Reflections for Good Friday : IMAGINE WE WERE THERE!
Today is Good Friday followed by Easter on Sunday - in fact, these are the most important events in Christian calendar, more important than Christmas. If without Good Friday or Easter, our faith in the birth and the Person of Jesus would be in vain.
I Corinthians 15:13-19 NKJV
But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
Reading the story of Jesus’ arrest, trial and crucifixion today, we have the benefit of knowing that it’s all leading up to the triumph of Easter. But to the Jesus-followers present at the scene, it must have seemed that the world was falling apart.
Consider these questions:
Jesus several times predicted not only his death, but his resurrection.
(1) Why do you think His disciples failed to understand him? When Luke records that Jesus’ “meaning was hidden from them,” does that refer to a simple failure to comprehend, or was God deliberately keeping the meaning from them?
(2) What do you think was going through the disciples’ minds as the evening unfolded? What would you have been thinking if you had been there?
(3) Can you think of anything that would explain the Jerusalem crowd’s abrupt shift in attitude over the course of Easter week? Just a few days earlier they had praised Jesus and welcome him like a king, but days later “they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
(4) What would have happened to the early church if Jesus had not been raised from the dead? Would there even be a church?
(5) On a personal note, what does Good Friday and Easter means to you today?
These events took place over 2000 years ago and it may be difficult for us to empathize with them. BUT, pause and reflect now the crowds : they seem to be so cruel; Jesus’ disciples seem utterly fickle-minded; the members of the Sandhedrin intentionally evil; Pilate thoroughly corrupt, the Jerusalem's crowd seem blindly clueless.
These things are recorded in the Bible as history..TRUE incidences that HAPPENED, not values to be just taught.
The REALITY is that it was precisely these very people—cruel, fickle, clueless, evil, corrupt—that Jesus died for.
The TRUTH is that AT THIS MOMENT, even it is after 2000 years later, we are in common with the fools and villains of Good Friday.
The WONDER is that Jesus loved them, and us, enough to submit to these evil, cruelty, foolishness, injustices, and finally death.
The MIRACLE is that three days later, he rose from the dead to offer us salvation, victory and life everlasting!
Hallelujah, what a Savior!
KNOWING THIS, that no matter how foolish, fickle, cluelss, evil, cruel and corrupt our sins are, our beloved Jesus had died for those sins. Therefore, please specifically pen down those sins on a piece of paper and nail them on the cross, having the FULL CONFIDENCE THAT if we have truly repent of our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our iniquities and cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness.
"I John 1:8-10 NKJV
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us." https://twitter.com/EstherOngHC
Today is Good Friday followed by Easter on Sunday - in fact, these are the most important events in Christian calendar, more important than Christmas. If without Good Friday or Easter, our faith in the birth and the Person of Jesus would be in vain.
I Corinthians 15:13-19 NKJV
But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
Reading the story of Jesus’ arrest, trial and crucifixion today, we have the benefit of knowing that it’s all leading up to the triumph of Easter. But to the Jesus-followers present at the scene, it must have seemed that the world was falling apart.
Consider these questions:
Jesus several times predicted not only his death, but his resurrection.
(1) Why do you think His disciples failed to understand him? When Luke records that Jesus’ “meaning was hidden from them,” does that refer to a simple failure to comprehend, or was God deliberately keeping the meaning from them?
(2) What do you think was going through the disciples’ minds as the evening unfolded? What would you have been thinking if you had been there?
(3) Can you think of anything that would explain the Jerusalem crowd’s abrupt shift in attitude over the course of Easter week? Just a few days earlier they had praised Jesus and welcome him like a king, but days later “they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
(4) What would have happened to the early church if Jesus had not been raised from the dead? Would there even be a church?
(5) On a personal note, what does Good Friday and Easter means to you today?
These events took place over 2000 years ago and it may be difficult for us to empathize with them. BUT, pause and reflect now the crowds : they seem to be so cruel; Jesus’ disciples seem utterly fickle-minded; the members of the Sandhedrin intentionally evil; Pilate thoroughly corrupt, the Jerusalem's crowd seem blindly clueless.
These things are recorded in the Bible as history..TRUE incidences that HAPPENED, not values to be just taught.
The REALITY is that it was precisely these very people—cruel, fickle, clueless, evil, corrupt—that Jesus died for.
The TRUTH is that AT THIS MOMENT, even it is after 2000 years later, we are in common with the fools and villains of Good Friday.
The WONDER is that Jesus loved them, and us, enough to submit to these evil, cruelty, foolishness, injustices, and finally death.
The MIRACLE is that three days later, he rose from the dead to offer us salvation, victory and life everlasting!
Hallelujah, what a Savior!
KNOWING THIS, that no matter how foolish, fickle, cluelss, evil, cruel and corrupt our sins are, our beloved Jesus had died for those sins. Therefore, please specifically pen down those sins on a piece of paper and nail them on the cross, having the FULL CONFIDENCE THAT if we have truly repent of our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our iniquities and cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness.
"I John 1:8-10 NKJV
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us." https://twitter.com/EstherOngHC
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