Today is Good Friday. That means a lot of places around Rhode Island will be serving fish. But it’s more than that, of course. It’s a day to remember the death of Jesus. Normally the death of someone is not something to celebrate, but the death of Christ is different. It accomplished something.
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2:13-14
Most people recognize that Jesus was an actual person who lived and who was a great moral teacher. He’s famous for His teachings about loving our enemies and His innovative use of parables. He’s considered to be one of the great religious leaders in history along with Moses and Ghandi and MLK. It’s true that Jesus Christ was the most remarkable human being who ever lived. But He was not merely a great man.
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 1 Timothy 1:15
Before you and I were born we did not exist. Well, we were an idea in the mind of God. I’ve only existed for 53 years. Jesus, however, before He was born in Bethlehem, existed already. He was the second person of the Triune God. He has existed forever. All things that have been made were made through Him. Before the world was made—Jesus was. He is the Uncreated Creator, the all-powerful Lord of the Universe, the Holy One.
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high … Hebrews 1:1-3
If Jesus is God then why would He come down in the form of a human into this messy sinful world and allow Himself to be subjected to cruelties of wicked men? This terrible death by crucifixion was precisely why Jesus came into our world. It was the plan from the very beginning. Let me explain.
One thing we know about God is that He knows all things. That means that before He made the universe, the earth, and the first humans, He knew what would happen. When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, God was not surprised. He knew that all human beings would, in fact, sin and rebel.
Even though God knew all this would happen, He still created human beings. The plan from the beginning was to redeem them. He would rescue them from their sin and guilt and make them a holy people.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father … Galatians 1:3-4
This redemption wasn’t just something God could speak into being the way He spoke light into being. The Creator could not just forgive all the sins of all the humans from all the ages. That would be a violation of His perfect holiness and justice. The only way to remove the stain of guilt upon humans would be a ransom that would satisfy the justice of God. But what could possibly pay for the sins of billions of people? Apparently, the death of an angel would not be sufficient. Humans cannot atone for their own sins.
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 1 Timothy 2:5-6
That’s why Christ came. Yes, He was a great teacher. He was a prophet and miracle worker. But He came primarily to give His life as payment for our sins. He came to die in our stead; to take the punishment we deserve.
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45
The word “gospel” means good news. It is an announcement of such good news that it’s hard to comprehend. Christ came into the world and took upon Himself our sin, our guilt, our shame, our brokenness, our rebellion and gave us His righteousness so that we could be completely cleared of guilt and restored to God. To say we don’t deserve this redemption is a gross understatement. The death of Christ made it possible for sinful creatures like you and me to become children of God who will dwell with Him forever. Take that in.
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21
I imagine none of us has ever seen a person crucified. Crucifixion was designed to maximize the suffering of the criminal. Jesus was also mocked, beaten, and had His beard plucked out. He was flogged with a whip that had sharp bones on the end that tore the skin off in ribbons. The suffering of Christ was compounded by the spiritual suffering of bearing the sins of the world. The “cup” He drank was the wrath of the Almighty against our sins. This was the price He paid to redeem us.
As I sit on this comfortable chair writing in my office, I sense the peace of God. All my sins have been washed away; I’m cleared. All the sins of my rebellious youth—all my lust and anger, greed and hatred—is wiped out because of what Christ did on that cross. I have fellowship with God because of Christ’s blood shed for me. I once was lost but now I’m found because of Jesus.
But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior … Titus 3:4-6
I don’t think I’m telling you what you don’t already know. Some of you have heard about Jesus dying for the sins of the world since you were small children. The challenge in our pursuit of God is to grow in wonder and awe of what Christ did for us. Because we get it—but we don’t get it. We understand the concept intellectually, but we don’t realize that the God who made all things and holds all things together—for some reason!—has decided to set His merciful affections upon us sinful creatures and give His very life to redeem us.
When you think of the goodness of God in creating us and then showing such mercy upon us by dying in our stead to save us, it is a shocking wonder that more people do not come to Christ. The gift of salvation is free! The Lord Himself pays the high price of this gift and then graciously extends it to whosoever is willing to take it. Sadly, many reject the Gift of God and refuse to bow the knee to the One True God. Strangely, they choose hell over eternity with Jesus.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. John 3:16-18
Let us come to the foot of the cross today, and every day, and behold the glory of the cross. Let’s gaze upon the agony of the Son as He hung on that tree for our sin. Let’s look at the One who was pierced for our transgressions. It is this beholding that transforms us.
I want to leave you with some suggested resources to help you contemplate on the cross of Christ. The first and greatest resource is the Bible. Start with the accounts of Christ’s death in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Read Isaiah 58. Scan through the epistles and notice how frequently the death of Christ is mentioned.
Several movies have been made to help us understand the great sacrificial death of Jesus. I think of Ben Hur that I watched when I was about eight years old. Jesus of Nazareth is a very lengthy telling of the story of Christ (3 discs). The more recent R-rated Passion of the Christ holds nothing back in helping us to grasp the horror of the cross. There are many others as well.
Another way to meditate on the cross of Christ is through music. Thousands of songs have been written through the centuries. If you have access to YouTube just search “hymns on the cross” or “songs about the death of Jesus.” That’s a good rabbit hole to go down.
I’ve mentioned this before but I highly recommend The Bible Project teaching videos. They are animation but don’t think that they are for children. The content is very deep. I would recommend searching for words like “atonement, cross, redemption, death of Christ, the blood.”
If you want to read or listen to some good content about the cross of Christ I would recommend a Spurgeon sermon. Tim Keller also has a blog filled with wonderful content. Desiring God (Piper and friends) has a vast amount of content on the cross of Christ. John Stott’s book Cross of Christ is a classic. You can probably find an online version.
The more we comprehend what Christ has done for us, the more our hearts burn to serve Him in gratitude. Nothing motivates us as much as the realization of the cost of our salvation. If Christ gave of Himself for us, how can we not give ourselves to Him. We’ve been bought with a price and we are no longer our own. We are His.