A recent modern day cultural philosopher has said, "Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday… Yesterday was Thursday Thursday. Today it is Friday Friday. We-we-we so excited. We so excited. We gonna have a ball today. Tomorrow is Saturday and Sunday comes after…wards."
Deep. And true. Every bit of it. Friday is Good! And, yes, Sunday comes after…wards! (And yes, I know that was a really cheeseball way to begin this post.)
Good Friday is so Good because it uncovers us. Good Friday recalls the day that Jesus died on the cross to bring us out of hiding. Good Friday exposes us for who we really are and for what we have really done. While this is very hard for us to embrace, this is so very Good because it allows God to begin that re-creative work where he restores us in his image.
In the beginning we had been created in the image of God. We were made to walk in a great relationship with God and with each other. But we shattered that image. We shattered that relationship. We took something that had once been so Good, God’s image in us, and we shattered it. Ever since we have been trying to reconstruct ourselves; trying to remake our image. To deal with our problem, we have dressed up our self-image, covering up our shame, and hiding from our broken condition.
Throughout history, humans have worked very hard to make it appear as if we are doing really well, as if we have things together, as if we have power, as if we have grandeur. But we have been pretenders and hiders. What we need is someone Good to find us, help us and restore us to the way things were created to be.
Good Friday is Good because Jesus is so Good and because what he did for us is so very Good. Because Jesus wrapped himself in the sin of humanity, we can once again approach God. Immanuel, God-With-Us, did not come to overpower us with his majesty and holiness, but he came that we might have life in Him. Do you know this story? This is the story of Good Friday.