For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. (1 Cor 15:3-5).
Have you ever wondered what’s so good about Good Friday? As you know Christians around the world use this term Good Friday to remind them of the day that Jesus was crucified. It’s a very special day because without the crucifixion there would be no resurrection, and without the resurrection there would be no Christianity. You see, without this day there would be no third day.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the very foundation of our faith. To a Christian, the most significant day in history is the day that Jesus rose from the dead, having conquered death, hell and the grave. But without His death there could be no resurrection from the dead, which is why Good Friday is so important. Jesus talked quite a bit about his death and his resurrection throughout the gospels. Here is just an example from Matthew’s Gospel: “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life” (Matt 16:21).
Did you notice that each time Jesus referred to His death He also, in the same breath, referred to His resurrection from the dead? Why is that?
Well, it’s simple; He knew His mission was not to be a martyr, but our Messiah, the One who would lead us back into our relationship with God as our living Saviour!
You may ask why we need a Saviour. What issues do we have that require the Saviour? When God first created the world, everything was perfect. The earth and its environment, with all living things, be it trees, flowers, fruit-yielding trees, the birds that fly in the sky, the fish that swim in the seas and the land animals were perfect. The creation of heaven and earth was perfect. God climaxed his creation with the creation of man and it was perfect. However, God sets a simple rule for man to follow in Gen 2:15-17: “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.’”
Man broke the command of God by eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. From that day on, man dies as what God had said. It is a tragedy for man to disobey God’s command as this will incur the wrath of God and result in the punishment from God.
This has marred God’s perfect creation. Not only has disobedience brought death, but also many other consequences such as toiling the grounds for food, woman suffering labour pain when giving birth, et cetera.
Although this is the saddest day in human history, we thank God that the story does not end here. On Good Friday, God punished his Son Jesus Christ for all the wrongs that man has committed against God. God poured out his full anger on his Son Jesus Christ to save us from our sins and from the eternal punishment which God has reserved in Hell.
May we rejoice instead for Good Friday. Though it costs Jesus Christ His life, yet this is the greatest good news for man. We, who believe in Jesus Christ to be Saviour, will not see death when Jesus Christ returns in full glory as the rightful Messiah and our wonderful Saviour!
If you have not personally known this wonderful Saviour, may I invite you to open your heart to receive Jesus Christ to be your wonderful Saviour today. The very moment you confess your sins, ask Jesus Christ to be your Saviour, Jesus Christ promises you He will be your Saviour. May you have a wonderful Good Friday and Easter Sunday!