How Was Friday Good?

When you consider the events of the day, how can it be a Good Friday?  It began in the wee hours with a betrayal.  One who walked with Jesus for three years, who knew him well, who sat under his teaching, who saw his righteousness, and who supposedly understood who he was sold Jesus to his enemies for the price of a common slave.  How could this be good?

That betrayal was followed by even greater treachery.  An illegal and secret religious trial was conducted where liar after liar gave false testimony about Jesus.  Furthermore, the trial was conducted with physical abuse of the accused.  The trial was such a farce and the witnesses so unscrupulous that they could not agree on their own lies enough to get a consistent testimony about Jesus.  The only agreement in testimony was in the fact that Jesus claimed that he could destroy and rebuild the temple in 3 days – hardly an offense worthy of conviction.  Finally, in desperation, the High Priest demanded that Jesus tell them whether he was the Messiah, the Son of God.  Jesus answered truthfully, for which he was condemned of blasphemy.  In itself that was a tragedy because it was neither a lie nor blasphemy – it was fact.  How could this be good?

He was then taken before the regional governor, Pilate, who repeatedly questioned him but found no fault in him.  Because he was Galilean, he sent him to Herod, who again questioned him but could likewise not find anything in him deserving of condemnation.  Nevertheless, Herod and his soldiers treated him with contempt and dressed him up as a king, mocking him before sending him back to Pilate.  Pilate tried to release Jesus because he knew he was innocent. Being Passover, he would often release a criminal as a sign of good will, so he offered as a choice to be released Jesus or a hardened criminal and murderer – Barabbas.  The Jews chose the murderer.  They then demanded the death penalty for the innocent Jesus.  Even Pilate’s wife knew what was happening was wrong, begging her husband not to have anything to do with “that righteous man.”  How could this be good?

Pilate had Jesus beaten and scoured to within an inch of his life, thinking surely this would satisfy the crowd – but it did not.  When they began talking about Jesus claiming to be the Son of God, Pilate became scared and tried everything to release him.  It was to no avail as the crowd demanded his crucifixion.  Finally, having washed his hands of the matter, Pilate had Jesus beaten yet again and delivered over to be crucified.  Knowing his innocence but fearing the Jews, he condemned him to death. How could this be good?

How can it be a Good Friday when, after all of the injustice suffered to that point, this righteous man suffered even more?  He suffered the most excruciating death possible – Roman crucifixion.  With his wrists nailed to the cross-beam of the cross, breathing was a painful and tedious process.  The hanging by the wrists meant that pressures on the lungs prevented breath unless one pushed up with the legs and feet.  But the feet also were nailed to the tree and so pushing up to breathe resulted in unimaginable pain in the feet.  Traditionally, this exhausting process could go on for days until the condemned simply no longer had the strength to push against the cross and so suffocated to death.  On this day, though, the Roman soldiers would come by and break the legs so that the deaths would happen rapidly, for the Jews would not stand for having bodies hung during this holiest of Sabbaths.  Jesus, however, was already dead.

How can we possibly call this good?

It is good because it should have been me. I am the one that deserves death, for I am a sinner - and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).

It is good because despite the appearances of so many injustices, everything that happened that day was orchestrated by God the Father – with Jesus, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit in full accord.  It is good because Jesus willingly went through that pain and anguish and torture – and even more – he did it for my sake.  It is good because on that day he took upon himself all the collective sins of the world (including mine).  It is good because on that day he drank the wrath of God intended for me.  And the same is true for you - for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

It is what we call “The Divine Exchange” or “The Beautiful Exchange” – I give Jesus my unrighteousness; he gives me his righteousness.  It is good because he did it willingly and in love: For God demonstrated his love for us in this – Christ died for us (Rom 5:8).

It is good because it was only temporary.  Three days later Jesus would rise from the grave to live forever more – the firstfruits from among the dead.  And he is alive still today whether you believe it or not.   

It is good because if we place our faith in what Jesus did on that horrible Friday, we too can have the forgiveness of sins and eternal life – our own resurrection from the dead.  The penalty of sin has been paid for.  We are simply to repent and believe. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 ESV)

It really was a Good Friday.  Consider the foreshadowing of this day’s events through the eyes of a man who lived over a thousand years earlier.  He also was a man who was treated with malice, was betrayed by those closest to him, and who suffered many unjust punishments.  This man, Joseph, said these words so appropriately:

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Genesis 50:20 NIV)

It may not have seemed good at the time, but what man intended for evil, God mean for good – for the saving of many lives.  Will yours be one of them?

SPOILER ALERT!

Psst.  This really is a “spiritual” post, but you might have to get all the way to the end before the big reveal.

