Why "Good Friday" is "Good"!!!

Good Friday Reflection:  Today on “Good Friday”. the day we remember Jesus’ death on the cross for us, we see all three passages today have one thing in common.  All three are different people in history looking for one thing … salvation.  The psalmist David is looking for salvation from his enemies and his own sins; which keep piling up against him until he is overwhelmed.  He prays that God would not withhold His mercy from Him and not count His sins against him.  He utters, “Be pleased to come save me, Lord. Come quickly, Lord, to help me.”   

In Esther, we see finally the great turnabout when Esther’s wish to have Mordecai protected turns into Mordecai having the power of the signet ring, which the King took from Haman and gave to Mordecai.  The ring gave Mordecai power to make decisions on behalf of the Jewish people who were on the edge of annihilation, and granted them salvation from their enemies.  With the King’s power behind Mordecai, the Jews were able to defeat their enemies. It was a day of great joy and celebration that salvation had been granted to them from God through Queen Esther, the young virgin who was brought to power for such a time as this. 

Finally, in Romans, Paul tells of his zeal for his fellow Jews; and that they would also experience the salvation he had received in Christ.  Importantly, he says where the Jews got off track is that they sought to earn their own righteousness, rather than submit to God’s righteousness through Christ.  Paul taught them that God’s righteousness came from the Word, which was not on a stone tablet but it was living and active (see Hebrews 4) was in their hearts and on their lips.  Their salvation came through hearing the word and believing in their heart that Jesus rose from the dead, and making the confession of faith with their lips, “Jesus is Lord!”  Paul makes a stunning proclamation, “If you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your that God raised him from the dead you will be saved.”  Then, in verse 13, there is another amazing promise, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved!” 

What does this mean?  It means that salvation is about a personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ and confession that He is Lord.  As we believe God’s word and promise in our hearts and give voice to our belief, which we call confession; we will be saved.  It also means that salvation is not about belonging to a certain church, or being a certain nationality, or Jewish or Gentile, but everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved!

This is the Good News of the Gospel.  This is what Jesus’ death on the cross accomplished for us on Good Friday, as Jesus’ death covered all of our sins that the psalmist talked about.  We can be made right with God, and have our relationship with Him restored (that was broken since the Garden of Eve) by Jesus’ death on the cross.  And then on Easter, we will proclaim, “He is Risen, He is Risen Indeed.”  Easter is the linchpin of the Christian faith, because Jesus’ rising from the dead proved once and for all that Jesus was and is the unique Son of God. 

Death has lost its sting as Jesus rose from the dead, and for we who believe in Jesus, even though we will die someday, yet shall we live!  Is there any better news than this???

I pray you will go to church today and on Easter to celebrate the two central historical and saving acts of our Lord and Savior on Good Friday when He hung on a cross. And on Easter Sunday, when the women came to the tomb and the angels said to them, “He is not here, He is Risen just as He said He would be!”  Praise the Lord!!!

Psalm 40:9-17

9 I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly;

    I do not seal my lips, Lord,

    as you know.

10 I do not hide your righteousness in my heart;

    I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help.

I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness

    from the great assembly.

11 Do not withhold your mercy from me, Lord;

    may your love and faithfulness always protect me.

12 For troubles without number surround me;

    my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see.

They are more than the hairs of my head,

    and my heart fails within me.

13 Be pleased to save me, Lord;

    come quickly, Lord, to help me.

14 May all who want to take my life

    be put to shame and confusion;

may all who desire my ruin

    be turned back in disgrace.

15 May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”

    be appalled at their own shame.

16 But may all who seek you

    rejoice and be glad in you;

may those who long for your saving help always say,

    “The Lord is great!”

17 But as for me, I am poor and needy;

    may the Lord think of me.

You are my help and my deliverer;

    you are my God, do not delay.

