Good Friday

By Shirley Wiggins

 

“The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.”  Luke 24:7

 

Jesus was crucified --- dead by afternoon.

 

Hope hung on His cross, dead.  No help here –  “They all walked away…nothing to say…

 

A day comes to one and all, in some shape, form or fashion like that day.  That day when the dream of what we thought would be ours dies:  all hope lost.

 

It won’t be the way we had hoped.  Hope died; help is gone.

 

“Then came the morning, night turned into day… hope rose with the dawn.”

 

The dawning of the Third Day.

 

But first, the sun had to set on “Good” Friday.  Saturday had to be endured.  The anguish of the end:  helpless, alone, afraid, hope-less.

 

Have you experienced it?  The dying of a dream, the desire that life would turn out like you had one day thought it would be --- but it didn’t?

 

Relationships end, even those that seem vital to your very being.  People die.  Love grows cold.  Life changes.  Details are different, but loss and loneliness are the same.

 

What seemed to be a “guarantee” in our personal life dissolved into a pile of ashes.  Life is definitely not going to turn out like we thought.  The entire script changed!

 

 I want my life to be normal, even boringly routine and predictable.  I do not want to experience this drama, this turmoil day in and day out!

 

Every day seems to come with another unexpected crisis!  Another disappointment!  Another discouragement!  Another painful conflict!

 

Where, oh where, is the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness – and self-control?!  [Galatians 4:22-23.]

 

That is what I expected in my life, and for my life—NOT THIS…. How do I cope with this?  Yet again, Lord!

 

But…. “then came the morning, shadows vanished before the sun, Death had lost and Life had won, for morning had come:  Morning had come.”

 

… “Hope rose with the dawn.”

 

But, not till the third day.  The Third Day:  Resurrection Day.

 

Some dreams must die.  Some disappointments must be encountered, and discouragements must be endured until they are defeated.

 

For life will win, and death itself will die.

 

New dreams will be birthed, and help is here, now.

 

Help never left;  He just became invisible to the physical eye;  Help is always here, even throughout the long, long nights.    Jesus:  “… but now I am going to Him Who sent Me.  None of you asks me, ‘Where are You going?’  Rather,  you are filled with grief because I have said these things.  But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away.  Unless I go way, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”  See John 16:5-7.

 

“And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth.  The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him.  But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you.  I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.  Before long, the world will not see Me anymore, but you will see Me.  Because I live, you also will live.  On that day, you will realize that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you.  Whoever has My commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me.  The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I too will love them and show Myself to them.”   John 14:16-201

 

And hope did not die:  “Hope that is seen is no hope at all.  Who hopes for what they already have?  But, if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”  Romans 8:24-25.

 

Are you looking for Jesus?  Or, are you looking at your disappointments?  Is discouragement trying to settle over you, suffocating your hope and obscuring the Helper’s very real Presence?

 

Hope was born and the Helper came, just as God teaches in His Holy Scriptures.

 

“On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.  They  found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.  In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?  He  is not here; He has risen!  Remember how He told you, while He was still with you in Galilee:  “The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day raised again.”  Then they remembered His words.”  Luke 24:1-8.

 

“The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.  He is not here; He has risen, just as He said.  Come and see the place where He lay.  Then go quickly and tell His disciples:  ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee.  There you will see Him.’  Now I have told you.”  “So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell His disciples.  Suddenly Jesus met them.  “Greetings,” He said.  They came to Him, clasped His feet and worshiped Him.  Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid.  Go and tell My brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see Me.”  Matthew 28:5-10.

 

“On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”  After He said this, He showed them His hands and side.  The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you!  As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you.”  

And with that He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”  John 20:19-22

 

From Luke’s account:  “… I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day He was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had chosen.  After His suffering, He presented Himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that He was alive.  He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.  On one occasion, while He was eating with them, He gave them this command:  “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift My Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.  For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. … you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.”   

After He said this, He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight.

They were looking intently up into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.  “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky?  This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.”  Acts 1:1-11.

 

“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.  Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.  They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them….”  Acts 2:1-4.

 

 

And one day when we least expect Him, Jesus will return to gather His people who believe in Him and carry us into our eternal home with Him.  Let us be ready, abounding in hope and filled with His Holy Spirit, our Helper!