Good Friday, April 3rd

Bible Passages: Isaiah 53; Psalm 22
By: Tim Polin

How do you feel when you think about our Savior hanging, dying on the cross? As someone who accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior later in life, it is a near-unexplainable sense of gratitude and humility.

Wonder how ominous and heavy it was when God gave the Old Testament authors prophetic words. There are Old Testament prophesies of Jesus and his death on the cross for our sins. Recall the hauntingly beautiful words of Isaiah 53:5: "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed."

" There is a detailed description of the crucifixion in Psalm 22. Let’s just say that it would be a song not for the preschoolers to sing. It begins, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Those words would be echoed from the cross, generations later.

Verse 6 says, “But I am a worm and not a man,

     scorned by everyone, despised by the people.”

The word chosen for worm was Tola, which was a specific worm. When it was about to die, it attached itself to a tree. Once it died, its body produced a crimson stain on the tree. Tola worms were also “crushed” for the crimson dye they produced. Notice the word “crushed” in the Isaiah verse above.

Psalm 22 was written 28 generations before the birth of Christ. It was written by Jesus’ 28th generational grandfather, David. Ominous words for David to write about his own descendant.

Be thankful that Jesus would die for you. Imagine yourself kneeling at the base of the cross, and Jesus saying to you, “Yes, I would die for you, even if you were the only one.”

Prayer:

King Jesus, as I reflect on that horrific but necessary day nearly two thousand years ago, I pause in awe of You and Your goodness. I thank You for the knowledge that You would have sacrificed yourself for me alone, but I celebrate that there are millions who call You Savior and Lord. Thank you for a life perfectly lived, and for the example you set for us on earth. Help me be more like You. It is in Your Holy name I pray, Amen.

Back