Good Friday (Holy Friday)

Jesus' Day

"On Friday, Jesus voluntarily submitted to be nailed to a cross.
The Bible says at noon the skies got dark. There was an earthquake. The temple veil was torn. People suddenly realized that when Jesus cried out, "It is finished," and then died, he was no ordinary man.Jesus was taken from the cross, prepared for burial, and put in a tomb."

- Bill Hybels

Holy Scriptures
Matthew 27:11-61
Mark 15
Luke 22:66-23:56
John 18:28-19:42
Romans 6:1-14

Thought
Good Friday is a day we remember the painful crucifixion of our Savior. It is a day of mourning, a time of remembering that tightens our stomachs. It pains us to remember and recall the details, but it is in remembering those details that we realize we are recipients of the most gracious gift of God.We are forgiven because he was forsaken, as the song says. We are accepted, he was condemned. In the cross, we quickly feel little and unworthy of such a great gift from the awesome and Most High God. We say, "You did this for me? But, why?". We are in disbelief that by one death, death is conquered. Death is conquered! Good Friday is a day of great love and recalling that:

"The cross reveals that Jesus has conquered sin and death and that nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate us from the love of Christ. ... not fear, guilt, shame, self-hatred, or even death can tear us away from the love of God, made visible in Jesus the Lord.Listening to the faint heartbeat of the dying Rabbi is a powerful stimulus to the recovery of passion." - Brennan Manning, Abba's ChildGod is faithful in fulfilling His words. Praise Him.

Reflection
Galatians 2:20-21 says "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"

What does it mean to you to be crucified with Christ in your life today? What is he calling you to do as an act of faith? What would your life look like if you surrendered all that you are to the freedom offered through Christ by the grace of God?

Prayer of the Day
Thank you Lord Jesus for bearing our sins and healing us by your wounds, so that we can live freely. Help us to die to our old selves and our sinful desires and to live lives worthy of the calling we have received. (1 Peter 2:24, Eph. 4:1, Romans 6:1-14)

Spend some time at the foot of the cross today.