Good Friday

Have you ever wondered why today is called “Good Friday”?  In Germany it is known as “Mourning Friday,” which seems more appropriate.  Good Friday is the most somber day of the year as we remember Jesus’ suffering and excruciating death. 

But when we look closely at that suffering, what we see is something very, very good.

Shortly before His arrest the depth of Jesus’ pain is evident in His prayer asking God if there is any other way.

Have you ever cried out to God in desperation? When my 20 week ultrasound showed no heartbeat I begged God to breathe life back into my baby. This is as close as I can imagine to the kind of anguish Jesus felt in the garden that day. The anguish of wanting with every fibre of your being for things to be different, when you know they can’t be.

But what came next is the reason we can call this day good.

Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” Luke 22:42

Jesus was willing. Why?  Because of His unending, perfect love for us.

The “good” in Good Friday is knowing that our God will stop at nothing to do what’s best for us.  

Even when it costs Him everything.

There is no other reason for the sacrifice Jesus made that day. God doesn’t need us. We willingly walked away from Him in another garden, choosing knowledge over obedience. God could have washed His hands of us then, and allowed us to destroy ourselves with our sin.  

But His love for us was too great. No, He was willing to go to the cross simply because that’s how much He loves us.

And that is very, very good.

God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.  1

Keep Seeking the Kingdom!

   Heather Penner
   Youth Ministries Director