Good Friday Meditations

Meditation 1: He suffered willingly.

On Good Friday, we’re tempted to jump straight to the crucifixion and death of Jesus. But, Jesus didn’t just die. He suffered, and his suffering was necessary for our salvation.

He was rejected by his own people. “He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.” Imagine the distress of coming to those made by your power in your image out of your love, and being rejected by them. He planned to come, not to trumpets and parades, but to be despised and hated.  Billions and billions and billions of years before He was to ever come, He already knew about the rejection. Imagine that. He already knew that He would be hated but those He loved. He already knew that He would be punched and spat upon and laughed at. He already knew that he would be hated by the people that would compel him to leave the infinite riches of heaven, emptying himself of his own sovereign rights of worship and glory and invincibility

He was terrorized and tormented. “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4  Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5  But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” There was no experience of human suffering that Jesus avoided. He was our substitute, and He endured our burden. He went to bed hungry. He cried over the death of his friend. He had no place to lay down his head. In fact, Jesus didn’t just experience human suffering as an individual; He experienced it as a representative. Every soul-crushing failure and every mind-altering loss and every endless season of sorrow were bound together in full manifestation on that first Good Friday. Jesus didn’t just bear the weight of his sorrow, but every sorrow. His body was battered and run through. His back was stretched taut over a post with his hands tied to his ankles. And, it was there He endured our healing stripes. 39 times He was lashed to the near point of death with a barbed whip until there was only a bloody man where there was once a man.

His suffering was voluntary. Jesus’ life wasn’t taken from him. His life was given. It was laid down willingly. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” What kind of plan is this where the Creator dies for the created, the Master dies for the slave, the King dies for the peasant?  What kind of plan is this where the billionaire bankrupts himself for the ungrateful criminal on death row? What kind of plan is this where God dies so that man might live?

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Meditation 2: He died sacrificially.

Suffering was necessary, but suffering alone was insufficient, “For the wages of sin is death.” “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”

He died as the curse. That’s why it had to be a cross. That’s why nails had to be driven through his wrists and through his ankles. That’s why He had to suffocate in front of his mother. For the Jews, to die upon the tree was to die as a man cursed. Galatians 3 says: “13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.” “21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

He was forsaken. It cannot be that holy God would turn a blind eye toward sin. And, yet, God still willed to reconcile sinners to himself. His love aimed to redeem sinners, but his holiness demanded sin’s wage be paid. If his wrath is not satisfied, He is an abomination to his own justice. As Stott has taught us: that’s why we must see the cross as the place where God’s justice and God’s love intersect. It is the cross where God demonstrates both his righteous anger and his unstoppable love. And so, He cries out the words of that ancient Psalm: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” The full cup of the Father’s wrath was being poured upon the Son, and He would drink it to the dregs.

He finished it. Every drop of the Father’s wrath was poured upon the Son until He could cry out: “It is finished!” It’s inconceivable that we could find anyone or anything that is greater than our collective sin and the wrath it is justly owed — until we find Christ. But, He finished it. He is greater than our sin. His grace is greater than our penalty. He satisfied the Father’s wrath and aimed mercy where condemnation once flowed. The veil was torn. The Holy of Holies, once inaccessible to common sinners, was now accessible to every person in the Christ. “21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

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MEDITATION 3: He was buried temporarily.

Jesus’ death wasn’t imaginary. A professional executioner declared him dead after the spear had been thrust into his heart. His own life would have been at stake.

He was buried as a man. When men die, we put them in the ground. Some have wondered if this was just a mind trick or a metaphorical death. But, Jesus actually died. He was wrapped in the customary grave cloths and placed in a guarded tomb for three days without food, water, or disturbance.

He was buried as a royal. Isaiah told us: “And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.” And, before He’s placed into the purchased tomb of the wealthy Simon, Nicodemas, a ruler of Israel whom Jesus had ministered to earlier, prepared his body with myrrh, aloe, and spices that were used in the burial of kings. For He was Nicodemas’ King and He is our King, but now He is dead.

He was buried as a substitute. How can it be possible for God to die? Except that God’s love compelled to become one of us and lay down his life. He went into the grave in our place that we might be delivered from it.

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DRAPING OF THE CROSS