Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
--Isaiah 53:1
All four Gospels -- Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John -- set before us the events of the first Good Friday, the day that Jesus Christ was executed by way of crucifixion. But it is the prophet Isaiah, in the Old Testament, who gives the occasion a poetic interpretation. Isaiah chapter 53 is nothing if not a running commentary on what the crucifixion of the Lord means for us. You're invited to read it and savor it this day.
Crucifixion was ugly business, a public spectacle, and a shameful way to die. The Romans were grimly efficient at carrying it out. In most cases, the cause of death was asphyxiation. But there was more to this death, the death of Jesus, than simply the cessation of biological function.
The cross of Christ reveals that God takes sin with deathly seriousness. At the cross of Jesus, the forgiveness of that sin was won -- once and for all. Sin is not just the sum total of a few moral smudges on an otherwise clean slate. Sin is what alienates the human race from its Creator. Sin is what forever leaves us to our own devices.
The mission of Jesus Christ was to take care of this problem, and take care of it He did on the cross of Good Friday.
Ye who think of sin but lightly nor suppose the evil great
Here may view its nature rightly, here its guilt may estimate.
Mark the sacrifice appointed, see who bears the awful load;
'Tis the Word, the Lord's anointed, Son of Man and Son of God.
Here we have a firm foundation, here the refuge of the lost;
Christ's the Rock of our salvation, His the name of which we boast.
Lamb of God, for sinners wounded, sacrifice to cancel guilt!
None shall ever be confounded who on Him their hope have built.
PD
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