The Path Of The Cross

Good Friday
John 19:30
"When Jesus had received the wine, He said, 'It is finished.' Then He bowed His head and gave up His Spirit."

Today is Good Friday. And every year, a question comes to mind for me: what's so good about it? I follow the steps of Jesus that day and the evidence of goodness seems lacking. Nails, thorns, a rough-cut cross, a whip, taunts, injustice...where is the goodness? Can you understand this? Can you? I'm not sure I do. What does it feel like to be whipped? I'm thinking the pain would be worse than any of us has known. Strips of leather, quite possibly with shards of glass or pottery or rock knotted into the ends swung through the air with brutal force against the bare skin of a person's back. Imagine someone smacking you on the back with their hand. Doesn't feel good, does it? Imagine those little strips of leather and broken shards shredding the skin of your back. And not just once, but again and again. Most people pass out from such pain. Some die.

But the pain didn't stop there. What does it feel like to have a crown fashioned from thorns forced over your brow? Try to imagine it. Close your eyes right where you are at this moment and try to feel the pain of inch-long thorns gouging into the thin layer of flesh surrounding your skull. You can feel blood trickling through your hair, down your forehead, the saltiness of its crimson flow stinging your eyes. Again, pain like you've never known.

But it didn't stop there either. Now imagine that you've been whipped, stripped, crowned, and beaten, and they thrust a cross upon you which probably weighs more than two hundred pounds. The wood is rough. It's not at all smooth and shiny like the crosses we wear around our necks. Splinters splay themselves out from every inch of the rude symbol of our sin-cleansing. And exhausted already from the abuse you have endured, this monstrosity is thrust upon you, splinters digging into your already bloodied back. In and of itself, this would be more punishment than I can even imagine...than I can really comprehend. My brain doesn't even know what to do with this painful information...let alone that which comes next.

After you have stumbled and fallen several times, you feel a brief moment of relief as a man helps you carry your cross the rest of the way up that horrible hill. But all too quickly, the relief passes, and you're there. Once there, you lay your cross down. You are grabbed roughly. All throughout, you are being teased. You look around, and you see the faces of your closest friends in the crowd. Is there any hint of recognition in their eyes? Do they even still know you? If so, they do not act like it. There is nothing showing on their faces that they are...were...your best friends. You are shaken from this moment by the rough, war-scarred hands of soldiers who thrust you onto your back...onto your cross. Again, the splinters do their work, tearing at the torn pieces of your bloodied flesh. One of your wrists is grabbed, thrust against the rough wood. You see the glint of metal as the hammer is raised, poised to pound the spike between the bones in your wrist...forcing them to bend wider to let the spike through to its home in the rough wood of the cross. A loud clink rings out. At this point, I wonder if there is still pain? I wonder if by this point, the pain center of your brain has stopped functioning? If there is mercy in this world...maybe. Likely not. It's likely that the worst is yet to come. At least there is a significant gap between the bones in your wrist through which the spike may pass. But then you remember, that once your wrists have been affixed to the cross, your ankles come next. Your other wrist has been attached. Somehow, it wasn't as bad as the first. You knew the pain. But then you feel rough hands grab your ankles, overlap them and...

A cry escapes your lips ripping through the sounds of the taunts of the crowd, piercing the darkness of the sky.

Is this remotely what Jesus felt? Again I ask, where is the goodness in Good Friday? Why did this happen?

Why? I'm not sure I understand what the motivation was behind this?

The only way possible is when I think of my children. I would do anything for my children. If I knew that my children were headed to Hell, I would go anywhere, endure any pain...carry any cross and even be nailed to it so they would not have to endure that torturous eternity.

The Father saw His children and knew the Hell to which they were headed. And the heart of the Father broke for His children. And so the Father came to the earth as the Son to walk amongst His people...to know their pain...feel their loss...celebrate their joy...and then be nailed to a cross.

What is good about today? The love of the Father for His children. As you walk the path of the cross tonight, remember the profound love the Father has for you. Jesus, God's Son...who is one with the Father, walked that path that day, enduring the unimaginable pain we have tried to imagine here, carrying His cross, getting nailed to it...because of the love of the Father. For a brief moment, His humanity cried out. But His divinity remembered its purpose: to save His children.

Through the cross...the rough-cut splintery cross...your life has been spared. But now it's up to you...what's your choice? You are called to a choice today as you walk the path of the cross. Will you give your heart to the God who laid down His life for you? Will you worship Him? Will you surrender all? Will you accept the sacrifice that has been made on your behalf?

Each one of us has known pain. One of the gifts of Good Friday is a God who knows pain. Jesus endured pain like most of us will never know, praise God. Through the path of the cross, not only do we receive the ultimate gift of salvation. But we also receive the empathy of Jesus—of God whenever we hurt and endure the unendurable.

As you contemplate your existence today, remember: the path of the cross has been walked for you.

Be WILD For Christ!

Pastor Shane