The Day the World Changed
“The death of Christ for us is the central event in history…. Every sacrifice offered to cover humanity’s sin, for thousands of years, finds its fulfillment in the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.” – Tony Walliser
Read Mark 14:61-65, Luke 23:1-4,33, 1 Peter 2:24,3:18
The Day the World Changed
“If this was the day Jesus was crucified, why do we call it Good Friday? It doesn’t sound good to me.” This was a question I asked my mother on a Good Friday when I was about 9 or 10 years old. It wasn’t until nearly 20 years later that I came to understand what was good about Jesus Christ dying on the cross.
This week we will commemorate Good Friday once again, as well as Easter. Knowing that Jesus rose from the dead, it’s easy to understand why Easter was a good day. But what about Good Friday?
Fact: If it were not for the events of Good Friday, Easter would not exist. We’d have no reason to celebrate it.
Many of us have read the gospel accounts of the sham trial that led to Jesus’ scourging and death on the cross. For some, it’s become so familiar it no longer strikes them with both amazement and horror, considering that He endured the most horrific, most excruciating form of execution ever conceived by humankind. But just because we’ve heard the story many times, that doesn’t mean we should regard it with complacency.
We find the significance of the crucifixion and its incredible magnitude for us summarized in 1 Peter 3:24, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed.” While there are those who interpret the last part of this verse – “by His wounds you have been healed” – as a promise for physical healing, clearly the context here refers primarily to spiritual healing.
As Ephesians 2:4-5 tells us, “But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.” How can someone who is spiritually dead – as the Bible declares we were – become alive spiritually? Only through the atoning death of Jesus and His resurrection, which made it possible for us to become “born again” (John 3:3).
Consider how Jesus suffered on the cross, surrounded by criminals, jeering Roman soldiers, and mocking religious leaders, with searing pain shooting through His body with every breath. And yet, the Lord – the promised Messiah – was not a victim. He willingly went to that cross because that was His ultimate purpose. As He said in Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
When the Lord told His disciples, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13), He had His own impending sacrifice in mind.
Through the centuries, many people have been martyred for various causes, but only Jesus died (on that day we now call “Good”) and was raised from the dead. As we observe this upcoming weekend, we remember the day the world changed. In so many ways.
Our calendar, B.C. (Before Christ) and A.D. (Anno Domini), centers around the birth of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Millions upon millions of people all around the globe have entrusted their lives to Him, experiencing “the peace that passes all understanding” (Philippians 4:7) today as well as clinging to our ultimate hope, “while we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).
For these reasons, while we consider the events surrounding Good Friday solemnly, we can truly celebrate. Because we have the assurance, “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1-2).
He has freed us from the tyranny of sin! All our sins – past, present, and future – have been forgiven, and we’re promised everlasting life. That’s truly Good News – and it all started on Good Friday!