Was Good Friday Good For Jesus? - Mark 15

The Death of Jesus

33 At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).35 When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.” 36 Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said. 37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. 38 The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”

We know Jesus was forsaken by his fellow Jews, the chief priests and Pharisees, and his disciples, but today we see how Jesus was forsaken by His Father.  Every moment of Jesus' life he was in constant communion with His Father.  Before His public ministry started, the Father affirmed his Son with the words, "This is my Son whom I love with whom I am well pleased."  Jesus' whole life was lived in dependence on and obedience to His Father.  Jesus and His Father were the penultimate example of a Father/Son relationship.  But then came Good Friday. 

Good Friday is somewhat of a misnomer.  It certainly wasn't good for Jesus.  Not only was Jesus going to be mocked, spit upon, and convicted on false charges, he was going to suffer the most excruciating type of death the Romans could invent.  Public crucifixion was meant to be a deterrent for anyone who wished to cause problems for the Roman government.  The only reason Pilate condemned Jesus to die was because the Jews, who he ruled over, demanded it and he fear a riot. So he gave in to their cries, "Crucify him, crucify him."  

But this wasn't the worst part of Good Friday for Jesus.  It was when he uttered the words, "My God, my God why have you forsaken me."  God the Father had turned his back on God the Son.  Jesus would be judged by God the Father for the sins of the world.  Jesus felt forsaken by His own Father. As soon as Jesus died, the curtain of the temple was torn in two.  It was a sign that the barrier between God and human beings had been torn down once and for all.  

The temple was the place where God met with the most high priest only once a year.  It was the only contact anyone ever had with a holy God. The only way into the temple was through the sacrifice of an innocent lamb who atoned for the sins of the Israelites.  On Good Friday, Jesus became the innocent lamb of God who took away the sins of the world.  The tearing of the curtain was a sign of a new relationship between God and humans.  Jesus paved the way for us to come directly to the Father.  We could now pray heavenly Father, as Jesus prayed.  We could now know that God loves us and wants to know us. We are his beloved children with whom he is well pleased.  

On Easter morning Jesus would rise from the dead by His Father's will, but on Good Friday he was forsaken.  Though it was a Good Friday for us, it certainly wasn't for him.