Read: Matthew 27:32-56
Today is Friday. The awful day that our King, our Defender, our Teacher, our Treasure, our Friend dies.
Jesus, our Sacrifice.
Even though we have the advantage, 2,000 years later, of knowing how the story ends, the people at the foot of the cross did not. His friends, his mother, his followers, his brothers. They were forced to sit in the grief, the pain, and the uncertainty for three long days.
We are uncomfortable with pain. We don’t want to sit with it. We’d much rather live in the past beauty of Palm Sunday or skip ahead to the future hope of Resurrection Sunday. How often do we try to rush through seasons of suffering, either by living in a past season or longing for a future one?
We want to avoid the parts of life that make us feel weak. Yet Jesus embraced the ultimate weakness on the cross.
We want to skip the moments when we feel mocked or misunderstood. Yet Jesus endured the mocking of the guards, crowds, and Roman authorities.
We want to fast-forward through times when we feel abandoned or alone. Yet Jesus was met with silence when he cried out to his heavenly Father.
We want to run from the parts of life where we feel pain, whether physical or emotional. Yet Jesus suffered not only the most agonizing death but also the brutal humiliation that led up to it: beatings, mockery, and a crown of thorns.
Jesus could have come down from the cross. He could have found another way to save us. But he chose suffering because only through death could he demonstrate that death is never going to have the final say. You cannot resurrect things that don’t die.
So, if you’re suffering today, know this: we can make it through the hardest parts of life because we have a Savior who did not skip out on the pain of the cross. We can make it through every single Friday in this life because the most evil Friday in history is now called Good Friday.
Don’t rush past the Fridays of life, for they are often when God sets miracles in motion.
But today, it’s okay to sit in grief at the foot of the cross and at the foot of every hardship you’re facing. It’s good to mourn. It’s healing to feel the gravity of loss. It’s necessary to feel the feelings of abandonment, anxiety, or anger. But at the same time, don’t lose hope. Perhaps the most important thing to remember on Friday is that it’s not for nothing. Suffering is not the end of the story.
Neither was the cross.