What’s So Good About Good Friday?

The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.” The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? What does he mean by saying, ‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?” — John 7:32-36

When the average man looks into the face of death and comes to terms with their mortality, they often change. They begin to think, speak, and act differently. I have seen this many times. Suddenly, everything that used to consume a man no longer consumes him.

But not Jesus. His mortality was known. He knew from his first breath the date of his last. Every ministry moment was planned and intentional, from the wedding in Cana in Galilee to his last on the Cross in Golgotha. He knew exactly how much time he had. He knew where he wanted to go. He knew the people he wanted to see. He knew the men he wanted to mentor. And he knew the celebrations, like this one, he wanted to attend. He wasted no moment because he knew time was temporal.

And the contrast between a man who knows his mortality and one who does not is seen here. Jesus is resolute with full awareness of what's happening. But in contrast to him, we see a confused crowd who doesn't understand that they are all living on borrowed time.

The book of Ecclesiastes states:

It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. — Ecclesiastes 7:2

Did you catch that? The proverb states it's better to go to a funeral than a feast. Because a funeral makes you think about your mortality. Which makes this the perfect proverb for this moment.

Please remember that Jesus was standing in a house of celebration. The Feast of Booths was the most joyous celebration of every year for Jews. It was the celebration of God's giving of the Promised Land. And right in the middle of this celebration, on the Temple Mount, a man stands who is the center of God's promise. He is staring down at the final months of his life. He sees with clarity the hill of Golgotha. His end is near, and he clarifies, "They will see him no longer."

Jesus's death has confused people for millennia. Yet it is something all men must ponder. The Bible teaches that Jesus's death was an act of God's redeeming love for humanity separated from him (Romans 5:8). The Bible teaches that his death was the means of our redemption from sin, providing us with healing (1 Peter 2:24). The Bible teaches his death is the means of our righteous. (2 Corinthians 5:21). And the Bible teaches if we believe in Jesus as the Lord, he will save us, giving us eternal life (John 3:16). 

When I, a believing man, look at the Cross of Jesus, I see something special. I see God's provision of salvation for me. The defeat of sin by the sacrifice of a sinless man. The defeat of death so I can have life and an eternal home. And that gives me a reason to celebrate. And that is why we call it Good Friday.

ASK THIS: Are you looking at the cross today?

DO THIS: At noon, look to Golgotha and the cross of Jesus and remember.

PRAY THIS: God, thank you for the love you have shown me in the sacrifice of your Son.

PLAY THIS: Thank You, Jesus, For The Blood.