Thoughts on Good Friday and Easter Sunday
The point is Joy not Grief.
This past weekend was Easter weekend. The epitome of Christian hope and belief. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (a historical fact by the way) is the lynchpin of the Christian faith. The apostle Paul lays this out very clearly in 1 Corinthians 15:16-18.
“For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.”
This article, however, is not about proofs for the resurrection. If interested in proofs, look up The Case for the Resurrection by Lee Strobel. This article is in reference to some of the ideas that I saw on social media this weekend in regards to the relationship between Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
The overarching message was to mourn and grieve like the disciples on Good Friday. One post went as far as to instruct the readers to not look ahead to Easter Sunday for hope. I think implicit in this message is that you are not a good Christian if you are not mourning and grieving on Good Friday. I think this is nonsense. It’s not heresy per se, but it is nonsense.
There is a reason it is called GOOD Friday. Sure there is mourning. It was our sin that put Jesus on that cross. Grieving over sin is right and good. But to not look to Easter Sunday? What are you talking about? Some posts stated the idea is to be like the disciples were on Good Friday. Huh, what? The disciples themselves were not supposed to be like the disciples were on Good Friday. Jesus had told them what was going to happen on multiple occasions. They didn’t understand so they were afraid. They didn’t get that he would be raised on the third day so they mourned the man to whom they had devoted 3 years of their life. But we know what was to come. We understand what they didn’t. Why should we act like we do not? That seems foolish to me. What next? Should we all deny that we know Him 3 times like Peter?
Good Friday is good because His death was the necessary and ultimate atonement for our sins. He is the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world and in so doing, abates God’s wrath over those sins for those who repent and believe. So in the grieving over our sin which made His death necessary there is still rejoicing because He loved us enough to die that death and thus to restore our relationship with the Father. And further, knowing what we know, we can look to Easter Sunday and rejoice all the more because we know death was defeated and being in Christ, we too can share in eternal life.
Again, grieve over your sin. It is right to do so. But don’t stay there. There is liberty in Christ. It is also right to look ahead to the empty tomb and rejoice. On Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Sunday, and every other day of the year.
I Corinthians 15 20-22 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive
-The Philosopher King