Was It Really a "Good" Friday?!
As the sun took its bow over the western horizon on that Friday two thousand years ago I don’t believe that the disciples or Mary, the mother of Jesus, would have chosen the term “good” to describe the events that had transpired that day.
The Son she carried for nine months, bore in the feed trough of an animal stall had just been crucified. Was that a “Good” Friday?! The Boy she had nursed at her breast and for whom she had endured raised eyebrows and defended against accusations and suspicions concerning the timing of His birth and her marriage to Joseph was dead at only 33 years of age. Was that a “Good” Friday?!
The disciples had forsaken so many and had left so much to follow Jesus. They had put all their “eggs” into the one “basket” of Jesus and now He’s dead. I do not believe for a minute that they could have scrolled the lexicon of their memories and stumbled upon the word “good” to describe that Friday.
This week has been a trying week for a lot of people. A young lady about to graduate from high school came home to find her mother dead. The sister of my Pine Forge classmate was discovered dead in her home. An accomplished and educated young Black man who only reached 25 years of age was buried yesterday after a fatal hit-and-run accident. Yet another friend lost her father this week to death after she had lost him years ago to Alzheimer’s disease.
From our vantage point, these events are many things: tragic, shocking, disappointing. They are anything, in our hearts and minds, but good!
Or so we think.
The Resurrection teaches those who love the Lord that behind every dark cloud there’s a silver lining. The Resurrection teaches us that glory follows shame and that hope endures even beyond the apparent defeat of the grave.
As disappointing as that Friday and Saturday were, Sunday came! And with the dawning of that Sunday in contradistinction to the disappointing sunset of the previous Friday came hope and promise with the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Jesus’ resurrection was not a singular event. No! No! The Apostle Paul makes clear in 1 Corinthians 15:20 “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” To borrow a phrase from Dr. George E. Thornton, Sr. (who himself has experienced a resurrection of sorts), you should have shouted right there!
When one has been tilling, seeding, cultivating, weeding, and fertilizing all season long and that first red tomato is plucked from the vine, that’s the first fruit. It is a beacon of hope to the gardener. It tells the gardener that there are more to come just like the first fruit.
Jesus’ resurrection has changed everything. Yes, even our perspective on death. Since He got up from His grave, we no longer sorrow as those who have no hope. We serve a Risen Savior.
And as difficult as things may be, you and I have hope!
Bill Gaither said it best.
Because He lives I can face tomorrow / Because He lives all fear is gone / Because I know He holds the future / And life is worth the living just because He lives!
The Son she carried for nine months, bore in the feed trough of an animal stall had just been crucified. Was that a “Good” Friday?! The Boy she had nursed at her breast and for whom she had endured raised eyebrows and defended against accusations and suspicions concerning the timing of His birth and her marriage to Joseph was dead at only 33 years of age. Was that a “Good” Friday?!
The disciples had forsaken so many and had left so much to follow Jesus. They had put all their “eggs” into the one “basket” of Jesus and now He’s dead. I do not believe for a minute that they could have scrolled the lexicon of their memories and stumbled upon the word “good” to describe that Friday.
This week has been a trying week for a lot of people. A young lady about to graduate from high school came home to find her mother dead. The sister of my Pine Forge classmate was discovered dead in her home. An accomplished and educated young Black man who only reached 25 years of age was buried yesterday after a fatal hit-and-run accident. Yet another friend lost her father this week to death after she had lost him years ago to Alzheimer’s disease.
From our vantage point, these events are many things: tragic, shocking, disappointing. They are anything, in our hearts and minds, but good!
Or so we think.
The Resurrection teaches those who love the Lord that behind every dark cloud there’s a silver lining. The Resurrection teaches us that glory follows shame and that hope endures even beyond the apparent defeat of the grave.
As disappointing as that Friday and Saturday were, Sunday came! And with the dawning of that Sunday in contradistinction to the disappointing sunset of the previous Friday came hope and promise with the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Jesus’ resurrection was not a singular event. No! No! The Apostle Paul makes clear in 1 Corinthians 15:20 “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” To borrow a phrase from Dr. George E. Thornton, Sr. (who himself has experienced a resurrection of sorts), you should have shouted right there!
When one has been tilling, seeding, cultivating, weeding, and fertilizing all season long and that first red tomato is plucked from the vine, that’s the first fruit. It is a beacon of hope to the gardener. It tells the gardener that there are more to come just like the first fruit.
Jesus’ resurrection has changed everything. Yes, even our perspective on death. Since He got up from His grave, we no longer sorrow as those who have no hope. We serve a Risen Savior.
And as difficult as things may be, you and I have hope!
Bill Gaither said it best.
Because He lives I can face tomorrow / Because He lives all fear is gone / Because I know He holds the future / And life is worth the living just because He lives!
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