminent. Therefore, when Jesus came back and saw them sleeping, He scolded Peter: ‘What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ (Matt.26:49-41) Ah Friends, it’s the same way we often behave when others close to us are going through unfortunate situations, especially when we don’t truly know or understand what’s happening in their lives. What’s really important though, is Jesus asking the Father, if at all possible, to relieve Him of the upcoming adversity. However, He did acknowledge that the Father’s will was supreme. And so should we in times of adversity, if we’re faithful believers. Twice more did Jesus go and pray the same prayer: ‘O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except (unless) I drink it, thy will be done.’ (Matt.26:42) Though Jesus asked to be relieved of the obligation to save sinners by the painful shedding of His precious, innocent blood, like an obedient Son and Servant, He acquiesced to the Father’s will, knowing that it was the ONLY solution under God’s justice system. Now here’s an interesting observation from the scholars: ‘The prayer for the cup to pass is not due to Jesus fear of death. Jesus questions the will of the Father as to the necessity of drinking the cup. While this may refer to death (“he tasted death”) it is more likely that the cup represents the wrath of God against sin, the divine wrath Christ would incur on the cross as man’s sin-bearer. In the awful anguish of that moment, the sin of the world was poured on Christ and He became “sin for us” (2 Cor.5:21). Thus the Righteous One dies a substitutionary death for guilty mankind.’ Anyhow Friends, regardless of whether Jesus was afraid to die, or He just didn’t want the weight of all the world’s sins on His shoulders, yet He obediently sacrificed Himself on this Good Friday two thousand years ago to pay an extraordinary, exorbitant price with His sinless life, so that sinful souls like us could be rescued from the waiting depths of Hades. We call it Good Friday, but it was really a bitter-sweet day: bitter because Christ had to die such a cruel death, but sweet because it was only through His dying and rising again that we could ever receive the gracious promises of Salvation and Eternal Life. And All God’s people cried out in loud, unified voice: ‘Glory Hallelujah!’ Oh my brethren, we all know what happened after: Judas, comes to Gethsemane with a mob from the Jewish elders, betrays Jesus with an unholy kiss, and all His disciples run away and leave Him in the lurch. Then He is brought before the Jewish Council, the Sanhedrin, where He is cross examined and humiliated, with Peter denying Him three times. Then He’s taken before the Roman Governor Pilate, who finds Him innocent, but sends Him to Herod, because He’s under Herod’s jurisdiction. But Herod sends Him back, and Pilate finally washes his hands of the whole affair. Then, instead of releasing Jesus, as was expected, he bows to the demands of the crowd, stirred up by the elders, and releases Barabbas, a convicted murderer. Then comes the flogging and further humiliation, and finally the awful crucifixion. While hanging from the cross, Jesus is so concerned about us that He even asks for our forgiveness: ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.’ (Luke 23:34) Then just before His final moment, Jesus utters the words that we believe shows His greatest hurt or disappointment. ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachtani? that is to say, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ (Matt.27:46) Separation from His Father was the most acute hurt. There He uses the opening line of Psalm 22, Bruh David’s cry of anguish and song of praise. And after all that ‘sufferation’ He bore on our behalf, yet we don’t truly appreciate Him. How sad my people. This is not what I had planned to write, but it’s where the Holy Spirit led me, and trying to be obedient like Jesus, (smile) I complied. Tomorrow we’ll see my original plan. Till then my fellow believers, please spend some serious time contemplating what this day truly means to us, and hopefully we’ll all come to a greater appreciation of Jesus’ and LOVE Him even more than we now do. Much LOVE!…to know, know, know Him, is to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Him…
SCRIP-BITS 