For those of you that read this blog regularly, one of the things that I hope you’ve noticed by now is that I want to be an encourager. I want to help you along your journey is this life. I want to be a hope dealer.
To that end, I really want to bring you some hope today.
Good Friday?
In the Christian tradition, today is “Good Friday.” It’s the day we remember that Jesus went to the cross and died for our sins.
It’s a very sad day. It’s a dark day.
As a Christian, I want to mourn today.
Jesus had what is, quite possibly, the worst 24 hours a person has ever seen. It was brutal and about as horrible as one can imagine. Betrayed, mocked, beaten, wrongly accused and convicted, beaten some more, and ultimately nailed to a cross to die from asphyxiation.
My life, the things I’ve done and the sins I’ve committed made it necessary that a sacrifice be offered to make me holy and acceptable to a just God. Jesus decided to become that sacrifice for me. He suffered, bled, and died for me.
That’s overwhelming. That someone as holy and righteous and perfect as that man would choose to become a sacrifice for someone as not holy, not righteous, and not perfect as me is astounding.
So I mourn, because the one true perfect man died because of me. It’s my fault.
Yes, Good Friday!
But there is good news. There is a reason to celebrate what happened to Jesus on that Friday. The story doesn’t end there.
Yes they killed Jesus. He died, humiliated, on a cross for everyone to see.
But …
Three days later, He came back to life. The stone was rolled away and He wasn’t in the tomb any more. He’s not in there!
Because Jesus won, because He rose victorious over sin and death with the keys to Hell in His hands, I can celebrate.
I can celebrate because by His death and resurrection I am forgiven. I am holy. I am made perfect in the eyes of God. One day I will see Jesus face-to-face because of His sacrifice.
It’s because of what He did today, and the fact that He rose again on Sunday that I will get to see Heaven. I get the hope of redemption, the peace of forgiveness, and the joy of salvation.
And so do you.
It might be Friday, but Sunday is coming.
It’s Dark Right Now
Today might seem dark in your world.
This COVID-19 virus is running rampant across the globe. Many people are dying. Hospitals are overwhelmed. So many people are fighting what seems to be a hopeless battle right now.
Our economies look like their collapsing. Millions of people are out of work. We are all seemingly stuck in our homes, with only Netflix, Disney+, and Zoom calls to keep us company. Grocery stores are out of all the things that we once took for granted would always be there.
The world has gone crazy.
This is a depressingly dark time. Just watch the news. They’ll tell you that the world is ending, the sky is falling, and that this is, quite literally, the worst time ever.
It might be Friday, but Sunday is coming.
There is another side to all of this. Today is not the end of the story.
We will emerge out of this at some point. We will be allowed to meet together again. To hug our friends and family. To see each other face to face.
We will be able to go on vacation, go to work, and not have to disinfect everything. Life will move on again. Maybe not exactly as it once was, but it will move on again.
This virus is not the end of the story. Satan didn’t get to win when Jesus died and he won’t get to win here. On the other side of this (and even in the midst of it) we will have hope, peace, and joy again.
It might seem dark. Friday is here.
But have hope my friends.
Sunday is coming.