Good Friday

-46 From noon45 to three, the whole earth was dark. Around mid-afternoon Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

47-49 Some bystanders who heard him said, “He’s calling for Elijah.” One of them ran and got a sponge soaked in sour wine and lifted it on a stick so he could drink. The others joked, “Don’t be in such a hurry. Let’s see if Elijah comes and saves him.”

50 But Jesus, again crying out loudly, breathed his last.

51-53 At that moment, the Temple curtain was ripped in two, top to bottom. There was an earthquake, and rocks were split in pieces. What’s more, tombs were opened up, and many bodies of believers asleep in their graves were raised. (After Jesus’ resurrection, they left the tombs, entered the holy city, and appeared to many.)

54 The captain of the guard and those with him, when they saw the earthquake and everything else that was happening, were scared to death. They said, “This has to be the Son of God!” Matthew 27: 45-54

Why do we call it Good Friday? Mark Lowry tells a story about going to the movies to see The Greatest Story Ever Told and when he saw the part where the crowd yells, "Crucify Him!" a young Mark jumps up and yells, "NOOOOOO!

His older brother grabs him and pulls back down and says, "Be quite or we'll all go to Hell!"

In that sense it's a good Friday for us. Because of Christ's death on the cross our debt is paid and salvation awaits us all.

It certainly wasn't a good Friday for Jesus or his followers. Or was it? We tend to look at the negative, but what if we look a little deeper. Jesus' death wasn't a bad thing. Was it really a bad Friday for Jesus? I don't think so. Jesus came for that moment. He came out of love for each of us to die on that cross. Did He dread that moment? His human side definitely did. It was a painful and agonizing moment for His physical body, but all the while His God-side was rejoicing in the fact that sin had been defeated, that what was happening would reconcile God and man forever. Matthew 27;51 says the temple curtain was ripped from top to bottom. That curtain was symbolic to the spiritual wall between man and God. Jesus had broken down that barrier. How could He not be happy about that. God and man were now friends again, just like Adam and God had once been in the Garden of Eden.

The disciples, like us, focused on the negative. The man they had believed to be the Son of God, The Savior they had longed for was dead. They forgot the things Jesus had told them. They thought it was over. The didn't know it was a good Friday for them. They didn't realize it until a few days later. But, yes it was a good Friday for the disciples too.

The greatness and goodness of God gave us a day that was the beginning of an event that would change the relationship between men and God forever. Because of Good Friday we can have a personal relationship with Jesus. He can walk with us every day through every trial. He is a loving God. A Good God. A Great God, A powerful God.