Good Friday 2025

Matthew 27:31 (TPT)

 "When they had finished ridiculing him, they took off the scarlet robe, and put his own clothes back on Him, and led Him away to be crucified."

 We could quite easily skim over the Good Friday part of Easter, because it is so very bloody and traumatic. We abhor the thought of Jesus' intense suffering, the evil of those who set their hearts against Him, and the grief of a mother watching her Son die in such a horrific way.

We want to skip to the part when the stone is rolled away and there is the excitement of the empty tomb.

The truth is, that there is no "Christ is risen" without the preamble of "Christ has died."

 Theologian D. A. Carson wrote:

 "It was not nails that held Jesus to that wretched cross; it was his unqualified resolution, out of love for His Father, to do His Father's will - and it was His love for sinners like me."

 It is in His facing and conquering death that we can see a way out of our own mess. He died, so we can have a chance at living the life He designed us for. He died because He loved us so much, even though, we are undeserving of His love and His sacrifice for us.

So, no matter how you choose to observe Good Friday, knowing the story causes our hearts to cry out to God, in humility and thanksgiving.

 Let us not skip Good Friday, but acknowledge and reflect on the severity of the cross and say: "I know what you did for me, and I am truly thankful."