Today is “Good” Friday. Unmatched by any other day in its deep pain and tragedy. Yet, also, so very good because of the immense sacrifice made by our Savior, for us, on this day.
I was reading Luke 23 this morning and thinking about where I would have been had I been there. Would I have been following Jesus and weeping? Would I have been shouting, “Crucify Him!”?
I think we’d all like to believe we’d be following Jesus, weeping at what was happening to Him, heartbroken at the tragedy playing out before our eyes. I think we’d like to believe we’d never betray him like Judas, deny him like Peter, or trade his life for Barabbas’s. The truth is, I’m just not sure. When I look at the church today, I think most of us think we’re pretty good Christians in our own right. I think we often take pride in how good we are doing, how much faith we muster up, how righteously we’re living. But as Isaiah 64:6 reminds us, our righteousness, on its own, without the saving power of Christ, is nothing more than “filthy rags”. Had I been alive in Jesus’s day, I’d probably have thought I was doing pretty well. I’m not sure what I would’ve thought of this Jesus man when he came on the scene. He was revolutionary. He chased after the misfits and the broken . . . those no one else wanted . . . He welcomed them . . . He healed them, not just physically but from the inside out. He loved the unlovable, and He chastised those who thought they had it all together. He got down in the dirt with the condemned, but he didn’t leave them there. He called sin out for what it was. He forgave big. He loved big. He wasn’t just a good man who changed the world. He was God in the flesh, and His sacrifice for our sin, for my sin, changed all of eternity. And I am so thankful for that. So thankful that, He doesn’t care what I would’ve done on that day. He doesn’t see me as imperfect or prideful, messed up or broken. He sees me as whole, forgiven, and healed because of what He did on that cross over 2000 years ago.
Today the sun was darkened. Today the veil was torn. Today the earth quaked and the rocks split. Today was the day that made it possible for me, for you, for anyone who so desires, to be forever reconciled with our Heavenly Father. To walk, not in condemnation for our sins, but in forgiveness and wholeness for all eternity.
And today, if you do not know Him as your Savior, I encourage you to cry out to Jesus. It’s so simple, yet we often complicate it so much. You don’t have to have perfect eloquent words, you just have to ask Him . . . ask Him to save you, forgive you, transform you . . . He already loves you deeply. He already made the sacrifice. All you have to do is accept.
That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Romans 10:9-13
Courtney's Contemplations . . . 