An innocent man is condemned by his community, abandoned by his friends, betrayed by a close associate, scourged until the flesh is just barely covering his bones, hung on a piece of wood in public to slowly suffocate, and is mocked, beaten and ridculed in the process. And we call this a "Good Friday"? Are we sick or what?  Well of course we may be, but that's not the point of this story. It's all about Jesus. The death of Jesus Christ is gruesome beyond belief, but not the worst humanity has ever dealt to another human being. The Nazi's were pretty good at this sort of thing too if you remember. But what makes this so unusual is when it happened, to whom it happened and why it had to happen.  When it happened - it happened at the time of Passover to recreate the Passover deliverance story. In Exodus 12, God protects the Hebrew slaves from the Angel of death that would come and claim the life of every first born male, Egyptian and Hebrew. This was more than just selective gender infanticide, the first born male was the future of every family. The first born male had rites to all property and held a position of authority to carry on the family name. God delivered the people from the oppression of the Egyptians and the Angel of Death but at the cost of an innocent Lamb. Good Friday brings Deliverance in a far grander scale than merely geographic. We're delivered from our fear of God and terror of death. The Gates of Heaven are now open wide. To whom it Happened - to buy back a slave into freedom, to heal a broken relationship, or to undergo rehab for an addiction always requires something from you. It may be money, power or to absorb the pain and offer forgiveness to the offender. But make no mistake - It costs, and something the price is astronomical. The darkness in the human heart is beyond measure, so to is the cost needed to redeem, reconcile and restore it. An innocent lamb, without blemish or blame, is only a temporary fix required each year. It means shedding innocent blood, covering your door with it, eating it with your family, retelling the story of deliverance.   To offer Grace to the world requires more than a pure lamb, it requires the suffering of God. "Christ lived the life we could not live and took the punishment we could not take to offer the hope we cannot resist." [- Max Lucado, “Facing your Giants”] Why did it happen - In the face of pure goodness, all our blemishes are exposed - our warts of pride, scars of greed and twisted souls from years of rejection, reprisals and recriminations.  Some people respond by desiring this goodness and embracing it as their own because it filled a void in their lives with a warmth and light they've longed for for so long. Others, who enjoy the fruits that come with power and privileged, hated the goodness and demand it be silenced before things really get out of hand. The status quo rarely enjoys hearing "the emperor has no clothes." Truth hurts and change is hard. Jesus' words struck a nerve that caused searing pain that people in power could not endure.  It happened this way as a reflection of the story of Job. In Job's story, Satan does his worst to prove that people will never love God without getting something in return. Job loses everything but will not reject God. In the face of overwhelming evil, Jesus humbly submitted to the will of God and triumphed over death, evil, temptation and emptiness. Love Wins! We do not celebrate Good Friday because of the Cross but because we see through the Cross to God's plan and purpose. And It's All  Good!
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