When you see those words - Spoiler Alert - what is your immediate thought?  Do you want to stop in your tracks and turn away; or are you compelled to read on like you are going to get something special to which no one else is privy?  We all respond differently to those words, but I recently heard about a study some researchers at UC San Diego did that suggested getting the spoiler actually makes us enjoy the story better.  I was a bit doubtful about that, but then I started to think about it.  Come to find out, I think they may be right.

Are you like me?  I often enjoy a movie or book the second time around much more than I did the first time around.  The first time I am watching or reading a story, I am just waiting for the next moment to happen.  Yes, the suspense itself can be enjoyable, but because of the unknown, there is often much that gets missed in the process.   The second time through it, I get to focus on the story itself, the character development, and even the literary or cinematic details.  Truthfully – assuming it is a good story -  I find I really enjoy the story more the second time. In other words, I will watch/read it the first time to see if I like it, then want to watch/read it a second time to really enjoy it.  Maybe that explains why Patty and I often get into discussions about movies on demand.  She never wants to rent a movie if we have seen it before, but I have no problem with it – in fact I am drawn to it.  I *want* to rent movies that I have already seen in the theater.  Of course, I don’t really understand her objection, because she never remembers the movie anyway – for her, it’s always like watching the movie for the first time – but I digress.  I think this is also why I have no problem at all binge-watching a TV series on Netflix that I’ve already seen before.  Even though I know exactly what is going to happen in the end, I can focus on the journey and the process - and I like it as much or more the second time around.

Coming to this realization has also made me think of something else.  Watching Alabama Football (ROLL TIDE) is the most stressful, nerve racking activity in which I engage. I have a horrible love-hate relationship with Fall Saturdays.

Why?  Because I don’t know the outcome of the game – and I actually care about what that outcome will be.  If things are looking bad, I start biting my nails, my heart starts pounding, and my whole disposition changes.  Now - as a pastor and a believer I realize that this is an indication of a level of idolatry in my life that needs to be dealt with, but that is a whole different blog post.  The point here is this:  I care about the outcome and not knowing is stressful when things start going astray.   

This week I have been sort of half-way watching the NBA finals.   I have really enjoyed the parts that I have watched and I have been very interested in the ultimate outcome.  I have a team that I am pulling for (I’m a Curry fan), but truthfully I’m not as invested in it as I would be watching Bama.  For that reason, I've not been too stressed about it and, in fact, I've not really watched all of any of the games - just bits and pieces.  it simply has not been nerve racking for me like the college national championship game when Alabama is playing.  I have similar distant, but not invested interests in Brave’s Baseball and Packers Football.  I like it, but I’m not freaking out about missing the game or even whether they win or lose.  I’m not saying I WANT to know the Alabama Football score before watching the game, but I can recall a few games that I have watched on the DVR after I already knew the final score.  I was not so stressed out – and yet it was still quite enjoyable.  I certainly didn’t know HOW the team would get to the final score, but I know what score they will get to – and so I can enjoy the journey of getting there, with all of its ups and downs, knowing that no matter what happens during the game, Alabama will be in the lead when the clock runs out (yes they will; they always do – don’t try to take that away from me – this is my blog post).

So that gets me thinking even further.  There is nothing that we (individually) are more invested in than our own lives and our own future.  I think this is why life itself can be so stressful and so nerve racking.  We just don’t know where things are going and that can be frightening and generate a level of anxiety within us that is pretty high up on the stress meter. 

Spoiler Alert!  Actually, we do know where things are going.  We know and believe that in all things God is working for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purposes (Rom 8:28).  We know and believe that Jesus is coming again and will set up a kingdom of righteousness and justice.  We know that because we have faith in Jesus, that we will have eternal life.  In fact, the bible tells us that the war has already been won – it’s not a matter that we WILL win, we already HAVE won (well, HE won and we get the benefit).

This is why Revelation 1:3 says blessed are those who read the book of Revelation.  It's not about the what's or the when's of the tribulation or the persecution or the plagues or any of that stuff - it's about getting the spoiler.  Jesus is coming back. Evil will be punished.  Justice will prevail.  The Kingdom of God will be established forever, and we get to spend eternity with our Savior.

The point is: We know the final score.  That means we ought to be able to have peace about where things are going.  We ought to be able to focus on the journey – even enjoy it more knowing where it is headed.   Sure, portions of this life might be painful. In fact, I would say much of life probably will be painful.  But - spoiler alert: We win.  So relax and enjoy the game.

PS.  If I don't get to watch the Alabama game live, DON'T YOU DARE tell me the score.  For some things that don't matter as much, I can find just as much enjoyment in the stress - after all, it's only a game.