Good Friday

“Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.’ Having said this, he breathed his last.” Luke 23:46

In a sense, Jesus died just like everyone else has died or will die. A moment came when he breathed his last breath on earth. Then his friends took his body and buried him in a tomb. But there are, of course, some ways that Jesus’ death was different…

First, Jesus spent the final moments of his earthly life praying. Luke is the only Gospel that records this saying, perhaps because Luke had a special interest in prayer.

Now, I am not saying that Jesus is the only person who ever came to the end of his earthly life in prayer. In fact, in his prayer, Jesus is quoting Psalm 31:5. The quotation was used as part of a Jewish evening prayer; the use of this prayer fits the evening of life just as it fits the evening before sleep. The time of Jesus’ death may have actually been the time of evening prayer, the ninth hour.

Jesus set an example that others have followed after him. One of Jesus’ early followers, Stephen, while he was being killed for his faith, prayed “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” (Acts 7:59) I am sure that many of Jesus’ followers over the past 2000 years have prayed in a similar fashion before their death.

As a pastor, I have been with many people as they lay dying. Many do not have the strength or consciousness to actively pray. Many have told me how sorry they are that they cannot focus enough to pray. I have often told people in that situation, “Don’t worry. Jesus is praying for you right now. Just rest in him.”

And that is something we all need to do, isn’t it? We all need to rest in Jesus. What might our lives be like if we prayed this prayer of Jesus every day? “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” We might as well pray like that. After all, when we surrender our lives to God, we surrender what belongs to God anyway. Our life and breath and everything we have comes from God. In Acts 17:28 Paul quotes with approval the sixth century BC philosopher-poet Epimenides who said, “In him we live and move and have our being.” It is God who gives us breath. Therefore, surrendering our last breath, and in fact, every breath, to God is most appropriate.

Another way that Jesus’ death was different was that he died on a cross. Certainly, there were many others who died by crucifixion during the era of the Roman Empire. But Jesus was conscious of dying for others. As recorded in Mark 10:45 Jesus said, “For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

Jesus was absolutely unique in this regard. No one else has ever given their life as a ransom for humanity as a whole. Have you recognized and received the truth that Jesus died to ransom you?

A third and final way that Jesus’ death was different than others, was that his death was not the end. Christians do not commemorate Good Friday without Easter. In fact, if the resurrection of Jesus had never happened, then no one ever would have commemorated Good Friday. After Jesus died, his first disciples went back to fishing. And that’s the way they would have continued and ended their lives were it not for the resurrection. But Easter changed everything… including Friday. It is Easter Sunday that makes Good Friday “Good”.

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