“Jesus knew that everything was now finished, and to fulfill the Scriptures He said, ‘I am thirsty.’ A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to His lips. When Jesus has tasted it, He said, ‘It is finished!” Then He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”
- John 19:28-30
Today is Good Friday. It’s the day we commemorate the sacrifice Christ made on the cross. The above verses are just John’s account of the final breathes of Jesus before He gave up His spirit to God, drinking the sins of the world, and atoning every sin that has ever occurred. This day was a long time coming and it all happened according to plan.
It’s a day that we mourn. We mourn our own sinfulness, feeling such sorrow helps us relive that day, all the events of it. From Jesus being beaten and wiped, mocked by the entire battalion of Roman soldiers, to then Jesus walking the long road out of the city of Jerusalem, the city that is rightfully His. The cross is dragged along the way, first by Jesus, and then by another man. We mourn this day because Jesus’ disciples and the women who followed Him closely were mourning this day.
At the end of the road, the place known as the place of the Skull, Jesus is nailed to the cross alongside two people, both of them revolutionaries who were trying to defy the Roman rule. Perhaps that is what they thought of Jesus, that His ministry, His service, His teachings were about revolution. But what Jesus was really doing was Revealing the heart and hand of God, and not revolting against Rome but revolting against Sin, Death, and Satan.
It’s difficult to reason why this can be called “Good” when the proper response and tone of this day is Mourning. Some may say we call it “Good” because we know what is to come on Sunday, but if we were to only look at this day, we can know why it is a “Good.” Good Friday, Jesus’ crucifixion, where He drank the sour wine, literally tasting the bitterness of human death; is also the day where atonement, that is cleansing and forgiveness, was made for our sins. For before this day we were predisposed to die as rebels against God, but now we have the opportunity to die as righteous in the eyes of God.
On this day, as we mourn, we repent. We cast all our sins on the cross because Jesus is the only one who can take and deal with it. He’s the only bloody sacrifice with everlasting effect from His generation onward. So, this is the day to repent, to confess our sins, and what we believe to be true about God, our good, loving, gracious, and just God. If we can not even repent to the God who already offers us forgiveness, then we are entrapped in our pride. Lay it down, cast it upon the cross. Leave nothing back on this Good day! For we have been atoned by the King of the World. By the man who never had sinned, took all out sin. May we look only to Him, with mourning and repentance this day.
May the Lord of Life and Redemption be with you in every step, every breathe, and every heartbeat of your journey.
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