What's So Good About Good Friday?
So, what’s the big deal? A guy was crucified.
He wasn’t the first person to die by such a hideous death.
Those watching with natural eyes see an innocent man beaten to a bloody pulp, hung on a cross by thugs. Sad, but so what? Those watching with spiritual eyes see something else.
In the visible world, He died a hideous death on the cross. In the invisible, spiritual world, what really happened?
On that visible cross, Jesus Christ became the invisible bridge between God and men! Something spiritual happened in the invisible realm.
Our Substitute
Most people saw Jesus as a bloody man on a tree; the eye of faith sees Jesus on the cross as our substitute. Jesus took our place. He was our substitute. What does that mean?
A substitute takes the place of another.
Think about it. In school, when the “sub” shows up, the regular teacher gets released from the classroom. Jesus, as our substitute, showed up on the cross and paid for our sin, so that we could be released.
Jesus, as our substitute, went to hell for three days so we wouldn’t have to go there.Jesus, as our substitute, was raised from the dead, so we could be raised with Him!
“. . . the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord,” (Romans 6:23, NLT).
Sin requires a payment. God can’t and won’t wink at sin, but rather justice requires that a wage be paid for it. The wages of sin is death. That’s what happened in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. They sinned and death entered. Since then, we’ve all sinned and we owe the debt of death!
Jesus paid our debt! He took our place. He was our substitute on the cross and in hell. He died for our sins! He paid our wage and we got His gift.
He paid the price.
We got the gift.
Jesus was here, on purpose, on a mission: to rescue all of us from sin and death.
His Cross Was Our Cross
Jesus’ birth, life, ministry, death and resurrection were predicted hundreds of years before He came on the scene. Listen to Isaiah’s amazing, detailed forecast!
“Many were amazed when they saw him—beaten and bloodied, so disfigured one would scarcely know he was a person . . . He was despised and rejected —a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way when he went by. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God for his own sins! But he was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped, and we were healed! All of us have strayed away like sheep. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the guilt and sins of us all. He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth . . .
But who among the people realized that he was dying for their sins—that he was suffering their punishment? He had done no wrong, and he never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave. But it was the LORD’s good plan to crush him and fill him with grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have a multitude of children, many heirs. He will enjoy a long life, and the LORD’s plan will prosper in his hands. When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of what he has experienced, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. I will give him the honors of one who is mighty and great, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among those who were sinners. He bore the sins of many and interceded for sinners,” (Isaiah 52:14, 53:3-12, NLT).
The Cross isn’t just about a man who survived beatings, mockery and torture. The Cross is about the Man who made a decision in the . . .
Garden of Gethsemane
to rescue mankind from the sin and eternal death that had plagued humanity since the . . .
Garden of Eden.
His cross was our cross, we deserved to be punished for our own sins, but He took our place and we were crucified with Him. “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me,” (Galatians 2:20, NKJV).
The Grand Finale
After His death on the cross, Jesus went to hell for three days—again, as our substitute! On the third day, He rose from the dead! This puts Jesus in a class all by Himself.
He’s alive today!
One of the first things Jesus did after the resurrection was to take His own blood into heaven’s Most Holy Place, where He poured it out on the eternal Mercy Seat for the salvation of mankind! He is our eternal High Priest.
“But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance . . . When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!” (Hebrews 9:7-14, NIV).
He did all of this for us! Jesus said, “. . . I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep,” (John 10:10, NKJV). Jesus gave His life so we could have life!
Today, Jesus Christ is the only One who resides in heaven and He mediates between God and men. “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men,” (1 Timothy 2:5-6, NIV).
Don’t Insult God
In light of all that we’ve looked at, can you see that Jesus was the one and only substitute fit to pay the price for our sin––with His own blood? Truthfully, it’s an absolute insult to compare any past or present religion, religious leader or icon to Jesus Christ.
Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” (John 14:6, NIV). He’s the only One qualified to make such a statement.
When Jesus died on the cross—in the physical world, it was blood and guts; but in the spiritual world, it was life over death.
Jesus death and finished work on the cross wasn’t the end of the story.It was the beginning! Three days after His death and burial, Jesus rose from the dead! Over five hundred people saw him alive after the cross. “I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles,” (1 Corinthians 15:3-7, NLT.)
As believers in Jesus, we are identified with Him. He was our substitute on the cross. He was our substitute in death. He was our substitute in hell. When He rose from the dead, we are identified with Him and we rose. Because He’s alive, we are identified with Him and we are alive forevermore! We get in on all of the benefits, blessings and favors He profusely pours out on those who will receive Him! Jesus offers this free of charge to “whosoever will!”
That’s the good news of the gospel! That’s why Good Friday is so good!
