Good Friday Meditation
Hebrews 11:9-10
By faith, he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents as did Isaac and Jacob, coheirs of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
The Worlds Ambivalence
Today marks the anniversary of our Lord’s great passion, his death upon a cruel cross.
But have you noticed something? Here in Central Florida, aside from the Easter candy sales, church signs advertising Easter services, or egg hunts, you couldn’t tell that anything is different.
It’s as if the world is content to keep on going without a second thought to what the God of the Universe did for it.
My garbage services came today.
My daughter’s school scheduled her game for today.
My wife must work today.
And the grocery stores, shopping malls, restaurants, and corporate malls are all open today.
At face value, there is nothing that seems at all special or noteworthy about today. If you think I’m advocating for a puritan reform of our nation by shutting everything down, then think again. In truth, the conditions today are no different than the original Good Friday.
Strangers in a Foreign Land
We shouldn’t fall into despair over the world’s ambivalence over Good Friday. Instead, we should remember that it’s days like today that remind us that we’re strangers in a foreign land.
On Thursday nights, our Bible study has been looking at the glorious book of Hebrews. Chapter 11 describes the heroes of the faith as “foreigners and temporary residents on earth.” The author goes on to write, “Now those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a homeland” (11:14).
We, too, are seeking the same homeland, a heavenly home where “the architect and builder” is God.
As a native-born Floridian, it’s difficult for me to “feel” like a foreigner in a foreign land. That is until I come face-to-face with a society that has rejected God and seeks to go on living as if He does not exist.
It Is Finished
But we shouldn’t despair. Neither should we grow angry. For it is in these very conditions that the Son of God was betrayed, charged, and executed. While Jesus hung on a tree, the world continued unaffected and hardly even noticed. But in a twist of irony, the world changed forever as the words of Jesus were spoken: “It is finished.”
What was finished? The separation that existed between God and man was no longer needed. Jesus paid the price of sin so we could have fellowship with Him.
We should look at our circumstances as a perpetual reminder of what is to come — our heavenly destination. Because of what Jesus accomplished on Calvary, we enjoy fellowship with God now. And even more, we will enjoy a relationship with Him for eternity.
So on this Good Friday, let me encourage you to pause briefly and say thank you to God for offering up his Son Jesus on our behalf. Without whom we would have no hope.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 1662)
Grace and peace
Pastor Jonathan
