Good Friday

This morning as I sit and reflect on the significance of what is celebrated today I think about some of the misconceptions I always had about the Crucifixion of my Lord Jesus. At one time I thought that when Jesus died He did most of all for me. He did it to purchase my salvation, no doubt, but I used to think it was all about His love for me.

How arrogant of me!

How could I think that when Jesus died he was doing it most of all to obtain for me the benefits of salvation, or that He let Himself undergo such excruciating pain most of all for me to be able to live a pretty good life until I die? How dare I reduce the shed blood of Jesus to a payment for my "mansion" in glory? How self worshiping of me to think that He allowed those people to put Him through all of that humiliation so most of all I can get goosebumps when I get blessed through a sermon, song, movie, good meal, fun times with friends, a peaceful nights rest, or whatever? God, please forgive me for such arrogance!

Don't get me wrong, I believe that:

1. Jesus Died in Our Place (1 Corinthians 15:3)
2. Jesus Died to Crush Our Enemies (Colossians 2:13-15)
3. Jesus Died For Our Freedom (Titus 2:13-14)
4. Jesus Died as Our Sacrifice (Ephesians 5:2)
5. Jesus Died For Our Unrighteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21)
6. Jesus Died to Forgive Us (Romans 3:23-24)
7. Jesus Died to Take Our Wrath (1 John 4:10)
8. Jesus Died for the Church (Ephesians 5:25)
9. Jesus Died to Pay Our Debt (1 Timothy 2:5-6)
10. Jesus Died as Our Example (1 Peter 2:21)
11. Jesus Died to Cleanse Our Filth (1 John 1:7)
12. Jesus Died to Reveal God (John 1:18)

But more than all of these things Christ died to glorify the Father and His name (John 12:27-28).

John 12:27-28 "Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven: "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again."

John Piper, the Pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church has this insight into what Jesus is saying here. Piper writes, "He refused to ask the Father to spare him from his hour. He went on through to face his hour for you and me. "The Son of God loved me and gave himself for me." But supremely, according to our text, he did it for the glory of his Father. He prayed, "Father glorify thy name." He knew that God would be glorified through his death, for his death would open the way for his Father to have mercy on sinners without denying his justice. The glory of his Father demanded the death of Jesus. And in the final analysis, when push came to shove, Jesus loved his Father's glory even more than his own life. And so he prayed, "Father glorify thy name." And the Father confirmed the decision of the Son and showed his approval with a voice from heaven: "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." The voice signified to all who had ears to hear, especially in the crowd, that what lay ahead of Jesus was crucial business for it would glorify the Father. The cross, far from showing the Father abandoning Jesus, in reality shows the Father glorifying himself through Jesus. The Father glorifies himself through the death of his Son and the mercy he extends to sinners through it. The Son is glorified through the cross because it reveals him as one who loves the glory of God more than his own life."

So as we reflect on all that Jesus did on that day so long ago, let's not forget that we should follow His example and put glorifying God above everything else we do and not forget to glorify God in all that we do.

1 Corinthians 10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

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Dominus Novo