Good Friday

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
"Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
"Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!"
"It is finished"

These are some of the words of our Lord Jesus Christ as He hung on the cross. There were no harsh words, or hateful slurs, only words of anguish, love, and sacrifice. The perfect lamb of God, the one who knew no sin, stripped naked upon a blistering cross, having the punishment for our sins poured out upon Him. Suffering and scourged on my behalf, and he did it willingly without complaint, even when He felt, for the first time, a separation between Himself and the Father, as He began to suffer. As the wrath of God began to be poured upon Him, He uttered words of forgiveness to all of those who were guilty of maligning and mocking and murdering Him! His words are an example to us all and speak life to the command to love your enemies and bless those who persecute you. What kind of man was this upon the cross? Why would we want to kill such a loving man? The answer is humbling, and amazing at the same time! We would kill such a loving man because that's how corrupt we are, where we have no desire to love, and no desire for God, and it is precisely this reason that He gave up His life willingly, that wretches like these may inherit the kingdom of God! Oh, what a love is His! Even a thief called out to Him, but this time it was in defence of His majesty and a cry for mercy. This must have been a sweet sight to the Father, someone got it! Surrounded by all of that corruption and all of that hatred, see a humbled sinner, softened by tender mercies of God and ripe for repentance! Even as he was hung on the cross for sins he deserved, he recognized that, and recognized the innocence of the One by his side, and recognizing Him as The Savior he cried out to Him hoping for some undeserved love and Christ, being so rich in mercy, was even willing to forgive a sinner who was dying a just punishment for his sin! Christ lived a live of complete obedience and submission to the will of the Father, and even when this meant being a propitiatory sacrifice, he submitted to His Father, his spirit given to His Father, and his will broken under the weight of the sin of mankind! And at the darkest moment the world has ever seen, Christ uttered some of the most beautiful and reassuring words He had ever spoken, "it is finished"! The atonement for our sins was carried out on the only One who deserved Heaven, and because of His complete sacrifice, sinners may now approach the throne of God by grace alone through faith alone, because all of the work for our salvation's have been completed! Oh, such a beautiful reflection. It should have been me upon that tree, and Christ the Son of God died for me! Let us reflect and be humbled on this, the darkest day mankind has ever seen, but have hope oh dispirited children, for He will rise again, three days later as He promised!