12 min
Good Friday Seasons. An Advent and Lent Podcast By Willow Park Church
-
- Cristianismo
Today is
good Friday.
As we
gather together today we stop to remember the darkest of days on the Christian calendar.
As we enter this moment and listen to Salt of the sound Sing nearer Jesus Keep
me near the cross, let us place ourselves at the foot of the cross, close to
our saviour and near his sacrificial love even in this darkest of moments.
On Good Friday, we
think about one thing: the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. This is the epicentre
of the Christian faith. At the core of Christianity, we don’t find perennial
religion, meditation techniques, or a course in ethics, but a crucifixion.
The gospel is not
motivational talks about happy marriages, being debt free, and achieving your
destiny. That all belongs to the broader world of proverbial wisdom, and it’s
fine as far as it goes, but it has little or nothing to do with the gospel.
The gospel is about the cross, and the cross is a scandal.
When the Apostle Paul
told the Corinthians that he had determined to know nothing among them except
Jesus Christ and him crucified, he admitted that the cross was often viewed as
a scandal and folly. So be it. Any attempt to make Christianity less offensive
and more palatable by de-emphasizing the cross is a betrayal of Jesus Christ
himself. So today, above all days, we look unflinchingly at Christ crucified. To
enter deep into the mystery of the cross is to encounter the greatest
revelation of who God is.
as we listen to the traditional reading of the crucifixion of Christ from John
19:16-30 let us ask the spirit to show us what we need to see.
The Cross is the
death by which Christ conquers Death.
It’s the abolition of
war and violence. It’s the supreme demonstration of the love of God. It’s the
re-founding of the world around an axis of love. It’s the enduring model of
co-suffering love we are to follow. It’s the eternal moment in which the sin of
the world is forgiven.
The cross is where Jesus reveals God as saviour.
The cross is what God in Christ endures as he forgives. The cross is where the sin of the world
coalesced into a hideous singularity so that it might be forgiven en masse. The cross is where the world violently sinned its sins in the body of the Son of
God, and where he absorbed it all, praying, “Father, forgive them.” The cross
is both ugly and beautiful. It’s as ugly as human sin and as beautiful as
divine love—but in the end, love and beauty win.
Lord Jesus, as we look at you on the cross, with your arms outstretched in an offered embrace, we pray,
forgive us, Lord, for we know not what we do. Amen.
Music by Salt of The Sound, Simon Wester, Dear Gravity and Luke Parker.
Today is
good Friday.
As we
gather together today we stop to remember the darkest of days on the Christian calendar.
As we enter this moment and listen to Salt of the sound Sing nearer Jesus Keep
me near the cross, let us place ourselves at the foot of the cross, close to
our saviour and near his sacrificial love even in this darkest of moments.
On Good Friday, we
think about one thing: the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. This is the epicentre
of the Christian faith. At the core of Christianity, we don’t find perennial
religion, meditation techniques, or a course in ethics, but a crucifixion.
The gospel is not
motivational talks about happy marriages, being debt free, and achieving your
destiny. That all belongs to the broader world of proverbial wisdom, and it’s
fine as far as it goes, but it has little or nothing to do with the gospel.
The gospel is about the cross, and the cross is a scandal.
When the Apostle Paul
told the Corinthians that he had determined to know nothing among them except
Jesus Christ and him crucified, he admitted that the cross was often viewed as
a scandal and folly. So be it. Any attempt to make Christianity less offensive
and more palatable by de-emphasizing the cross is a betrayal of Jesus Christ
himself. So today, above all days, we look unflinchingly at Christ crucified. To
enter deep into the mystery of the cross is to encounter the greatest
revelation of who God is.
as we listen to the traditional reading of the crucifixion of Christ from John
19:16-30 let us ask the spirit to show us what we need to see.
The Cross is the
death by which Christ conquers Death.
It’s the abolition of
war and violence. It’s the supreme demonstration of the love of God. It’s the
re-founding of the world around an axis of love. It’s the enduring model of
co-suffering love we are to follow. It’s the eternal moment in which the sin of
the world is forgiven.
The cross is where Jesus reveals God as saviour.
The cross is what God in Christ endures as he forgives. The cross is where the sin of the world
coalesced into a hideous singularity so that it might be forgiven en masse. The cross is where the world violently sinned its sins in the body of the Son of
God, and where he absorbed it all, praying, “Father, forgive them.” The cross
is both ugly and beautiful. It’s as ugly as human sin and as beautiful as
divine love—but in the end, love and beauty win.
Lord Jesus, as we look at you on the cross, with your arms outstretched in an offered embrace, we pray,
forgive us, Lord, for we know not what we do. Amen.
Music by Salt of The Sound, Simon Wester, Dear Gravity and Luke Parker.
12 min