This coming Friday, we will celebrate Good Friday. Millions of people around the world will celebrate it, and people will celebrate it in many different ways. Some countries will mimic the crucifixion of Jesus. They will literally carry the cross and be nailed to a cross. Others will not eat meat or abstain from doing things. However, we need to understand what we are celebrating. Good Friday is about celebrating the death and crucifixion of our Lord Jesus. It is when He died on the cross for our sin. Jesus said, "The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded" (John 10:17-18). Jesus could have saved Himself on the cross, but He voluntarily gave Himself to be crucified because He wanted to pay the penalty of our sin that we may be forgiven through faith in Him.
We call it Good Friday because this is when Jesus saved us from our sin. This is the best event in the history of humankind. We have been forgiven because of what Jesus had done on the cross. We are saved not because of our good works, performing rituals in the church, or carrying our own cross, but we are saved through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Many religions try to be accepted by God through their good works and performance, but Jesus is saying to us that He already paid the price of our sin. All we have to do is to believe in Him by surrendering our life to Him genuinely. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast."
So what is the biblical way to celebrate Good Friday? The best way is to thank and praise Him for dying on the cross. We can use the day to contemplate and meditate on the love of Jesus Christ in our life. We need to accept and believe in Him. We need to believe that we are accepted, forgiven, and loved by our Heavenly Father no matter what we have done in the past because Jesus has paid the penalty of our sin. Let us forgive just as He has forgiven us. Let us be kind to others and live in the love of Christ. Let us live in the freedom that we have in Christ Jesus. We are free from condemnation and judgment of God.
Ask yourself these questions: What do we celebrate on Good Friday? What is the importance of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ? How should we celebrate Good Friday?
Write down all the worries you are facing today and lift them up to God.
Prayer:
Father in Heaven, thank you for sending your Son to pay the penalty of my sin. I am forgiven because of what Jesus has done on the cross. I praise and thank you, my Lord Jesus, for allowing yourself to be crucified on the cross to save me from my sin. Thank you for loving me sacrificially. Please help me to surrender everything to you that I may honor and praise your name. In your name Jesus, I pray. Amen.