Good Friday

I've always wondered why we call this day “Good Friday.” It never made sense to me. Why would we call a day that the greatest person to ever walk this earth was killed for the crimes of others “good.” In my book, that’s pretty bad. But as I’m doing my homework for this week (Matthew week), it hit me. We call it Good Friday because something good came out of this bad. Yes, Jesus died. But he was willing to die. There could have been another way, but he knew that this was the way that it had to be. He knew what was going to happen to him. He knew that he was doing to be rejected, mocked, tortured, killed for crimes that he did not commit. But he came to earth anyway.

He didn't come to take away the law that says we have to die for our sins. He came to take our sins away, because he wants us to be with him forever. The only way that was possible was for there to be an ultimate sacrifice. The reason he wanted us to be with him forever was love. The very same love that God created the universe with. The same love that he had when he freed the Israelites from Egypt, when he allowed them to be sent out of exile in Babylon. They very same love that he offers us today.

Jesus knew that people would reject him, that they would reject what he did, what he taught, even his sacrifice. But he did it anyway. He did it because his love outweighs what he knew. He knew that the people who accepted him would want those who rejected him to see that what he did was good, and that there was no reason to reject him. Sure, he got under people’s skin. He still does, but isn't that how every revolutionary person is. They get under people’s skin. Some people choose to listen and follow what they see as the truth, while others choose to reject it and hate it.

Good Friday. It’s good because Jesus knew, and he still chose to do it. He willingly went to the cross. He did it because he wants you. He did it because he loves you.  It’s good because he cared so much that he worry about all the pain he was going to go through, because he knew that it was worth it.