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Good Friday, April 18
Where, O death, is the victory? Where, O death, is the sting? Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law ... (1 Corinthians 15:55-56)
"Good Friday" should be called "Black Friday." On this day the most scandalous betrayal of justice in human history took place. But when we remember what happened on this day we'll know why we call it "Good Friday" today.
The night before, Jesus was arrested and tried illegally by the Jewish authorities. They held his trial at night, without credible witnesses, and asked Jesus to convict himself—any of these factors should have set him free. He could have fl ed before they arrived or refused to incriminate himself and Friday would never have been called "Good."
Instead, he convicted himself by claiming to be the Son of God, a statement he knew would lead to condemnation for blasphemy. Then they took him to the Romans, where they changed their charge to insurrection. He could easily show that he was innocent, but he stayed silent instead. He could rally the crowds to himself with a single demonstration of his miraculous powers, but he refused. So he was condemned to cruci fixion.
Now he is stripped and tied to a post, then scourged with a long whip in which are embedded nails, lead balls, and pieces of shell. They rip the esh from his back, torture that killed many of its victims. A crown of razor-sharp thorns is pressed onto his head, impaling his scalp and forehead. He is forced to carry a wooden cross to Calvary. There, nails are driven through his wrists and ankles into the wood and he is left to die. He could call ten thousand angels to his side, but he refuses.
Instead, he dies there for you and for me. How should we respond to such sacrifi ce?
What God's word means
In Hosea 13 the Lord says of his people,
Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol?
Shall I redeem them from Death?
O Death, where are your plagues?
O Sheol, where is your sting? (v. 14).
These questions were originally directed to Israelites eight centuries before Christ. Now Paul is led by by the Spirit to ask them of Corinthian Christians. Death has no victory or sting ("goad, stinger") for Jesus' followers. This enemy that has defeated every adversary is itself defeated in Christ. This wasp whose venom is always fatal has lost its stinger.
It was the case that the sting of death is sin, meaning that sin causes death as a stinger transmits venom (cf. Romans 6:23, "the wages of sin is death"). The power of sin is the law, meaning that we sin when we break God's word and will. So long as we are fallen people, we are under the power of sin and the death it produces (cf. Romans 7:7-13).
But now this power is broken, this sting removed. How much threat is a wasp without a stinger?
Why Easter matters
At the cross, Jesus was "stung" by our sin: "God made him to be sin who knew no sin" (2 Corinthians 5:21a). But our sinless Sacrifi ce never broke the law and therefore broke the power of sin it produces. As a result, "in him we might become the righteousness of God" (v. 21b).
Imagine a swarm of killer bees attacking our Savior on the cross. As they sting him, each bee's stinger and its venom sac are pulled from its body, killing it instantly. As a result, the bees kill Jesus but cannot harm us.
This is a picture of what happened on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. When our Lord rose from the tortured death our sins in flicted on him, he defeated our grave and guaranteed our eternal life.
How to respond
Never again wonder if you are loved. If you had been the only sinner on the planet, Good Friday would still have happened, just for you. Someone asked Jesus, "How much do you love me?" He answered, "This much," as he spread out his arms and died. All for you. Just for you.
Have you thanked God today for Good Friday?
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