When it comes to the events of Holy Week, some want to quickly move from Friday to Easter Sunday. Yet each are important. But let me back up. Days after the events of Palm Sunday, Jesus was betrayed, arrested, subjected to a kangaroo court, and ultimately He was condemned to die, by way of crucifixion. The day Jesus was murdered has been come to be known as Good Friday. Why in the world would it ever be referred to as good? I submit that it was only Jesus’ sacrifice that would atone for the sins of the humanity.
Discovery Series put out an extremely helpful little
booklet called “Why did Christ have to
die?” I could spend the rest of
April blogging about this phenomenal resource, but I won’t be doing that. Instead I want to bring up two points that
are presented under the heading of “the
principles of the cross.” By the
way, in the introduction, Martin R. De Haan II, states that this content is
from various authors. And the section I’m
quoting from doesn’t give the author’s name.
I actually find the anonymity refreshing, as it puts the focus solely on
Jesus. Anyway, this first principle is
what is referred to as, “the cross
provided an adequate sacrifice.”
“By His death on the cross,” this author writes, “the Lord
Jesus provided a once-for-all sacrifice for all our sins (Heb. 10:12). He was the complete and perfect
sacrifice. It satisfied every demand of
a holy God, and it brings salvation to all who trust in Christ.” Three sub-points are listed at this point: 1)
Jesus became a member of the human race.
2) He lived a sinless life. 3) He
remained God. “He [Jesus] was fully God
and fully man,” the author continued. “His
goodness is what gave His sacrifice infinite value, making it adequate to pay
for the sins of all mankind.”
Secondly, “the cross
provided a necessary substitute.”
Here an incredible story from American history is told. This author says in a tribe of Indians
someone was stealing chickens. The chief
decreed that the penalty for this was 10 lashes. The stealing continued, and so the penalty
was raised 20 lashes. The thievery
persisted. Eventually the penalty was
raised all the way to 100 lashes, which would basically be a death
sentence. One day, the thief was finally
caught – it was the chief’s own mother! What
would the chief do? The mother was
ordered to be tied to the whipping post.
The chief took the whip, then he took off his shirt, revealing his
massive physique. He handed the whip to
his warrior aide. He wrapped his massive
body around his mother, completely enveloping her. Then he ordered the aide to give him the 100
lashes!
The fact of the matter is I have sin – and you have sin
too. This truth is difficult to swallow;
I know it can go down hard. But it’s
true, nevertheless. Further, we can’t
atone for that sin. No amount of good
deeds we perform somehow magically works off the bad deeds. We are stuck. A few months ago, for some reason, I had a
dream that I was trapped inside a building as a result of a massive
avalanche. Not only was I trapped, but
several others were as well. And we had
no hope of escape. Suddenly, someone
from outside miraculously intervened, providing salvation to us. Let me ask the question again: why refer to
the events of that Friday centuries ago as good? Because
that day, Jesus, through His death, intervened in mankind’s helpless situation
with salvation in hand.
In conclusion, the old hymn titled “Hallelujah for the cross” expresses the worship I feel in my heart
right now: “Up to the hill of Calvary my Savior went courageously. And there He bled and died for me; hallelujah
for the cross. And on that day, the
world was changed; a final, perfect lamb was slain. Let Earth and Heaven now proclaim: hallelujah
for the cross.” This second verse caught
my attention: “What good I’ve done could never save, my debt too great for
deeds to pay. But God, my Savior, made a
way; hallelujah for the cross. A slave
to sin my life was bound, but all my chains fell to the ground when Jesus’
blood came flowing down; hallelujah for the cross.” Amen and amen!
Kevin
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