Mensa Otabil - The Ultimate Sacrifice
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Today is Good Friday. We remember the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. Luke 23:46–47. And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, he said, «Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.» Having said this, he breathed his last. So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, «Certainly this was a righteous man.»
Today we honor Christ for the price that was paid in his death. He gave us life. And Good Friday was the beginning of our redemption and the purchasing of our lives back to God. On the cross of Calvary, Jesus Christ died for the sins of humanity. He bore the judgment of the sin of Adam that had plagued all of us. Crucifixion was a very, very painful way of executing a person. The Romans were masters of it. It had started with the Phoenicians but was mastered by the Romans. They would normally nail the culprit in the hands and feet or tie them, and the person would hang on the cross for days, dying very slowly as a public spectacle for all to see the power of Roman authority. In the case of Jesus Christ, he died over a few hours, which was rather unusual for a normal crucifixion. That also had something to do with Jesus giving up his own spirit. When the time was up, he wasn’t waiting for the Romans to execute him; he gave up his own spirit.
In the final moments of Jesus Christ, a few things took place. There was an earthquake, the sun was darkened, and the curtain that separated the holy place from the holy of holies in the temple was torn downward. All these were manifestations in the natural to tell us what was happening in the spiritual: that God is giving us access to his presence. And on the cross, Jesus Christ forgave those who had nailed him to the cross. He prayed, «Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.» But in talking about that or in praying for their forgiveness, he was not just immediately praying for those who were nailing him, but for everybody who had participated in the process of his crucifixion, including those who betrayed him, those who arrested him, those who falsely accused him, and those who judged him. All of them were forgiven. Jesus was not going to hold their sin to their account. It doesn’t mean that they became righteous; it just meant that God had a special dispensation for the act of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ because the crucifixion was determined to happen by God. And people had to do it, and God had to forgive them for doing it. But they also had to accept the forgiveness of God because it had been offered to them.
But not only did Jesus forgive those who nailed him to the cross, the thief who was nailed on the cross with him asked for forgiveness, and he was forgiven too. Jesus promised him eternal life. The thief satisfied all the requirements for salvation. He acknowledged his sin, he acknowledged who Jesus was, and he asked God for forgiveness and for salvation. And that’s all that God wants from us. We acknowledge we are sinners, we acknowledge Jesus is the Son of God, and we ask him to forgive us our sins. And as it happened to the thief on the cross, we can also have salvation. Every human being can have salvation.
And it’s very interesting that both Pilate and the Roman centurion said that Jesus was innocent or not guilty. Pilate at the judgment of Jesus said, «I find no fault in this man.» And this Roman centurion at the death of Jesus Christ said, «Surely this was a righteous man.» We’re not sure how he arrived at that conclusion, but something about the death of Jesus Christ told him this was a righteous death. This was a death like no other. Maybe it was all the signs happening. Maybe it was Jesus Christ. Maybe it was the words of Jesus Christ. Or maybe it was just the Holy Spirit convicting him. But the man knew that this death on this day was a good one. And that’s why we call it Good Friday, because on that day a good man died, and on that day God’s goodwill was shared with all humanity.
And today, as we remember the pain and the sorrow, let us also remember the victory of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your Son Jesus to die for me. I accept your offer of salvation in Jesus' name. Amen.»