But Why Is It Good?

"For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled…" 

- John 19:36a

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The picture plays out in my mind. So vividly, so terribly, so full of detail. 

"They scourged Him" (John 19:1)

I see the leather whips coming down on His bare back. I hear the snapping sound it makes, I see the sharp glass and rocks cutting into His skin, ripping His flesh, I see the blood. 

"The soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His brow" (19:2)

I can feel the prick of pain, as in my mind I reach out at touch the thorns. They are piercing my LORD, they are marking His head, and again, I see the blood. 

"Crucify Him, crucify Him!" (19:6)

The crowds are screaming out. There's chaos in the streets. It's loud. I see the angry faces, I feel myself pushed about the crowd, watching helplessly by as the people you came to save reject you, and send you to your death. 

"And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him." (19:17)

I can imagine in my mind how big and heavy that cross was. I can see the soldiers throwing it on your back, and ordering you to carry your cross up the mountain of Golgotha. The weight of such a burden must have hurt your heart so much, knowing where you were going. Knowing what would happen when you got to the top. But you went willingly, and you carried that cross, for all of us, for me. 

The soldiers took the cross, laid you on it, and crucified you. They drove spikes through your wrists and ankles, around your bones, ensuring that the muscles and tendons would hold you up. Those soldiers hurt you, caused you excruciating pain, but you went to the cross for them too. 

And then they raised you up, and after seeing to the well being of your mother, and taking a sip of sour wine, you gave up your spirit, and died. 

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It's difficult to read through John 19. It's difficult to come face to face with the reality of what we did to Jesus, our LORD. To face the pain he went through. To let the reality of what He did for us sink down deep into our hearts…it hurts. 

Tears stream down my face as I imagine my Savior walking this path, laying down His life in this way. Knowing how much He endured, because His love was so great. 

I feel the weight of shame and guilt, knowing that it was my sins that put Him there. Knowing that He had to go through all of that in order to save me. 

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So why is Good Friday, good? 

On the day that Jesus endured the cross, and laid down His own life for us, why do we call that day "good"?

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It's hard to wrap our hearts around, but we call this day good, because our Savior God, HAD to die in order to save us all from our sins. 

In Jesus' death, we all found life. 

In the shedding of Jesus' blood, we all found forgiveness.

In the prophecy being fulfilled, we all found everlasting life. 

Our salvation is secure, our hope concrete, because of what Jesus did for us today. 

Today is good, because despite the pain of remembering, we realize that it was in the events of this day, that our God saved us. 

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Carry Good Friday in your heart, dear Christian. 

Jesus, The Son of God, laid down His own life for you today. Because His love for you was so great. 

This is a good day for us, a day to be remembered. 

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Thank You, Jesus. Praise Your Holy Name.