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Day 39 (Good Friday) – “Good Friday - What Jesus’ Death Means”

On Good Friday, the Church solemnly celebrates the death of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Churches around the world set aside time to worship, reflect upon Christ’s words on the cross, and remember that Jesus gave his body and blood as a Paschal sacrifice for our Sin.  We come to Good Friday, and realize that Jesus closed the book on Paschal sacrifices when he declared – “It is finished”.  Yet, the question we should ask is:  What is finished?  What is the “it” that is finished?”

Jesus was not declaring his death, as if he were saying, “I am finished”.  We know from the Gospels that Jesus "gave up his life", it was not taken from him. We also know that Jesus was doing the Father’s work – his focus was not on himself, but on the Father’s purpose for His life to be fulfilled.

“For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38).

Among one of the most amazing statements any person could try to make was in Jesus’ prayer on the night of his arrest.  The Gospel of John records Jesus’ amazing words:

“I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. John 17:4

If there could be a more purposeful, intentional God life we would not see anything greater than the words, “I accomplished the work you gave me to do”.  When Jesus said, “It is finished”, I believe he was pointing to this – “the work you gave me to do”.

Christ’s death brought about an “atonement” for Sin.  There were many acts of atonement in the yearly sacrifices at Yom Kippur, but none of them were permanent.  The writer of Hebrews makes that point.

“But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation)
 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.
 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh,
 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Hebrews 9:11-14).

That which was foreshadowed in the yearly offerings, Christ Jesus offered himself to fulfill those sacrifices, and now He is the finished, or final work of God to redeem a lost people.  He adds:

“For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Hebrews 9:24-26).

The yearly Old Covenant sacrifices made an annual admission – “But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:3-4).

Yet, now we come back to the fundamentals of Christ’s death.  He did it for the Love of His Father.

“Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.
Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book’” (Hebrews 10:5-7).

This is what the Apostle Paul reminds us too.  “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Romans 5:1-2

At the Cross, God demonstrated to us his love.  He sent His Son to open the way to reconciliation and renewal of our standing – no longer a Sinful being, but one redeemed by the love of God in His Son’s death. Paul says this is why we can rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.  In Christ’s death, we see hope.  Hope that is not temporal, or situational, as in “I hope my team wins”.  That kind of hope is uncertain, merely a wish for an outcome we prefer.  Jesus’ death made way for a certainty of Hope, a hope based on a once-and-for sacrifice that produces a once-and-for-all outcome.

This hope is not based on our wishes but on God’s authority and power.  Paul went on to say: “…hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5).

The cross brings us full circle.  God so loved the world, he sent his Son…and faith in Christ’s death opens the doorway to a certain hope.  Christ said “It is finished”, and so all that we need to do is what the writer of Hebrews said – “draw near to God through Christ in faith”

“…he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens” (Hebrews 7:24-26).


Peace 

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