Today is Good Friday. It is the day that Christians around the world remember the greatest act of love that has ever been committed in all of history. The evening before the Cross, Jesus and His disciples shared in the most important Passover since Passover began. During the Passover Seder, Jesus would reveal that the celebration had always been about Him. 1 Corinthians 5:7 tells us that Jesus is "our Passover Lamb." John the Baptist told his followers to look to Jesus, because He is "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:9). After the dinner, they would cross the valley to the Garden of Gethsemane as Jesus continued to teach, and to prepare them for all that was about to take place.
      As the night progressed, Jesus would be betrayed by one of His own; He would be arrested having done nothing wrong; and He would have one of His closest friends (Peter) to deny he even knew Him. There would be the ridicule of the crowd, a political leader who would play games with Him, and another that would be driven by fear to surrender Him to the will of the people. And it was the religious leaders and people that He came to love and to save that would cry out to have Him killed.
     And so we find Him hanging on a cross. He is barely recognizable because of the severe beating He has received. Large nails hold Him pinned to the harsh wood. Yet, as He struggles for every breath, He still musters enough to say "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." It wouldn't be long until He would say, "It is Finished," and He would draw His last breath.
      It is on this day that we remember Jesus death on the Cross. It must've seemed so hopeless in that moment, but it was actually in that moment that hope was born. We remember, not only that He died on the Cross, but that the Cross was ours. It was for this He came - "to save sinners" (1 Tim. 1:15). He hung there for every person He encountered that day - for the disciples, for the betrayer, for the denier, for those who arrested Him and beat Him, and for the very ones who nailed Him there. He hung there for the politicians, for the religious leaders, and for all the people who wanted Him dead - and He hung there for you and for me. Hope was born because the cross paid for all of our sins. We no longer have to be guilty of the sins we've committed. It also means that we can be free from the power of sin over us, so that we are no longer slaves of sin and death! Hope was born because the Cross was the final word on our sin. It was the beginning of a three day journey for the redemption of man for all time and eternity.
      So today as we reflect on this amazing act of grace and forgiveness, I hope we can all really understand why God did all that He did; why Jesus willingly went through all of this for us -

"For God so LOVED the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life."

Thanks be to God for taking my place on my cross!
God Bless you all,
Pastor Neil