GOOD FRIDAY: A Different Kind of Celebration
I attended my first Good Friday service almost 15 years ago. I cried through the whole thing. I had heard the term “Good Friday” as a kid, but I didn’t know what it meant. It sounded fun: Good Friday. With a name like that, I figured there must be a party and games and cake—definitely cake! But then I grew up and read the story of Good Friday for myself and went to church to listen to the pastor tell of the events leading up to Jesus’ death on the cross. Needless to say, there was no cake.
Even so, Good Friday has become one of my favorite days of the Easter season. It’s a love-hate thing if I’m honest. I hate that Jesus suffered. I can’t imagine the pain, the literal physical pain of having those thick iron nails pounded through my hands and feet, and then the weight of my own body as I hung from those three points. Death by crucifixion was not for wimps.
Even before going to the cross, though, Jesus prayed in the garden, on His knees, asking, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me.” (Luke 22:42) Jesus asks God: If it’s not too late, how about changing the plan? How about sparing His Son from what was coming? “Father, if you are willing…” No doubt I would have asked that too, although I’m sure my plea would have been much less graceful and more urgent as I begged God for another way.
But in the very same verse in which Jesus asks God for a new plan, He says, “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” Not my will, but yours, be done. That kills me every time. Jesus sacrificing not only his body but His will, giving up His plans and preferences for the greater ones of the Father; even if it meant three nails coming His way. Not my will, but yours, be done.
So like I said, I was crying during that first Good Friday service all those years ago. I was practically sobbing, tears and runny nose making a huge mess because I hadn’t brought any tissues. I hadn’t brought any because I hadn’t expected to realize right then and there how much Jesus loves me—how much He loves all of us, in fact. That whole plan laid out in John 3:16 was for real: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son…” We talk about it all the time: how much God loves us, how much Jesus loves us, how the two of them work together on our behalf. Good Friday is the undeniable proof of just how true that is. Jesus loves you…a lot.
Templeton Presbyterian Church will be hosting its Good Friday “Journey to the Cross” event on March 29. The sanctuary will be open from 12-7pm for visitors to participate in a self-guided time to Read, Reflect, and Act through a series of stations which depict events leading up to the crucifixion. All are welcome.
