Thank God it’s Good Friday
There’s some dispute over who first coined the phrase that gave us the acronym TGIF (it wasn’t the restaurant chain, who only borrowed the phrase), but I find it interesting it stands for, “Thank God It’s Friday” in a world where anything about God is scorned. I guess they can skip right over the word God part as long as it’s a god with a small g. Or maybe people are just thankful enough for the weekend they’re willing to overlook the God part even if they don’t believe.
It’s the day Jesus was crucified as a vicious criminal. He was stripped naked in humiliation (Psalm 22:18), hands tied to a post above his head and whipped across his shoulders, back and legs. Not with any whip, but a whip with several heavy leather thongs with lead balls at the end.
The first few blows would have caused bruising, followed by cutting through skin, and soon deeper tissues until his skin hung in shreds (Psalm 22:17). This brutal practice would only be stopped when the person was near death, but not dead.
Then the half-dead Jesus was mocked for claiming to be the prophesied and long-awaited Savior King and crowned with a circle of long thorn branches, pressed hard and deep onto his head.
At this point, “his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind.” Isaiah 52:14
And He did it willingly. For you. For me.
This was Creator God in the flesh, who came to us in the person of Jesus Christ, for the purpose of dying a brutal death to pay for all our sins. Yours. Mine.
To ensure He was dead, His heart was pierced with a spear.
Think about it. They could have just pierced His heart and been done with it. But God allowed the Romans, known for their inhumane brutality, to inflict their worst vile, ruthless punishment, because that’s what our sins against God deserved.
All this He did so we wouldn’t have to. He took all the punishment and shame for all our sins. Yours. Mine.
He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Matthew 28:26
So thank God for Good Friday.
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26
*Check out these many fulfilled prophesies about Christ:
What about you? Are you thankful for Good Friday and what Christ did for you on the Cross, or are you one who doubts or even scorns Him? In the movie, “A Case for Christ.” Lee Strobel was one who scorned Him. But in trying to disprove who Christ is, he had no other choice based on the evidence, than to come to faith in Jesus Christ, the one true God. I encourage you to look closely at the evidence. See the movie and/or read the book. What a wonderful thing to do on Easter. Happy and blessed Easter!
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First posted April 13, 2017. Updated and re-posted April 19, 2019.
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