Good Friday: For Our Sake
Luke 23:44-46
It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.
As painful as this scene is to read and as real as the suffering of Jesus was, it is important we recognize that the Cross was not an accident, mistake, tragedy, or failure.
Yes, Judas betrayed him.
The chief priests plotted against him.
The crowds shouted, “Crucify him!”
Pilate granted their demands.
The soldiers mocked his power and beat his body.
But the Father had the first and final word. God did not have a plan A or a plan B. He had a perfect plan, set before the creation of the world, to rescue and restore, to seek and to find what was lost.
1 Peter 1:18-20
18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.
Jesus humbled himself willingly and gave himself completely for our sake. Reminiscent of an earlier lamb, father, and son,
Genesis 22:6
Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
We see Isaac surrender to his father and carry the wood on his shoulders; later, we see Jesus carrying the Cross to his very own slaughter, the perfect lamb of God, provided for our sake. Isaac asked the question, “ Where is the lamb?” Abraham responds in faith of the coming provision; later, John the Baptist gives a definitive, long-awaited answer when he sees Jesus walking towards him:
John 1:29 … “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world
Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God, was a sufficient sacrifice. What happened on the Cross was for our sake. We no longer have to settle for temporary provisions to cover our sins and relieve our pain. We can receive and rest fully in the completed work of Jesus, which takes away the power of sin and overcomes the sting of death, once and for all. Amén.
