Golgotha

proper noun; place of the skull.

Sitting in church before service started, I decided to see what this day represents.
Out of the four accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) that I have just read, I cannot find anything "Good" about this day.

I'm just going to ramble and right out my thoughts.

Thought 1: Strength.

Mount of Olives, the place Jesus prayed, the place His disciples were arrested, the place in which He sweated drops of blood.

⁴²"Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." ⁴³An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. ⁴⁴And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground."

Jesus, God in man form, was still a man. He knew what He was getting Himself into, He knew that death was coming. And it was coming soon, and it was not going to come painlessly. And despite the fact that He knew it was inevitable, He cried out. Even though He knew what was needed to be done, He cried out. Even though He knew His cries were futile, He cried out.
But despite the circumstances, God sent an angel to give Him strength. Strength to finish the work that He came to do. Strength to push through the last stretch. And then what?
Then He prayed, in anguish and earnestness. And in this time of what I can only imagine as pure grief, He sweated blood.

You can say it's a metaphor, but scientifically in times of great stress a person can sweat blood through their sweat glands.

But that is besides the point. When I read this in the account of Luke, I felt ashamed. Ashamed because when placed in times of distress, times of anger, times of frustration, times when I need someone, I turn away from God to the help of others. If God can give Jesus strength to go to the cross and die, then how much easier is it for Him to give me strength in times of just pure emotional distress?

Thought 2: Freedom.

At that moment the curtain of the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.

The moment Jesus breathed His last, the moment He said "it is finished," the moment the veil was torn, we have gained freedom. Freedom for all people, to pursue God directly. Sweet sweet freedom.

But even at that, we still act like we are not free at all. We are like lions who have been captured, but the cage remains open, yet we still stay in our cage. Why? because it is all that we know. Or all that we used to know. Even with new life that Jesus gave us, we don't take advantage of the fact that we can come to God directly, we often only do it in times of need, seldomly do it before we sleep, when we should be doing it always.

Thought 3: Goodness.

3 days later, Jesus came back. He defeated death, "conquered the grace" as most of us sing. The Good part of Good Friday is that He went to the grave for us. He did the ultimate act of "humanism," death. But not in vain, but rather to save us.

Well service is starting, so maybe I'll type some more later (maybe expand more on the 3rd thought).

God Bless and have a Good Good Friday.