The Unspeakable Goodness of Good Friday

 

THE UNSPEAKABLE GOODNESS OF

Good Friday

The day of Jesus' crucifixion is known to the world as “Good Friday.” As a child, I misunderstood Good Friday thinking that it referred to the Last Supper.  I suppose this was because at that age I could understand nothing “good” about the day they killed Jesus. Today, I appreciate the wonder of Jesus having willingly laid down His life as opposed to it having been “taken” from Him (John 10:18). It was this willingness to give Himself that makes the day of His crucifixion “Good” Friday. Nevertheless, I cannot to this day think too deeply about Calvary without being overtaken with a profound sense of sorrow. I have on many occasions visited the church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem which is supposed to cover both the place of His crucifixion and burial, yet even with hundreds in attendance at any time, there is always a hushed and reverent tone. Something good happened at Golgotha that day, and I do not pretend that I understand the whole of it. Nevertheless, I wholly accept the fact of that great goodness and embrace it within the very depth of my being. In the light of the Cross, I can do no other thing!  Of course, I do understand that ultimately Friday is good because of Sunday! About thirty-four years following the day of Christ’s resurrection, the Apostle Paul wrote: "Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all He appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born" (I Corinthians 15:1-8 NIV). Following His resurrection, Jesus spoke of another group of disciples who were to one day also know Him; He did so while appearing to Thomas.  “Then Jesus told him [Thomas], ‘Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’”  Who are “those?” Among “those who have not seen and yet have believed” is you, is me, is every disciple who is the spiritual descendant of those who did see Him after His resurrection. We are those “blessed!” We have not “seen Him,” but we have and do “know Him!” That is part of the wondrous blessing of faith, and it seems fitting that it was Peter who proclaimed this most clearly when he wrote of us saying, "Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory; receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls" (I Peter 1:8, 9 KJV). That unspeakable joy is echoed in the lyrics of Barney E. Warren's wonderful 1900 hymn entitled Joy Unspeakable. I have found the joy no tongue can tell, How its waves of glory roll! It is like a great o’erflowing well, Springing up within my soul. It is joy unspeakable and full of glory, Full of glory, full of glory. It is joy unspeakable and full of glory; O the half has never yet been told! And, that is the unspeakable goodness of Good Friday! HIS IS RISEN! Dennis D.Frey, Th.D., President Master's International University of Divinity

COMMEMORATING THE RESURRECTION

In 2024 the Christian Church in the Western world will celebrate Palm Sunday on March 24 and Resurrection Sunday a week later on March 31.  “Easter” as it is commonly known (I confess to disliking the term, and prefer "Resurrection Sunday"), is an annually moveable holy day.  March 21 is the earliest date, while April 25 is the very latest for the celebration.

The rules for determining the actual day each year are complex and hardly known to Christians anywhere.  So complex in fact, that most pastors quickly forget the formula shortly after studying it in Bible College, Seminary, or Divinity School.  The following brief explanation will make the point.

“The rule has since the Middle Ages been phrased as “Easter,” and observed on the Sunday after the first full moon on or after the day of the vernal equinox. However, this does not reflect the actual ecclesiastical rules precisely. One reason for this is that the full moon involved (called the Paschal full moon) is not an astronomical full moon, but an ecclesiastical full moon. Another difference is that the astronomical vernal equinox is a natural astronomical phenomenon, while the ecclesiastical vernal equinox is fixed on March 21.  Easter is determined from tables which determine Easter based on the ecclesiastical rules, which approximate the astronomical full moon.”

“In applying the ecclesiastical rules, the various Christian Churches use 21 March as their starting point from which they find the next full moon, etc. However, because Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches use the Julian Calendar as their starting point, while Western Christianity uses the Gregorian Calendar, the endpoint, the date for Easter, may diverge.”*  WHEW!

No matter the actual date, for Christians everywhere the annual commemoration of the passion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is the most holy of all Christian celebrations.  The celebration of the pre-resurrection Lenten season, and the post-resurrection ministry of Jesus the Messiah, helps us to focus our attention on this great validating epoch of the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

These all point toward the present and future blessings that His resurrection makes possible for the redeemed of all ages.  "He has risen, just as He said" (Matthew 28:6a).

*See this above-cited source for more detailed information. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter).