Mark 15:33-39. 33And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 35And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” 36And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” 37And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. 38And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
Good Friday is the day Jesus died. It was a terrible day. Jesus never made it back to Bethany and Mary and Martha’s house that night. He spent the whole night praying to God, asking God to possibly make it so that he would not have to die. Jesus called it “removing the cup,” the cup of God’s anger at sin.
Mark 14:35-36. 35And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
Why did Jesus ask the Father to take away the cross? Was Jesus afraid of dying? Was he afraid of being hurt? No. But he was afraid of being forsaken by God.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
That’s what Jesus cried out from the cross. I know this is really hard to understand. If Jesus is God, then how could God forsake him? How can God forsake God? How can God reject God?
What happened on Good Friday can only make sense when we remember that Jesus is God but also human. As a human person, Jesus will be treated like a sinner, the way we all deserve to be treated. That means that he will have to die for sins, and he will also have to be separated from God. And that is terrifying to him.
But Jesus is also God, and as God, Jesus wants to die for us because he loves us so, so much.
On Good Friday, Jesus will be arrested, put on trial, made fun off, beaten up, whipped, and crucified. All of this will happen to him even though he doesn’t deserve any of it. And worst of all, he will be forsaken by God.
But Jesus will choose to go through all of this because he loves God and he loves us. He also did it because our sin has to be punished. Now, because Jesus was punished for our sin on the cross, we don’t have to be punished for our sin.
And that’s what makes Good Friday so good.
You: Do you think that your sins deserve to be punished?
You with Jesus: When he died on the cross,Jesus took your punishment for your sin. Do you think that means we should sin more, or sin less? Explain your answer.
Prayer: Jesus, you obeyed God and took my place on the cross because you loved me so, so much. I know I don’t deserve it. Thank you. Amen.
TLICfamily 