“On a Friday, Jesus died on a cross.”

A thought by John Ortberg (2012-08-07) from his book, Who Is This Man?: TheUnpredictable Impact of the Inescapable Jesus (p. 164). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Now we call this day, the day that Jesus died on a cross, Good Friday. Satan thought it was a good Friday. He finally had gotten back at God. He hated God and he thought killing His only Son was a good thing. But if you read the last book in the Bible you will find that it was not a good thing for Satan. He hadn’t won.

Now the Jewish religious leaders thought it was a good Friday. I mean they finally got rid of a major problem for them. But did they? If you read the rest of the story you will find that it wasn’t really a good day for them.

No, it was not a good Friday for them but a Good Friday for us. As John says, “Out of his remarkable brilliance, breathtaking courage, and inexplicable love, Jesus sized up a situation that defeated every human attempt at correction. He identified exactly what would be needed to bring redemption. It would cost him his life.” And then, “Jesus outlasted, outmaneuvered, and out-thought every group, every power. But not just that. Mostly he just out-loved everybody…On Friday, Jesus died for love.”

He loved us, He died because He really, really loved us. And this is a very, very good thing for us.

Think of this, John says, “The cross was changed from the symbol of a human empire’s power into a symbol of the suffering love of God. It was changed from an expression of ultimate threat into an expression of ultimate hope. It came, in a sense, to express the exact opposite of its original purpose — that the power of embraced sacrifice is greater than the power of coercion. How did this happen? Jesus chose it. He chose to die on it. After Friday, neither the cross nor the world could stay the same.”

Yes today is truly Good Friday.

Have you yet accepted what He truly can do for you?

Comments

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