Easter rolls around every year as Christians around the globe celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is amazing because Jesus Christ and his finished work is amazing. This is also amazing because too often the theme of churches week after week is me and my work rather that Jesus and his work. So for some, Easter is a built-in annual chance to once again be amazed by Jesus and his work, which is the central message of the Bible.
The focus of Good Friday and Easter is Jesus and his finished work. Because of the importance of that focus, I want to write out a few comments that swirl around in my mind each and every Easter season. Who knows, you might know exactly what I’m talking about here…
It seems Good Friday for some is a day of mourning. Mourning…full stop. I get the impression that we are supposed to be mourning Jesus’ death as though Good Friday is really Funeral Friday, as though we are supposed to be pretending all day that we are witnessing Jesus dying and grieving his death as though he is not going to rise on Sunday. To be clear, I am all for mourning our sin, the sin that is so serious the Son of God had to die to deal with it. Furthermore, the death of Jesus is in itself a grievous thing; to crucify Jesus is abominable and evil. I am all for mourning the sinful reality of murdering Jesus; it is despicable.
But we are not to treat the death of Jesus in isolation, pretending it was not followed by a resurrection; pretending it was not actually a victorious accomplishment of the King. In other words, we must never stop at mourning, we must make our way all the way to the Good News of the death of Jesus. Yes, mourn your sin but keep going until you reach the Good News of grace. Yes, mourn the evil murder of Jesus but keep going until you reach the Good News that the murder was actually a part of the master plan of God himself to save you.
It is Good Friday, not Funeral Friday. It is Good Friday because Jesus’ death paid the price for our sins. It is Good Friday because that Friday was followed by a resurrection. And good news, that resurrection already came. That Sunday isn’t “coming”. That Sunday has already come and gone, thank God. That Sunday on which Jesus rose, it happened. We are not waiting for it. We are not supposed to pretend like Jesus is still dead.
Good Friday is not a day to grieve as though we do not see that Jesus’ death is something to be greatly celebrated as it is the accomplishment of the King who died, purposefully, for our sins. Jesus does not want, ask for, or need our pity. Good Friday is not a day to pretend resurrection Sunday has not happened yet. Resurrection Sunday happened. Jesus already walked out of the tomb and He’s never going back.
I love that once a year churches around the globe stop and fix their gaze on the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. I am looking forward to a sermon more explicitly saturated with the message of the resurrection than usual! So may we have joy this Good Friday because Jesus’ death was a victory of all victories. May we have joy because Jesus’ death was the fulfillment of the strategic plan of God driven by immense love for you and me. May we have joy because Good Friday was followed by a planned resurrection that happened some 2000 years ago. Jesus is alive, right now. It is finished. “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” (Phil. 4:4-5).
