Editor’s Note: Good Friday is the real Black Friday. On this day close to 2,000 years ago, Jesus willingly and humbly gave up His life on the cross on Golgotha (a modern picture I took while in Israel above). Here, on the place of the skull, where several roads converged, Jesus publicly hung while He took on Himself the sins of mankind. Several years ago my friend Paul Tripp wrote a great piece on The Best Worst Thing. In this short piece, Paul helps us think through what was so good about something so bad.
The Best Worst Thing by Paul Tripp
At the center of a biblical worldview is this radical recognition: the most horrible thing that ever happened was the most wonderful thing that ever happened.
As we reflect on Good Friday, we turn our somber attention to the bloody cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Could it be possible for something to happen that was more terrible than this? Could any injustice be greater? Could any loss be more painful? Could any suffering be worse?
The only man who ever lived a life that was perfect in every way possible, who gave his life for the sacrifice of many, and who willingly suffered from birth to death in loyalty to his calling was cruelly and publicly murdered in the most vicious of ways. How could it happen that the Son of Man could die? How could it be that men could capture and torture the Messiah? Was this not the end of everything good, true, and beautiful? If this could happen, is there any hope for the world?
Well, we know the end of the story, and the answer is yes – there is hope! Good Friday was not the end, and Easter Sunday would come. In God’s righteous and wise plan, this dark and disastrous moment was ordained to be the moment that would fix all the dark and disastrous things that sin had done to the world.
This moment of death was at the same time a moment of life. This hopeless moment was the moment when eternal hope was given. This terrible moment of injustice was at the very same time a moment of amazing grace. This moment of extreme suffering guaranteed that suffering would end one day, once and for all. This moment of sadness welcomed us to eternal joy of heart and life. The capture and death of Christ simultaneously purchased for us life and freedom.
The very worst thing that could happen was at the very same time the very best thing that could happen, and only God is able to do such a thing. The same God who planned that the worst thing would be the best thing is your Father. He rules over every moment in your life, and in powerful grace, he is able to do for you just what he did in redemptive history.
God takes the disasters in your life and makes them tools of redemption. He takes your failures and employs it as a tool of grace. He uses the “death” of the fallen world to motivate you to reach out for life. The hardest things in your life become the sweetest tools of grace in his wise and loving hands.
Be careful how you make sense of your life. What looks like a disaster may in fact be grace. What looks like the end may be the beginning. What looks hopeless may be God’s instrument to give you real and lasting hope. Your Father is committed to taking what seems so bad and turning it into something that is very, very good.
Read about Jesus’ time on the cross: Jesus is the crucified Savior (Luke 23:1-49)
Via Dolorosa – the traditional path of Jesus through the streets of Jerusalem
If you are local to our area, join us at Sonrise this Friday, April 2nd for Good Friday service at 6:30 PM and on Easter at 10:00 AM. Both are online as well.
Image Credit Kevin Carson
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