Easter Devotional - Day 6 - Good Friday
It Is Finished
Scripture: Matthew 27:32–54
"And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom." — Matthew 27:50–51
Good Friday doesn't sound like it should be called 'good.' The things that happened on this day were painful, unjust, and heartbreaking. Jesus, who had done nothing wrong, was beaten, mocked, and nailed to a wooden cross. If you've ever felt the sting of being blamed for something you didn't do, imagine if you’d never done anything wrong at all and were still being punished - then you might begin to understand some of what Jesus felt.
They made him carry the cross up a hill called Golgotha. They crucified him between two criminals, as if he were the worst kind of offender. The people who passed by mocked him. Even the religious leaders, the people who were supposed to know God best, sneered at him. 'He saved others,' they said, 'but he can't save himself.'
They were wrong about that last part. Jesus could have saved himself. But he didn't because saving himself would have meant not saving us.
At noon, darkness fell over the whole land for three hours. Creation itself seemed to grieve. And then Jesus cried out, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?', and gave up his spirit.
Then something remarkable happened. The curtain in the Temple that separated the holiest room, where God's presence dwelt, from the rest of the Temple, tore from top to bottom. Not from the bottom up, like a person would tear it but from the top down. God tore it.
For generations, ordinary people couldn't come directly into God's presence. They needed priests to go in for them, and even then, only rarely. But when Jesus died, that barrier was removed forever. His sacrifice opened a door that had never been open before, direct access to God, for every person who believes in him, for all time.
That is why this day, despite its pain, can be called 'good.' Not because the suffering was good. But because of what it accomplished. The cross wasn't the end of the story. It was the price of a new beginning.
PRAYER
Jesus, we don't take lightly what You went through on the cross. Thank you for staying. Thank You for not saving Yourself so that You could save us. Thank You that the curtain was torn — that because of You, we can come to God. We love You. Amen.
DISCUSSION
Why do you think this day is called 'Good' Friday, even though such terrible things happened?
When the curtain in the Temple tore, what do you think God was saying?
Jesus could have stopped all of it at any moment. Why do you think he chose not to?