Have you ever considered the simplicity of this question? WHY do we call Good Friday good??? The answer to that comes in Sunday – the Resurrection. Our God conquered the grave! He arose victoriously!

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Cor 15:51-57 (emphasis mine)

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Today was a day appointed from the beginning of time – a day like none other.  Today marks the day in which our Lord and Savior willingly laid His life down so that we might live!

It was a day signified by horrific brutality – a callous response to life, to His life, to the ONE who was from the beginning, to the GIVER of Life!

“Jesus’ totally naked body was flaunted in humiliation before a watching world.  His flesh was ripped to shreds; His body was bruised from head to toe; He had to heave His body upward for every breath He breathed; and His nervous system sent constant signals of excruciating pain to His brain.  Blood drenched Jesus’ face and streamed from His hands, His feet, and from the countless cuts and gaping wounds the scourging had left upon His body.  In reality, the Cross of Jesus Christ was a disgusting, repulsive, nauseating, stomach-turning sight – so entirely different from the attractive crosses people wear today as a part of their jewelry or attire…  If we don’t deliberately choose to meditate on what He went through, we will never fully appreciate the price He paid for us…  When we fail to remember what it cost Jesus to save us, we tend to treat our salvation cheaply and with disregard.”  -Rick Renner, Sparkling Gems from the Greek, April 24

He endured the full weight of our sin, even refusing ANY drink that would even minimally diffuse the immense pain.  His sacrifice was ONCE, for all.  It was a finished work, a complete work. There was NO lack in what He laid down.  He was the PERFECT sacrifice.

Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live [together] with Him, because we know [the self-evident truth] that Christ, having been raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has power over Him.  For the death that He died, He died to sin [ending its power and paying the sinner’s debt] once and for all; and the life that He lives, He lives to [glorify] God [in unbroken fellowship with Him]. Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin [and your relationship to it broken], but alive to God [in unbroken fellowship with Him] in Christ Jesus.…  Rom 6:8-11 AMP (emphasis mine)

The immensity of what was before Him was experienced in its entirety.  He was distressed to the point of sweating blood and yet…  Fully man AND fully God, He knew.  He KNEW He would be raised up.  He KNEW He would conquer death.  And yet…

And taking with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee [James and John], He began to be grieved and greatly distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, so that I am almost dying of sorrow. Stay here and stay awake and keep watch with Me.”  And after going a little farther, He fell face down and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible [that is, consistent with Your will], let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”  Matt 26:27-39 AMP

THREE times He asked the Father the same thing.  ‘IF it is possible…but not MY will but YOURS be done.’ 

Three, shelosh[f.], sheloshah [m.] means harmony, new life, and completeness…Sometimes three is used as an emphatic Semitic triplet to describe the intensity of something. It’s not just holy. It’s holy, holy, holy…However, typically, three means something complete and good. Satan does often like to take something good from God and corrupt it, much like the number three and the concept of the Trinity.  -Hope Bolinger, “What Does the Number 3 Signify in the Bible?” Crosswalk

He KNEW the end result, since He exists apart from time, He KNEW the battle that was won – and yet somehow, His humanness took a toll and He still experienced struggle with the reality that needed to play out – “Father, if you are willing…”. The immensity and gravity of what He was about to endure was SO MUCH that the Son of God – who KNEW – still asked if there might be another way. At the same time, He was FULLY SURRENDERED! [There is freedom here – the allowance to question God, and at the same time to be fully submitted. Consider Job. The allowance of the lament soon gave way to WORSHIP!] As I mediate on this, I think my Savior understands me more than I ever before considered.

For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize and understand our weaknesses and temptations, but One who has been tempted [knowing exactly how it feels to be human] in every respect as we are, yet without [committing any] sin.  Heb 4:15

For the joy set before Him He endured the cross.  He CHOSE it.  He CHOSE us!

So then, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us, too, put aside every impediment — that is, the sin which easily hampers our forward movement — and keep running with endurance in the contest set before us, looking away to the Initiator and Completer of that trusting, Yeshua — who, in exchange for obtaining the joy set before him, endured execution on a stake as a criminal, scorning the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Yes, think about him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you won’t grow tired or become despondent.  Heb 12:1-3 CJB (emphasis is mine)

Friends, He paid the ultimate penalty, paid the FULL RANSOME PRICE for you and me.  The Master of the Universe decided that YOU were worth the price to send His only Son so that whosoever should believe in Him would NOT perish but have ETERNAL LIFE!  Eternity is MARKED on our hearts!  Because HE LIVES, we can face tomorrow.  While tomorrow is not guaranteed, we are forever His when we can on HIM as our Lord and Savior! 

His majesty beckons us in.  SO many don’t recognize Jesus as being Messiah, but the reality is that His payment shook the heavenlies – a literal earthquake as He breathed His last breath.  When it was finished, the earth shook as it felt the loss!

It was complete.  It was finished.

Today, we live with the reality that eternity is ours to behold. We were once dead…but NOW we are ALIVE in Christ! Sons and daughters of a King – we belong to HIM! The debt has been paid!!!

Will you live today towards the hope of which He has called you?

And [I pray] that the eyes of your heart [the very center and core of your being] may be enlightened [flooded with light by the Holy Spirit], so that you will know and cherish the hope [the divine guarantee, the confident expectation] to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints (God’s people)… Eph 1:18 AMP (emphasis mine)