Good Friday

Today, we mourn while commemorating Christ's atonement (payment in full) for our sin.  We call this Friday "good" because of what Christ accomplished on the Friday nearly two millennia ago.  Below is only a glimpse of his suffering on your behalf...

"They spit in his face and struck him.  And some slapped him, saying, 'Prophesy to us, you Christ!  Who is it that struck you?'" (Matthew 16:67-68)

"And they bound him and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate the governor." (Matthew 27:2)

"Then [Pilate the governor] scourged Jesus, delivering him to be crucified." (Matthew 27:26)

"And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand.  And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, 'Hail, King of the Jews!'  And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head.  And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him." (Matthew 27:27-31)

"And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots."  (Matthew 27:35)

"And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, 'You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself!  If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross."  (Matthew 27:39-40)

"So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, 'He saved others; he cannot save himself.  He is the King of Israel, let him come down from the cross, and we will believe in him, For he said, 'I am the Son of God.''  And the robbers who were with him also reviled him in the same way."  (Matthew 27:41-44)

[The above is the account of the bodily suffering of Jesus ... merely the bodily suffering of Jesus.  The suffering recorded below was most painful: God, the Father, in His holiness, had to turn His back on His Son while His Son bore your guilt on the cross]. 

"And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, 'Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?' that is, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"   (Matthew 27:46)

"And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit."  (Matthew 27:50)

I have an intensifying head cold today.  At one point, I considered not going to the Good Friday service at Harvest.  Then I considered the piddly nature of my cold compared to the atonement accomplished with mockery, blood, and forsakenness on my behalf.  I gladly rise to join other believers in order to mourn the necessary suffering of the God-man so I am assuredly saved from God's wrath.

Amen.