Isn’t it ironic – that we Christians celebrate the greatest evil and greatest tragedy of all time as Good Friday? But what we remember tonight is not jut his-story, but our story: For you see God did not varnish over our sins and suffering. He came into it like a dentist or a surgeon, to get it all out. God became Man. This was the biggest shock in history.
Even some of his own people could not digest it. They could not see the battle of Good and Evil – which had been progressing since the expulsion from the Garden of Eden. The cross – the enemy’s own power is used to try to defeat Jesus. Satan’s crafty plot rolls along by his agents: Judas, Pilate, Herod, and Caiaphas – culminating in the death of God. But Satan’s end was God’s means. It saved the world. God won Satan’s captives – us – back to himself by freely dying in our place.
Think about the significance of this day we call Good. We were sick, filled with sin and suffering. We needed a surgeon, and He came and reached into our wounds with his bloody hands. He didn’t give us a placebo or a pill or good advice. He gave us himself. That is why we are here tonight. For to stand at the foot of the cross is already to be in the light of the resurrection.