Could you imagine if every year people remembered your worst day and called it good? I’m not sure I would handle that very well. Even now, when I think back on hard things I’ve encountered and the good that has come from them, I still separate the good from the bad. I think of the hard thing as bad and the results that God redeemed as good.
Following that line of thinking, in my mind, Good Friday is bad and only what God used it for is good. Today, for the first time I’ve wondered about how Jesus thinks of this day. How does he feel about us calling it GOOD Friday? I wonder if Jesus himself looks back at this day and thinks of it as good.
Does he think of the time one of his closest friends sold him for the price of a slave as good? (Mt 26:48-49)
Does he remember the time that the very people he came to save asked for a murderer to be set free instead of him and cried out for him to be crucified and think of it as good? (Mt 27:21-22)
Does he think of his mocking/torture from the soldiers as good? (Mt 27:27-31)
Does he remember the day that some of his last words were “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” as a good day? (Mt 27:46)
I believe the answer to all these questions is yes. He does think of them as good, because he sees the whole picture and not just that day. I Also believe the answer to these questions is yes because I know that Jesus looks at things through the lens of selflessness.
Phil 2:5-8 “In your relationship with one another have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage: rather, he made himself nothing, by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross!”
He thinks of that day as good because he knew that it was God’s will (Mt 26:39).
He thinks of that day as good because he knew it was necessary for us to be redeemed and forgiven (Eph 1:7).
He thinks of that day as good because he knows that he was the ultimate sacrifice and no other sacrifices would be needed after his (Jn 1:29).
He thinks of that day as good because he sees it as the ultimate portrayal of God’s love (Jn 3:16).
Blessings,
Kaci
