Why do we call Good Friday good?

Palm Sunday is exciting – if even for just a moment, God’s people got it: Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords!  Easter is thrilling – because the grave could not contain Jesus, we know that we too will experience his victory over death!  Sandwiched between these days of celebration is a Friday affixed to a seemingly misappropriated adjective, good.  “Black” Friday would fit well (Matt 27:45).  But, “Black Friday” is the name reserved for the day after Thanksgiving, a day that should be good.  “Good Friday” is the title we reserve for that day in history when the only righteous man who ever lived died for crimes he never committed.  Why do we call that day “good?”

As Christians we know the answer.  We call it good because the crimes (sins) that required Jesus’ death belonged to you and me.  I say “belonged” rather than “belong” because, in Christ, they are no longer ours.  “[A]s far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12).  In this beautiful psalm, David is believing what God would do one day in Christ, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).  Like a scarlet letter or a spot of cancer our sin was removed, with all due fear and shame attached to it, to be remembered no longer.  On the Cross, Jesus Christ absorbed all the wrath due me (Romans 3:25), He purchased (ransomed) you from the slave market of sin (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), He nullified the just and guilty verdict against sinners (Romans 3:26), and He reconciled us into true familial community with God (Romans 8:14-17)!  This was indeed a good day!

Let us not forget that God’s motive behind all of this was his unfathomable love for us.  The geography of Psalm 103:12 would be true because of the dimensions of the previous verse, “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him” (Psalm 103:11).  We call Good Friday “good” because we see the full outpouring of God’s love for needy sinners.  We call Good Friday “good” because on that day the Father, for a moment, turned his back on his Son, so that for eternity he could turn his face toward us.

Everything changed on Good Friday, and what happened that day continues to change everything for those who find themselves here: “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).  Do you believe?  Have you received what God offers?  Are you his child?  Good Friday beckons all who will hear the gracious invitation.

Scribbles on the Heart

Two days ago we celebrated Joel's seventh birthday. Today, we celebrate his new birth! At a little after 7:00 this evening Joel trusted Christ as His Savior! During supper, out on the patio, we were reviewing Ethan's memory verse for Sunday School - "The lord is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all He has made" (Psalm 145:13). So, does this mean we can trust God to give us a new bicycle tomorrow? Our kids apparently have a touch of the prosperity gospel in them because Joel and Ethan both answered in the affirmative. "But did God promise us a new bicycle?" Of course not, so what did He promise? "A new body when we die," Joel answered. Who will get this new body? "People who are saved." Are you one of them? "Ummm... no." And so, the real conversation began. For some time now Joel has been able to articulate saving faith very clearly for his age, and for some time he has known that saving faith is something he does not possess. We have been encouraging him to think about it, pray about it, ask questions about it, and when he is ready we will be thrilled to walk him through expressing this faith to God in repentance. So tonight I simply asked, "What is stopping you?" "Well, I just don't have the time." We all know what a seven-year-old's schedule is like, what, with all the car playing, Veggie-Tale watching and tree climbing. I told him that when he's ready we will make the time, no matter what. He said, "Then I guess we ought to do it tonight." Exactly what I was hoping for!

I encouraged him to talk to God about this while I get his brothers in bed, and then if he still thinks this is the right time we will stay up and talk some more. And so we did. I was walking him through some Scripture and came to Romans 10:9-10. "For with the heart one believes and is justified..." O boy. I forgot "justified" was in there. How do I explain "justified" to a seven-year-old? Only seconds into my explanation he said, "Wait, I know this. When we sin it's like scribbles on our heart. When we confess our sins Jesus' blood is like an eraser and then God doesn't see the scribbles anymore." Martin Luther himself couldn't have said it better!

His prayer was a beautiful seven-year-old prayer, "God, I hope you'll save me because I'm a sinner. Please forgive me, and I hope You'll help me to do what's right."

My son is now my brother, and the scribbles on his heart are forever erased. Thanks be to God!