Good Friday

  

“And He bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called  in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus was in the center. Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZERETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” (John19:17)

   Today is a day we call Good Friday. It is good because this is the day that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ took upon himself the sins of the world, and died on an old rugged cross for you and me! Perhaps you have seen a movie or dramatization of the crucifixion and have a small taste of what pain and suffering is involved in this horrible method of execution.

   “They say that it was the Persians who first invented death by crucifixion, but it was the Romans who elevated it to a sophisticated art of torture and death. The victim will either be tied or nailed to the cross and take as many as three days to die, depending on whether the soldiers leave him alone or do something to hurry the death along. Normally, they are content to let the death take its course and make the suffering last as long as possible. Although the victim is usually nailed to the cross, the most common cause of death is from suffocation, not loss of blood. The hanging position on the cross makes breathing difficult and the victim will push up with his legs to get air and then relax again. Eventually, he will be too weak to lift himself up, or his lungs will fill with blood and he will drown. If the soldiers want to speed up the process, they will simply break the legs so that the victim cannot raise himself anymore, or they will pierce his side to help him bleed to death. Then the body will be left to rot and be eaten by the vultures and other scavengers. It is an ugly sight, and not the way anyone would chose to die.” ("The Chief Centurion", p55)

     The prophet Isaiah, 800 years before, had written to us what Jesus would do and why!

     “Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgression, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned everyone to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:4-6)

    Jesus has paid the price for your sins and mine. He has taken the punishment we deserve for all our sins, past, present, and future. If you believe that Jesus is the Son of God and have confessed Him as you Lord and Savior you are already saved and will spend eternity with Him in heaven.  (Romans 10:9-13) If you have not had a time in you life when you did that they why not today? He loves you so much that He went to that cross for you! He wants you to spend eternity with Him in Heaven and He wants to guide you through the trials and joys of life today.

PRAY:

1.     Lord, thank you for dying on that horrible cross for me! Thank you for adopting me as your son or daughter with full rights as you heir and filling me with your Holy Spirit.

2.     Lord, help me to remember that you died for everyone else that I come in contact with today and help me to be a witness to them of this great gift you have for all mankind.

3.     Lord, fill me with your spirit and guide my steps by being obedient to your Word and looking for ways to minister to the needs of others around me.

4.     Lord, please continue to move in the hearts of the people who have heard the gospel message but have not responded to your wonderful free gift.