Tag Archives: Good Friday

April 10, 2020

Stay at Home orders, pandemic issues, quarantined people, drive-in and videoed services, financial upheaval and the list goes on. Obviously this is a different time for all of us. I think it is admirable how so many churches/preachers are making sure that their Easter services and sermons are going to be on the internet. My prayer is that the Lord Jesus Christ will be glorified and honored by what is done. This is serious times, so many are trying to understand the impossible situation the World is experiencing.

Sometimes I think that this Easter is analogous of that first Easter. The had self-quarantined by this time Friday; Jesus has died on the Cross with the words “It is Finished.” The disciples have all ran for fear, and wound up in a holy huddle in the very Upper Room they had been enjoying the Last Supper only hours ago. Bewildered and shattered to the core, the unbelievable has happened – Jesus is gone! In a mere week, everything changed. For us today it was about three weeks. We find ourselves also asking questions about the UNKNOWN. What do we do now? When will all this end? What will NORMAL look like?

These obviously are not the same questions the Disciples had at the time. But, questions they did have. For them as well as us we have been taking actions of SURVIVAL. As this horrific scene on Golgotha’s Hill settles into their minds, they have become isolated, and dependent on each other. They could at least embrace one another and have the comfort on not being alone.

Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus have taken Jesus’ body down, with the help of the women, His body is laid in the TOMB. The stone is rolled to seal it. The haphazard BURIAL is complete, so they return to the Upper Room. We like they are trying to make the best of the situation. [We have the end of the story and know what is coming then, but we don’t know the end now]

WAITING – none of us like it, most detest it! Our question is HOW LONG? Theirs was restriction because of the SABBATH – 24 hours to think, cry, lament and fear. I don’t now what happened during that SABBATH, but it must have been a very dark time for all of the Believers then. Surely, nothing like they had ever been through before. Besides, the ONE they turned to was JESUS and He was dead. We, believers must turn to Jesus during this time of QUARANTINE – use it to reflect ad think about our lives and the future of the Gospel we are to share. Many unorthodox actions have been taken by the Government and Churches. We must learn from this time – like it or not our NORMAL is no longer ACCEPTABLE. Good Friday changed everything for the WORLD; this GOOD FRIDAY should change OUR world as well.

There was so much the early believers were not in control of at the time; likewise for us. We are not hunted or persecuted, but we are stressed and stretched right now. As we go into a Friday evening into an early Saturday, I pray we will ponder where we are with Christ and renew our HOPE that this unknown – unstable time will grow us stronger in our FAITH.

Just as an additional note: I always wondered WHY IS IT CALLED GOOD FRIDAY? After some research, Good used to mean HOLY. While we might struggle with what happened, when we think of the result of Jesus’ death for SIN and the LAMB of GOD, then we can see that the actions were not accomplished by men, but the loving Heavenly FATHER. Surely, salvation is a GOOD or HOLY thing. We look at the result of something to determine if it is good or not – my opinion while going through something may or may not be accurate. Surely, it was HOLY FRIDAY!