Pastoral - Holy Week: Good Friday

What's So "Good" About Good Friday?

As we know, the day Jesus was crucified on the cross is referred to as "Good Friday." 

Talking with your children about the crucifixion can bring feelings of uneasiness and can be quite difficult. I mean, how do you explain to your child that Jesus being nailed to a cross and suffering was "good?"  We want so often to spare our children from things that might scare or upset them too much, and there's always the question for younger children as to how detailed you might want to get regarding how agonizing Jesus' death on that cross was.  After all, isn't it much more pleasant and joyful to talk about Easter and how Jesus rose from the grave?  The truth is, however, without the crucifixion on Good Friday, we would have no reason to celebrate the Resurrection on Easter Sunday!  But none of it has the meaning it should of we don't understand the seriousness of sin and the holiness of God.  These are very weighty subjects to discuss with a preschooler, but don't forget that the Word of God never returns empty, but accomplishes that which God has purposes, and shall succeed in the thing for which He sent it (Isaiah 55:11).  Also, never underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit at work on your child's heart.

The Seriousness of Sin

If your child has been in Sunday school with us for a while, he or she has learned about sin and how sin entered the world through Adam and Eve. Sin can be described as anything we do that breaks God's law or goes against what God says to do.  Sin is also not doing what God says we should do.  It's important to communicate to your child that making a mistake, like accidentally spilling a glass of milk does not constitute sin.  It is a sin, however, to disobey your parents by throwing the baseball in the house after being told not to, and it is a sin to not put your toys away after being told to do so.  

Sin is serious because it separates us from God, our loving Heavenly Father.  It separates us from God because God is holy and completely without sin.

Now, a toddler is not always going to know when he or she is committing a sin or doing something wrong, but that is why God gives him/her parents!  As parents, we should be studying God's Word regularly and teaching it to our children.  More importantly than just telling them about God's Word though, we should also be showing our children God's Word through our own actions.  

God's Holiness

Holiness refers to the fact that God is separate or set apart from His creation.  He is absolutely and totally perfect, and we are not. (Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God). In that way, He is separate from us.  God has never done anything but good and there is nothing bad in Him whatsoever.  As 1 John 1:5 says, "God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all."  Because He is perfectly holy, God cannot have anything to do with sin, so because we are all sinners, our sin separates us from God, and that's a terrible problem! (A good way to demonstrate this is to use oil and water: Fill a bowl with water and explain that the water represents God.  Next, take a tablespoon of oil and explain that the oil represents sin.  Pour the oil into the water and notice that they separate.  They don't mix). God and sin just don't mix.

Solution to the Sin Problem

We know that God is holy and cannot have anything to do with sin.  In fact, He hates sin!  However, just like a parent whose child is disobeying doesn't like their child's misbehavior but still loves their child, our Heavenly Father still loves us. He just doesn't love our sin. So...God provided the solution to our sin problem that separates us from Him.  Romans 6:23 says "the wages of sin is death," and Hebrews 9:22 says that "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins."  Sin has to be punished. God could have just punished us by leaving us separated from Him forever, but because He loves us SO MUCH, the Bible tells us in Romans 5:8 that "God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  Jesus Christ took the punishment we deserved.  The most amazing thing is He wasn't forced to do it.  He did it because He loves us.  Jesus is the Son of God.  He is perfectly human, and perfectly God - God in the flesh.  He never sinned, and because of that, He was the only One qualified to make things right between us and God.  I love the way the Jesus Storybook Bible puts it:

"It was for this reason that I was born into this world," Jesus said...They nailed Jesus to the cross.  "Father, forgive them," Jesus gasped.  "They don't understand what they are doing."  "You say you've come to rescue us!" people shouted.  "But you can't even rescue yourself!" 

But they were wrong.  Jesus could have rescued himself.  A legion of angels would have flown to His side - if he'd called.  "If you were really the Son of God, you could just climb down off that cross!" they said.

And of course they were right.  Jesus could have just climbed down.  Actually, he could have just said a word and made it all stop.  Like when he healed that little girl.  And stilled the storm.  And fed 5,000 people.  

But Jesus stayed.  

You see, they didn't understand.  It wasn't the nails that kept Jesus there.  It was love.

"Papa?" Jesus cried, frantically searching the sky.  "Papa? Where are you?  Don't leave me!"  

            And for the first time - and the last - when he spoke, nothing happened.  Just a horrible, endless silence.  God didn't answer.  He turned away from his Boy.

            Tears rolled down Jesus' face.  The face of the One who would wipe away every tear from every eye.          

            Even though it was midday, a dreadful darkness covered the face of the world.  The sun could not shine.  The earth trembled and quaked.  The great mountains shook.  Rocks split in two.  Until it seemed that the whole world would break.  That creation itself would tear apart.

            The full force of the storm of God's fierce anger at sin was coming down.  On his own Son.  Instead of his people.  It was the only way God could destroy sin, and not destroy his children whose hearts were filled with sin.

            Then Jesus shouted in a loud voice, "It is finished!"

            And it was.  He had done it.  Jesus had rescued the whole world.

Now, THAT is what makes Good Friday "good."  But it keeps getting better, because the story doesn't end here...

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."

- John 10:11

Ephesians 2:13 "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ."

Colossians 1:20. "And through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross."

"Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world." -John 17:24

God hates sin, but loves the sinner.  

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death...

Romans 5:8 but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.