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As the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris burned this past week, someone who is affiliated with the cathedral reportedly said: “The building is burned, but the faith is alive.”
Seems like an appropriate quote for Good Friday — the day we contemplate what our sin cost Jesus. Our sin was a fire that ravaged Jesus’ body on Good Friday, and yes, Sunday is coming and we’ll celebrate, but let’s not get too hasty. I don’t know your faith tradition, but if you have a Good Friday service available to you in your area, consider attending it. Attending is the wrong word. Consider participating in it. And while you’re there, examine your heart, experience the somberness, and feel the weight of your sin. Ron Benson, a pastor and writer, made this comment recently on his Facebook page: “We are all in a hurry to get to Sunday. We need to stop and spend time on Thursday and Friday. Don't say, ‘It's Friday, but Sunday's coming,’ too fast. Linger here. Let it sit on your shoulders, on your conscience, on your heart. The victory can only be known by the cost it took to get there.” Jesus knew his lot, and he was obedient, even unto death on the cross. In Mark 10:32-34 (ESV), he said this: “And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.’” They will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. Those words paint horrendous imagery, but it was the cost of my sin and yours. In 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, Paul says this: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day ...” Consider such things today, for, as Pastor Benson said, the victory can only be known by the cost it took to get there. Then celebrate on Sunday! Comments are closed.
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