Good Friday

"But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed."  Isaiah 53:5

Sometimes people will ask,  "Do you want the good news or the bad news first?"  During the Easter season we have good news, then terrible news, then incredibly great news.

The first scene opens on what we call Palm Sunday, the Sunday before the resurrection.  Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem riding on a donkey.  Donkeys were highly regarded in Jesus' day.  A donkey was a symbol of peace and royalty.  Kings and conquerors rode horses if they came for war, but they rode donkeys if they came in peace.

Cloaks were laid on the donkey, and Jesus sat on top of the cloaks.  Matthew 21:8 says,  "A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from trees and spread them on the road."  Laying garments on animals and on the road, and waving and spreading palm branches, were all part of the traditional Jewish reception for royalty.

Matthew 21:9 tells us,  "The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, 'Hosanna to the Son of David!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hosanna in the highest.'"

The Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem was an object lesson on who He is.  Detail after detail underscored the truth that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God.  This is a preview of the worship and adulation due Jesus that will one day culminate when every knee shall bow to Him and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is indeed Lord.

The terrible news came one week later.  Jesus was tried, condemned, abused, humiliated, and put to death on a Roman cross.  Where were the worshipers of the week before?  Were some of them fickle enough to join the mob that shouted,  "Crucify Him?"

Even nature mourned the death of its Creator with an unnatural darkness that lasted for three hours.  It was the darkest day the world had ever known.  None of the people at the cross would have possibly been able to imagine that this day would eventually be called Good Friday.  But just wait!  The incredibly great news is coming, and it's coming because Good Friday took place!!!

Father, thank You for the day we call Good Friday when Jesus paid the sin debt for all of us.  You and He knew the glory that was to come.  During the hard times in our lives, may we trust that You will bring good from them as well. Amen.