Esther 8:1-9:17

The King’s Edict in Behalf of the Jews

8 That same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther the estate of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came into the presence of the king, for Esther had told how he was related to her. 2 The king took off his signet ring, which he had reclaimed from Haman, and presented it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed him over Haman’s estate. 3 Esther again pleaded with the king, falling at his feet and weeping. She begged him to put an end to the evil plan of Haman the Agagite, which he had devised against the Jews. 4 Then the king extended the gold scepter to Esther and she arose and stood before him. 5 “If it pleases the king,” she said, “and if he regards me with favor and thinks it the right thing to do, and if he is pleased with me, let an order be written overruling the dispatches that Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, devised and wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king’s provinces. 6 For how can I bear to see disaster fall on my people? How can I bear to see the destruction of my family?” 7 King Xerxes replied to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Because Haman attacked the Jews, I have given his estate to Esther, and they have impaled him on the pole he set up. 8 Now write another decree in the king’s name in behalf of the Jews as seems best to you, and seal it with the king’s signet ring—for no document written in the king’s name and sealed with his ring can be revoked.” 9 At once the royal secretaries were summoned—on the twenty-third day of the third month, the month of Sivan. They wrote out all Mordecai’s orders to the Jews, and to the satraps, governors and nobles of the 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush. These orders were written in the script of each province and the language of each people and also to the Jews in their own script and language. 10 Mordecai wrote in the name of King Xerxes, sealed the dispatches with the king’s signet ring, and sent them by mounted couriers, who rode fast horses especially bred for the king. 11 The king’s edict granted the Jews in every city the right to assemble and protect themselves; to destroy, kill and annihilate the armed men of any nationality or province who might attack them and their women and children, and to plunder the property of their enemies. 12 The day appointed for the Jews to do this in all the provinces of King Xerxes was the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar. 13 A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so that the Jews would be ready on that day to avenge themselves on their enemies. 14 The couriers, riding the royal horses, went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa.

The Triumph of the Jews

15 When Mordecai left the king’s presence, he was wearing royal garments of blue and white, a large crown of gold and a purple robe of fine linen. And the city of Susa held a joyous celebration. 16 For the Jews it was a time of happiness and joy, gladness and honor. 17 In every province and in every city to which the edict of the king came, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating. And many people of other nationalities became Jews because fear of the Jews had seized them. 9 On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, the edict commanded by the king was to be carried out. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but now the tables were turned and the Jews got the upper hand over those who hated them. 2 The Jews assembled in their cities in all the provinces of King Xerxes to attack those determined to destroy them. No one could stand against them, because the people of all the other nationalities were afraid of them. 3 And all the nobles of the provinces, the satraps, the governors and the king’s administrators helped the Jews, because fear of Mordecai had seized them. 4 Mordecai was prominent in the palace; his reputation spread throughout the provinces, and he became more and more powerful. 5 The Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did what they pleased to those who hated them. 6 In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. 7 They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai and Vaizatha, 10 the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. But they did not lay their hands on the plunder. 11 The number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king that same day. 12 The king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman in the citadel of Susa. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? It will also be granted.” 13 “If it pleases the king,” Esther answered, “give the Jews in Susa permission to carry out this day’s edict tomorrow also, and let Haman’s ten sons be impaled on poles.” 14 So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they impaled the ten sons of Haman. 15 The Jews in Susa came together on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they put to death in Susa three hundred men, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.

16 Meanwhile, the remainder of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces also assembled to protect themselves and get relief from their enemies. They killed seventy-five thousand of them but did not lay their hands on the plunder. 17 This happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.

Romans 10:1-13

10 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. 2 For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. 3 Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. 5 Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.” 6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

When you said, "Seek My face," my heart said to you, "Your face, O Lord, I shall seek." Psalm 27:8 (NASB)

Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!” John 19:5 (NKJV)

We look at the cross, O Christ, and see your abandoned, broken, suffering face – looking upon us only with love. May we deeply feel your gaze, making us more acutely aware of the pain in our world and your love for all. Amen.