Good Friday

It is a gloomy, stormy day in Nashville. I am always glad to see it storm on Good Friday, because it reminds me of that first Good Friday nearly two thousand years ago.

I often wondered as a child why it was called Good Friday. My equally-young neighbor tried to explain it to me one day: "It was good because God had planned for Jesus to die." I still didn’t fully understand. Why would a loving God put His own Son through such a horrible thing?

It was several years later when I was able to grasp the concept of sin, that I was a sinner, and that God had said, without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22b). Jesus came to die for our sin, and by accepting this gift, I could have eternal life with God. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).

Though I am eternally thankful for this gift, I still have had hard time with thinking of the horrible death Jesus died and calling it good. God does say: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). That’s my best understanding of it. God looks at things from an eternal perspective, while we see them from an earthly one. In His eyes, it was good.

As I watch the storms today, I am so thankful to Jesus for the sacrifice He made for my sins on Good Friday. Just before He died, He cried out, "It is finished." God’s plan for the redemption of sins had come to pass, and because of it, though who believe in Him can live with Him eternally.