Thoughts: (the below article was written by Joni Erickson Tada and Steve Estes)
The face that Moses had begged to see--was forbidden to see--was slapped bloody. The thorns that God had sent to curse the earth's rebellion now twisted around his own brow....
"On your back with you!" One raises a mallet to sink in the spike. But the soldier's heart must continue pumping as he readies the prisoner's wrist. Someone must sustain the soldier's life minute by minute, for no man has this power on his own. Who supplies breath to his lungs? Who gives energy to his cells? Who holds his molecules together? Only by the Son do "all things hold together". The victim wills that the soldier live on--he grants the warriors continued existence.
The man swings.
As the man swings, the Son recalls how he and the Father first designed the medial nerve of the human forearm--the sensations it would be capable of. The design proves flawless--the nerves perform exquisitely. "Up you go!" They lift the cross. God is on display...and can scarcely breathe.
But these pains are a mere warm up to his other and growing dread. He begins to feel a foreign sensation. Somewhere during the day an unearthly foul odor began to waft, not around his nose, but his heart. He feels dirty. Human wickedness starts to crawl upon his spotless being...The apple of his Father's eye turns brown with rot.
His Father! He must face his Father like this!
From heaven, the Father now rouses himself like a lion disturbed, shakes his mane, and roars against the shriveling remnant of a man hanging on a cross. Never has the Son seen the Father look at him so, never felt even the least of his hot breathe. But the roar shakes the unseen world and darkens the visible sky. The son does not recognize these eyes.
"Son of man, why have you behaved so??" You have cheated...stolen, gossiped--murdured, envied, hated, lied. You have cursed, robbed, overspent, overeaten...disobeyed...Oh the duties you have shirked, the children you have abandoned! Who has ever so ignored the poor, so played the coward, so belittled my name?? Have you ever held your razor tongue? Who gave you the boldness to rig elections, foment revolutions...and worship demons? Does the list never end! Splitting families...acting smugly...accepting bribes. You have burned down buildings, perfected terrorist tactics, founded false religions, traded in slaves--relishing each morsel and bragging about it all! I hate, loathe, these things in you! Disgust for everything about you consumes me. Can you not feel my wrath??"
Of course the Son is innocent. He is blamelessness itself. The Father knows this...but the divine pair have an agreement, and the unthinkable must now take place. Jesus will be treated as if personally responsible for every sin ever committed.
The Father watches as his heart's treasure, the mirror image of himself, sinks drowning into raw, liquid sin. Jehovah's stored rage against humankind from every century explodes in a single direction.
"Father, Father, why have you foresaken me?!"
But heaven stops its ears. The Son stares up at the One who can not, who will not, reach down or reply.
The Trinity had planned it. The Son endured it. The Spirit enabled him. The Father rejected the Son whom he loved. Jesus, the God-man from Nazareth, perished. The Father accepted his sacrifice for sin and was satisfied. The Rescue was accomplished.
Questions:
- What are your thoughts after hearing that?
- What did Jesus have to endure? Why?
- Why is the day that He died on the cross called Good Friday?
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank You! Thank You from the bottom of our hearts for rescuing us from sin, from rebellion, from eternal separation and hell. Thank You Jesus. Help us to remember, each day, each moment, what You did for us. Help us to tell other people so that they too, can believe and be saved. May our lives count for Your glory and for Your Kingdom.
Song: How Beautiful
How beautiful the hands that served
The wine and the bread and the sons of the earth
How beautiful the feet that walked
The long dusty roads and the hill to the cross
How beautiful, how beautiful
How beautiful is the body of Christ
How beautiful the heart that bled
That took all my sin and bore it instead
How beautiful the tender eyes
That chose to forgive and never despise
How beautiful, how beautiful
How beautiful is the body of Christ
And as He laid down His life
We offer this sacrifice
That we will live just as he died
Willing to pay the price
Willing to pay the price
How beautiful the radiant bride
Who waits for her groom with His light in her eyes
How beautiful when humble hearts give
The fruit of pure lives so that others may live
How beautiful, how beautiful
How beautiful is the body of Christ
How beautiful the feet that bring
The sound of good news and the love of the King
How beautiful the hands that serve
The wine and the bread and the sons of the earth
How beautiful, how beautiful
How beautiful is the body of Christ
Here is a video of the song: How Beautiful
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