The Good of Good Friday

by Heather Tietz

When they came to the place that is called “The Skull,” they crucified Him there with the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left.

Luke 23:33

Good Friday doesn’t appear very good from an outsider’s perspective.

After all, it’s the celebration of the death of our Savior, a Savior who claimed oneness with God. His death would seem to be the end of our religion, for if the subject of our adoration is dead, what point is there to praise, hope, or pray?

However, unlike any of the world’s other religions, Christianity was founded not by a prophet, but by God Himself.

Jesus claimed “I am the True Vine, the Living Water, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through Me.”

He said, “I and the Father are One.” Jesus claimed to be God. And God cannot be ended. He healed leprosy, blindness, paralysis, bleeding disorders, and deformed limbs. Now He would show that death was like any another ailment He could cure.

And so Good Friday became Jesus’ greatest show of Godhood. He could do anything, even remedy death. People crucified Him on the cross where He shed blood for us.

Today, we proclaim that our God has power over all things, even the greatest unknown: death itself. He has turned it into a doorway to Heaven!

Pray

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank You for Jesus, who died on the cross to save me.
Thank You that His death has opened a doorway to eternal life for me.
In Jesus’ precious Name, I pray, Amen.