Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
From the fourth century on, Christians have especially remembered the day of the death of Jesus, “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). We call today Good Friday; in other parts of the world, it is called Long Friday, Day of Preparation, Day of the Lord’s Passion, and the Passion of the Cross. All of these titles are apt. I am particularly drawn to the designation Long Friday. The physical exhaustion of Jesus, from His lack of sleep throughout Thursday evening and Friday, to His scourging, to His actual crucifixion, must have made each minute painfully slow, both literally and figuratively. Even longer was His spiritual suffering, His three-hour separation from God the Father (Matthew 27:45-46). Jesus took our eternal separation and made it His own, condensing it into that period of time from noon until 3:00 P.M. It is thus an understatement to call today Long Friday. However, it is also appropriate to call it Good Friday, for the greatest of good accrues to each believer because of Jesus and His finished work on the Cross (John 19:30).