Does your gut kick up a fuss over Good Friday like mine does?
I FEEL the pain of it all—too much. My head tells me that Jesus’ crucifixion brought life to my soul, but my heart agonizes over the unfathomable price tag.
Good Friday takes me back 60 years to a sermon preached by Charlie Svendsen in Montrose, California. He wanted to be called Charles, but church sentiment morphed his preference to Charlie. My husband, then a seminary student, was assigned to Charlie for his practical field work, and for three years, we basked in a venue of love and learning. The youngest Svendsen child, John, was the same age as our first child, Eric, and their family became our family.
Charlie was laid back, his sermons solid and meaty, crafted from a unique
perspective. One Mother’s Day, he preached on King Saul’s concubine Rizpah, whose two sons (along with 5 half-brothers) were killed—by King David’s order—in a complicated deal with the Gibeonites to break a severe famine. Rizpah took sackcloth and spread it on a rock so she could beat off birds by day and animals by night from the bodies of her sons. Now there’s a mother! Rizpah found her way into my novel on the life of King David—The Stones.
Back to Good Friday. What was Jesus’ view from that dreadful cross? In rigid fascination he beheld the fullness of the Fall, the ripeness of evil, almost like a grotesque tapestry of suffering—every thread crafted by human hands from the twisted fabric of rebellion against the great I AM. It wracked his body, made him strain against the nails, cry out in anguish at the aloneness of that tortured path. But with the faces of his thick-headed disciples engraved on his heart, love propelled him to the very end.
Last words. “It is finished.” Pastor Charlie set the scene, emphasizing that Jesus wasn’t just saying, “Aw, shucks…I’m done for.” NO! The word burst forth in a bellow of triumph that rang-banged against the gates of hell:
He cried!
Job done. Lamb slain. Salvation secured. Death canceled. LIFE BEGINS!
Thank you, Jesus.
Thank you, Charlie.
How does Good Friday affect you? Tell me below, or email jegust@comcast.net.
Thank you, Elie! It is very fine writing about the best subject in the world!
Awesome, Ellie. I FELT it. ♥️♥️♥️
FEELING Jesus death is a good sign of spiritual health! Thanks, Jeanne.
Bless you Ellie! Jesus’s sacrifice is something that moves me to tears. I am thankful to have our savior in my life always.
Thanks, Tess. I’m glad someone else’s emotions are grabbed by what such a terrible death actually meant.
I recall that Matthew, Mark, and Luke all tell us that Jesus cried out at the end with a loud voice, not the whimper one would expect with death by crucifixion. Dr. Luke tells us that the professional in charge, a Roman centurion who knew this was extraordinary, “praised God, saying, ‘Certainly this man was innocent!” John 10 tells us that Jesus said, “I lay down My life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.”
Thanks, Allacin. That nicely backs up Pastor Charlie’s take on it. : )
So beautifully written, Ellie. After reading Allacin’s comment I am reminded that I have often wondered how Jesus had the strength to cry out in a LOUD voice after all the torture He endured. When I researched “ tetelestai” (finished), it was clear that those words are the loudest message to be proclaimed to the world forever. When the High Priest killed the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement and declared tetelestai, everyone understood the lamb received their punishment. The Lamb of God loudly declared He was the final sacrifice! Forever!
I hope you and your family have a wonderful Easter! 🙏♥️
Konnie, it moves me to tears when I think of the “job” that He declared finished and that undid the dreadful curse of our sin. I love Easter so much because of the victory won on the cross.
I put off finishing the Gospel of John every time, dreading the anguish to come. My final thought reverts to remembering that Father and Son are One, and there must have been a great tearing apart – God, torn, for us.
AMEN, Marcia! A fellow mourner when it comes to reading that hard but essential part of the Gospel story. Yes–God torn for us.Thank you!
You gave me goosebumps with that one, dear Ellie! <3
Oh I loved this. It was especially meaningful to remember meeting Charlie and John so many years ago. What wonderful men.
Yes, our lives have been peopled by many hidden but eternally Significant servants. Thank you, Louise!
I love it, Carol! Goosebumps are visible evidence that you FEEL some deep emotion. Thank you!
Thank you Ellie for the insightful gems on Easter. It breaks my heart to think of what Christ Jesus endured on that fateful day He was hanged on the Cross. He cried, He wept. He loved and died for me.
Paul said it all, “That I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.(Gal 2:20). It is good Friday, Not I living but Christ living in me. Thank you Jesus!
Thank you, Hillary. You have said it all in the verse you quoted. The love of God is our life, our hope, our strength, and we cling to that EMPTY cross and tomb!