What’s the worst day you’ve ever had? What made it the worst? Actually, let’s not discuss it. Thinking about *that* day has a tendency to make *this* day the worst. Let me ask you this instead. What if *that* day could be redeemed, fully made right for good and glory? Redemption sometimes means good is turned from evil, right from wrong, payment from debt, or forgiveness from injury or being wronged. There are many means through which redemption is made. Without denying any hardship, pain or injustice incurred, redemption brings hope, understanding, meaning and purpose.
Let’s go to a really bad day, that worst of the worst, that brings just this kind of redemption.
22And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). 23And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. 25And it was the third hour when they crucified him. 26And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” 27And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. 29And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30save yourself, and come down from the cross!” 31So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.
33And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 35And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” 36And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” 37And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. 38And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” Mark 15:22-39
This imagery of a hammer and spikes reminds us of the worst of all worst days when the only perfect, innocent man was unjustly condemned and brutally crucified. He neither did nor said anything to deserve death. It stands as the most unjust act in all of humanity. Yet, he willingly gave up his life to lay it down in death.
Everything recorded in this passage offends any sense of rightness and justice. And yet it creates more questions. Why didn’t Jesus do something? The guards mocked him, as they beat him beyond recognition and crucified him. The robbers on either side reviled him. Really? Receiving your right sentence, you still want to taunt others with your last breaths?! People passing by mocked and taunted him. Not even pity for a dying man. The religious leaders even mocked and scoffed at him. It couldn’t get any worse. No justice, compassion, pity, mercy, respect, or even common decency was shown to Jesus in his crucifixion. Why didn’t Jesus do what they asked, and ‘sham-wow’ a big miracle for people instead of this death?
Jesus stayed on the cross to die because God was doing so much more than what was understood in that moment. Yes, we now have record of the “more” God was doing. “Jesus…breathed his last”, “the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.”, and, “the centurion…said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” all testify of God at work. The worst day was not the last word on *that* day. And that’s the point of Christian hope. The cross is the crux of Christianity, the place that becomes a turning point for everything because of the resurrection.
Christian hope means the worst day doesn’t have the last word because of Jesus’ redemption.
Our celebration of Good Friday helps us remember even the *worst* of our days and life with the gospel’s redeeming power. HOW? well, understanding the relationship between Good Friday and Resurrection Day (Easter) helps us understand how the gospel empowers redemption in our lives through Jesus, to turn everything for our good and Jesus’ glory. Good Friday is important because it’s the best *worst* day EVER, when God brings eternal redemption from ultimate injustice through Jesus.
Good Friday is God’s work for good and glory for ALL things when we believe in Jesus Christ.
Four relationships between Good Friday and Resurrection Day best explain gospel redemption in life.
First, the resurrection illuminates what the cross accomplishes: we are made alive through Jesus’ atonement. Redemption is not a concept dependent on the involved parties. For Christians, redemption is accomplished by Jesus on the cross. We don’t labor in ministry and mission to produce redemption. We labor for people to see it’s accomplishment in Christ, and believe to live by faith a right response to His accomplishment. The resurrection illumines to us what the cross accomplished for us; Christ has conquered sin, death, the grave and Satan, securing redemption once for all for all who believe in Him. Through gospel redemption, Christ-followers are by faith made alive through Jesus’ atonement.
Second, the resurrection inspires what the cross motivates: we are compelled to pursue reconciliation in the world. The resurrection returned the hope Good Friday stripped. All of a sudden everything held new meaning. What Christ accomplished was greater than ever before. No greater love has ever been known than Jesus. The love of God in Jesus compels the life of the one who is filled by Him in faith. The resurrection inspires what the cross motivates. Through gospel redemption, Christ-followers live compelled to pursue reconciliation in the world.
Third, the resurrection anchors in conviction what the cross kills in inhibition: Boldness to share Jesus. When defeat sets in, it blankets life with unmatched loss and condemnation. Defeat not only holds the pain of loss but often the loss of personhood and identity to a great extent. We are hounded by fear, ruled by anxiety, paralyzed by insecurity. But when that which seemed great defeat becomes our victory, fear, anxiety, and insecurity are crushed as a new identity in Jesus is established. We are inhibited no more. The resurrection anchors in conviction what the cross kills in inhibition. Through gospel redemption, Christ-followers live in boldness to share the good news of Jesus.
Fourth, the resurrection empowers with life what the cross has killed in death: Perseverance to endure. There are such great imposters of life in this world, but none provide what they promise. They promise happiness, success, pleasure, identity, fame, power, and the list goes on. And for a brief moment, it sometimes feels like it will work. But the fact is that it never lasts. And it always tears down, steals from and destroys us. Jesus’ resurrection empowers with life what His cross kills in death. Through gospel redemption, Christ-followers persevere to endure in faithfulness.
Good Friday immerses our life in God’s redeeming work through Jesus Christ. We run to the cross where our salvation was accomplished. We hold the hammer and spike to remind ourselves, “my sin nailed Jesus to the cross”. And, we hold the hammer and spike to nail down ever more deeply in our heart that, “his sacrificial death on the cross purchased my life.” We observe the Lord’s Supper to taste his true goodness for us. Whatever is good in my life is only and always from God’s hand. And whatever is bad, all the worst about and in my life is in God’s hands. On Good Friday, the cross, with all its violence, pain and injustice screams in love, “God redeems! He restores and reconciles!”