Good Friday

April 2, 2021April 2, 2021

Where Feelings Are Not Facts

On Good Friday some 2000 years ago Christ was overwhelmed, the pressure of the world was on His shoulders, it was going to be a hard day. He was weak but he had to push through. On good Friday Christ teaches us how to handle being overwhelmed and feeling weak. We all have seasons in life when we feel overwhelmed. When unexpected things happen, we can be tempted to get discouraged. We may feel like we don’t have what it takes, or we may feel weak. Anytime you feel this way, you have to realise that feelings aren’t facts. Hallelujah!

Today, just like that Friday when Christ was crucified, let’s not forget God has equipped you just like Christ was, and He already has a plan for you to come out of that difficulty. Scripture says, when you feel weak, that’s when God’s strength rises in you. His strength will overcome any opposition you may face. Anytime you feel weak, that’s when God is strong in You! Keep praying, keep believing, keep pressing forward and rise up in the victory He has in store for you!

“That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:10, NIV)

Let’s Pray

Yahweh, thank You for going through the pain of good Friday for me, this gives me strength for any adversity I face in this life. Father, I know that with You, I will overcome. God, please help me to keep my heart and mind focused on You as I move forward in victory. In Christ’s Name! Amen.

April 10, 2020May 15, 2020

This Friday Doesn’t Feel Good

To the typical every day Christian, the Cross is a symbol of victory. But this Good Friday just like when Christ died, doesn’t feel good at all. We reflect on Jesus’ death on the cross, and think of the suffering He had to go through. Then we turn our attention to today, with thousands of our loved ones dying daily because of a deadly virus, this Friday doesn’t feel good, or like we are in a position of victory.

When we think about the cross and our current situation, it may look like evil has triumphed over goodness, the powerful over the powerless, but that’s not the truth. Jesus’ death on the cross was actually good overpowering evil. Jesus was triumphing. When He cried out, ‘it is finished’ (some translations say ‘it is completed’), He didn’t mean, ‘I’m finished, My cause is defeated.’ Far from being crushed, Jesus triumphed over the powers of darkness. Hallelujah! In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities, as well as all their evil antics. He shamed them publicly, physically and spiritually by His victory over them, and He changed how we could relate to God. No longer would we be bound by sin and shame; instead, He paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we could be right with God. Love triumphed over the law. The Bible says “and three days later the empty tomb proved Christ had won the victory over death”.

Today, on this Good Friday, Christ’s victory over evil on the cross gives us hope that evil won’t win. Covid-19 will not determine the end of this world, or who will be in the resurrection. Whatever we’re facing, we know we can be victorious, because Christ was victorious. We’re overcomers because He has already overcome. Christ says, ‘in this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world’ (NIV). Sin, shame, and struggles won’t overcome us, because He has already overcome them all. So, this Good Friday, let’s remember that the cross and death wasn’t the end — Jesus rose and because He did we can.

‘In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world’
(John 16:33 NIV).

Pray With Me
Yahweh, on this Good Friday give Your people Your peace, that we may shine brightly in this dark and evil world. Father, grant us the courage to live faithfully even in the midst of hard times. Let our fear of You be the beginning of wisdom, rather than allowing the fear of the world to drive our actions. God, help us to embrace our heavenly citizenship, and live confidently in the midst of a world that needs to know You. Show Your mercy and heal those who are suffering. Most of all God, come. Restore the world You have made and make all things new. God, on this Good Friday, please grant us your goodness. We pray that Your will would be done, in Christ’s most Holy Name! Amen.

April 20, 2019April 20, 2019

That Confusing Saturday

I can’t imagine how depressed those disciples must have felt when they awoke to the reality of Saturday morning. The day after having lived the most horrific day in history. Good Friday is what we call it, but from their perspective is was anything but good. For three years they had followed Him. Three Years of transformation, expectation, reformation. Three years of physically being with Jesus every day. Waking up every day to a new adventure. Who would he heal today? What would He say? Where would He take us? Wonderful questions to wake up to. Everyday filled with anticipation.

I can’t imagine the confusion of Saturday, with the glaring reality of His crucifixion still throbbing in their memories. The way a fresh cut throbs, and we wince every time we accidentally bump it. That stab of pain shooting through us, reminding us that we are wounded. Heads pounding from dehydration as they cried out all their tears ‘til none were left to cry. Eyes swollen from the constant stream of salty moisture. That broken-hearted realization of knowing there would be no adventure today. No one healed, no new word from Him, no place to go, no one to lead them. Saturday is barely even mentioned in the narrative of the Gospels. The Gospel of Matthew reveals what happened.

The Closely Guarded Tomb

62 The next day, which followed the preparation day, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember that while this deceiver was still alive He said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 Therefore give orders that the tomb be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, His disciples may come, steal Him, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead.’ Then the last deception will be worse than the first.”

65 “You have a guard of soldiers,” Pilate told them. “Go and make it as secure as you know how.” 66 Then they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting the guard.

Just ponder those words for a minute. Jesus is referred to as a deceiver. The last deception would be worst than the first, they say. Isn’t it just like satan, the great deceiver of the world, to point the finger at Jesus, claiming he is the one who deceived?

Jesus had told them he would rise again on the third day, but grief and confusion had caused them to all but forget that promise. They wrapped him up with 75 pounds of spices. They did not anticipate Jesus rising. Do we wrap Him up too? Do we forget his promises on our own Despairing Saturdays? Let’s sit in wonder at that day of hiding in fear the disciples went through, that day of grief beyond their ability to express. We know the end of the story they forgot that day. Meditate on its dark wonder.