Editor’s Note: The following piece is part of the Holy Week Series from our Young Writers cohort. Michael Park reflects upon Luke 23:26-49 and Good Friday.
The first Good Friday definitely wasn’t all that “good” on paper. The self-proclaimed savior of the world was mocked and doubted, and eventually hung dead on a criminal’s cross. Today, many of you will match the solemn attitude of this day by dressing in dark colors, singing deep reflective songs about our sins, and repenting (some of you even regretting) about the actions of our past. And we should. After all, if we think deeply about how our sins rejected God’s holiness and caused Jesus to suffer, we should weep and mourn as James 4:9 instructs.
But consider with me, friends, do you let your Good Friday truly be good? Besides the anticipation that Sunday is coming, what other lens can we look through to find good on this day?
Let’s look at the second criminal, who definitely had done no good to be hanging on a cross. And yet in his final moments, audaciously reserves his seat in eternity. He recognizes just two things: his own inadequacy and Jesus’s abundant adequacy. He knew that if he could cling on to Jesus, if Jesus could just remember him, then he would be forgiven and saved. Jesus replies to him “Today, you will be with me in paradise.”
Consider a different account of this day through the gospel of John. Moments before his death, Jesus utters the words “It is finished.” Everything he set out to accomplish, in that singular moment, was accomplished. In the midst of the mockery and doubt of those around him, Jesus completed his purpose: the redemption of his people.
Although the common picture of Good Friday is a weak, bloody Jesus barely hanging on until the last moment, we see that the “good” of today lies in quite the opposite. We should instead see an able savior and a conquering king who forgave and fulfilled to the utmost. When everything went against him to thwart his plan and glory, even within his last breath Jesus was sovereign and in control.
Perhaps this is what the centurion experienced when he praised God and said “Surely this was a righteous man.” It must surely be what the criminal saw on the cross. Although none of us have ‘good’ to boast about today, all of us can have Jesus to boast about. He was compassionate yet mighty until the end and that is very, very good.
Have you experienced the power of Jesus’s forgiveness and fulfillment? As you reflect on the reasons on what makes today a dark solemn day, don’t forget the power of Jesus which trumps darkness at every bend and is yours to claim through faith in him.
Photo Credit: Dylan Mcleod