Good Friday. Why do we insist on calling today Good Friday, when it is a day of death? Are we so shallow that we skip the tears, and look only at the fact that Jesus' death provides a result that is good for US? Yeah, we are that shallow! But there is another distinction. Your death, my death, Adam's death, Eve's death – we hold true that all of our deaths are a result of SIN. We were originally designed for immortality, but when we were given free will, we rebelled against God, and it was no longer possible, feasible, or desirable for our evil to live forever. That part of us, the evil part, MUST die. But Jesus did not rebel against God, he was obedient even to the point of death. So the death of Jesus was NOT a RESULT of sin. Instead, it was a RESPONSE TO sin. Jesus' death was a LOVING response to sin, a heroic act that shows the DEPTH of God's love for us. The death of Jesus was a RESULT of love, and so we dare to label this day of death, GOOD Friday.
And as a result of Good Friday, we have been given the power to put to death the rebellious part of us. In our baptisms, we are baptized INTO the death of Jesus, signalling our desire to rid ourselves of evil. And we are given the Holy Spirit, who guides us in the ongoing direction of sanctification – the direction of killing our rebellious nature by starvation, and nurturing our obedient nature by nourishment in the Word and Sacrament. Through the heroic act of Jesus on Good Friday, we are given the opportunity for immortality once again, as foreshadowed in the – SPOILER – resurrection of Jesus we will celebrate on Sunday.
Gracious Father, we thank you for your mission to draw us back to yourself, and Lord Jesus, we thank you for executing this mission at great cost to yourself. Keep us strong in faith as we remember the events of Good Friday, and help us to spread this Good News, in Jesus name.