It Is About What Jesus Has Done for Us
Good Friday’s Verse:
From Matthew 27:54 ESV
“When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, ‘Truly this was the Son of God!’”
It’s notable who says these words.
Not one of Jesus’ disciples. Not one of His followers.
“Truly this was the Son of God!”
It’s a Roman centurion. The very officer who helped lead Jesus to His crucifixion. The man standing at the foot of the cross while Jesus breathes His last.
And in His dying, the centurion sees what so many have failed to see.
There is no spectacle of glory.
There is no last-minute miracle.
There is no victory pronounced over death.
Only torture. Pain. Failure.
Blood and sweat and tears.
Death.
And yet. In all of this defeat. In the very place that the world has forsaken. There is where Christ comes shining through.
He doesn’t hide His power; God hides it in weakness.
Throughout Lutheran history, we’ve called this the theology of the cross. God doesn’t do things how we expect Him to. Instead of displaying His power, He pours us out in suffering. At the cross, when it looks like Jesus has lost it all… that is precisely when Christ is securing your salvation.
“For us.”
That’s what to meditate on today.
As the centurion witnesses the death of Jesus, he cries out that this tortured man hanging on a tree is really the Son of God. Not in spite of the cross, but because of it.
And if this Man is the Son of God, then that death on the cross matters. It accomplished something. Your sin was answered for. Your guilt was shouldered. Your judgment was endured. There is nothing left for you to do.
Good Friday is not about what you can do for God.
It’s all about what Christ has done for you.
✝️ A Prayer for Today:
Heavenly Father, on this Good Friday, see my fellow believers and me as members of Your family saved by Your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, on Calvary’s cross. In His name, I pray, Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
The photo above is licensed through Unsplash+