What’s So Good About Good Friday?

Good Friday is the day of Holy Week when Christians celebrate the death of Jesus Christ. Why would we celebrate the death of Jesus? Wasn’t that the saddest, darkest day in world history? Well yes and no. Yes because it was the day that Jesus was condemned, rejected, and cursed by God; treated as a sinner – bearing the sin of the world. And yet, it was a glorious day because redemption was accomplished through Christ’s atonement. And I use that word very deliberately – accomplished because He didn’t “try” to do anything. He accomplished redemption to be received by faith as a gift. But before I go any further, something needs to be made clear. The cross without the resurrection is meaningless. If Jesus were still dead He may be able to give a little inspiration, but He couldn’t take away sin, defeat Satan, and give new life. BUT the resurrection without the cross is equally meaningless for obvious reasons (raised from what if not death?). So with that out the way, what was accomplished on Good Friday? Isaiah 53 is one of the classic passages that brings to our attention the accomplishment of Jesus Christ. Take a look at a few phrases from this amazing chapter in the bible and celebrate this Good Friday (and every day for that matter) what Christ has done.

He bore our griefs and carried our sorrows.

It is interesting that this is the first thing that is addressed. I can’t get into the mind of the inspired prophet, but it could be because grief and sorrow is such a common experience of broken and fallen humanity. Who doesn’t know the grief of pressures, loss, frustration, and death (of others that is). When it states that Jesus bore griefs and carried sorrows it means at least a couple of things. First, Jesus is intimately acquainted with your troubles. He knows them because He Himself was a “man of sorrows” (i.e. had His own sorrows) and also because He really and truly felt the weight of yours. This is incredibly encouraging. Everyone who is going through intense soul anguish wants someone who understands to talk to. Wow, you do have someone like that! There is a second, powerful truth here too. Grief and sorrow is not our main lot in life – joy is. How can this be? Because He took our grief and sorrow and gave us Himself. How does this work? Check this out. Probably the most common cause of grief and sorrow has to do with severed and/or broken relationships – the death of a loved one, the rejection of a spouse, a wayward child, a friend who has abandoned you. These are hard things. But above that, there is a deep seeded grief that all human beings experience apart from Christ – a sense of disintegration and disconnectedness. This feeling comes from being alienated from God. Jesus came to repair this. He came to reconcile us back to God. And it is not just that we have been made right legally, but we have been brought back to Him relationally. Galatians 4 says that Jesus redeemed us, made us children of God, and put His Spirit in us who cries out “Abba, Father!” What if the joy of this reconciled relationship so far outweighed the grief and sorrow of other broken relationships (and sorrows concerning anything else) that it was like they were carried and taken away? It is possible. This is what He accomplished on Good Friday.

He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities.

What a glorious truth that our sins have been dealt with once for all on the cross. Think about it: He bore the curse that our sins deserved. He was wounded for our transgressions so that we won’t have to be. He was crushed for our iniquities, so there is no more crushing for us. The justice of God fell on Christ so all that is left for us is mercy and grace. A second thing happened though that is closely connected with this. He actually took our sins away. He has done away with them. They are buried in the depths of the sea. Better still, they have been removed as far as the east is from the west (which is a long distance by the way). Therefore you don’t have to walk around full of guilt, shame, and condemnation anymore. If you don’t bear your sins anymore, what does that mean? Here’s what it means. Your fundamental identity is no longer sinner, but saint. You are not a slave to sin anymore, but a slave to righteousness. How? Through the cross; which is why Paul is able to say in Galatians 6:14, “Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” A beautiful line from an old song says it well, “My sin O the bliss of this glorious thought. My sin not in part but the whole. Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord O my soul.” Let your heart be stirred as you consider Good Friday and your freedom from sin!

By His stripes we are healed.

Now it is an obvious statement to say that not all people are healed from sickness, disease, and pain. However, when Isaiah says rather matter-of-factly, “By His stripes you ARE healed”, we shouldn’t flippantly reduce this in some ethereal, super-spiritual way. Jesus really bore stripes! We are really healed! I think this is commending to us a three-fold belief. First, through faith in Jesus Christ, we have been healed of the worst disease the world has ever known. This disease ushered death into the world to begin with and is one that every single human being since (except one) has had to reckon with – SIN. Sin has wreaked havoc on all our lives and in no greater way than in how we relate with God.  We once hated God and ran from him but now have returned having been healed of this terrible disease.  Peter quoted Isaiah 53 to make this point saying, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” (1 Peter 2:24-25). Second, all believers will be perfectly and forever healed having received resurrection bodies that will never be subject to decay and mortality again. When Jesus returns, he will bring this about and this is such an unstoppable reality that will take place that it is as if we are healed now (Philippians 3:20-21). Most Christians already believe something like this. Third, I would also suggest that to be robustly biblical we also believe that God’s heart, revealed through Jesus shows Him to be a Healer of our sicknesses even how. Therefore present day healing of our physical sicknesses and diseases was accomplished or purchased through the cross of Jesus Christ on Good Friday. The gospel of Matthew clearly asserts this when after casting out demons and healing the sick it says this was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah (Matthew 8:16-17).

What a Savior! If you are a Christian – believing in Jesus, claim these gifts as your own; claim them now! Ask the Spirit to make them undeniably real to your soul that Christ may dwell there by faith. Happy Good Friday!