Meditation on Good Friday

In the third chapter of Zechariah, Joshua the High Priest appears in filthy garments.  He sees his own dirtiness, and knows that he is unable to make himself clean.  The fourth verse says:

"And the angel said to those who were standing before [Joshua], “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to [Joshua] he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.”

It is impossible for us to remove our own filth.  God does the cleaning at the cross.  In an act that demonstrates humility more than any other in history, the Creator of the universe brought an end to the sacrificial system by being the final sacrifice. Thousands upon thousands of sheep and goats sacrificed to atone for sins, then, finally, to end it all, God himself is sacrificed, as if he were the next lamb in line- His death in exchange for our dirty garments.  This was no normal Day of Atonement.  This was the lamb for the ages.  The world changed on this day.  With this sacrifice, the sky went black, the earth shook, and rocks were split in two.  Matthew even reports: "Many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many." (Matt. 27:52-53).  This is the lamb that saves the world.  Only one as perfect as God was going to be able to purchase the entire world.  God himself was going to have to do the dying, after being the only one to live a perfectly obedient life.  And what a strange turn of events!  God created man, and man said, "No, I want to be God."  So God said, "Then I have to become man, to save you from this grave mistake."  And with our acceptance of this sacrifice, the drama of life is set in place and we find life's meaning while cycling through doubt and faith, tension and release, seeking and finding, battle and victory.  We become part of the story of what God is doing on earth at this time.  Two thousand years later and God's word still endures, we're still following, and He is still moving.  Not much has changed.  All of our stories are unfolding in real time, at this very minute in fact, and through it all, our patient, gracious, redeeming God loves us, and calls out to us, as if to say, "I gave my life for you, now you give me yours.  It will be more yours by being mine."

A unique aspect of the four Gospels is that every single act and word of Jesus has huge significance.  For example, Jesus washing the feet of Judas, whom he fully knew would hand him over to death, and then hang himself in guilt.  Jesus forgiving Peter three times, one for each denial.  Jesus turning the Passover meal into the Lord's Supper, the blood of one saving lamb in exchange for the blood of another.  Jesus identifying with our loneliness, when his twelve best friends deny him just when he needed them most.  Jesus identifying with our shame by enduring the humiliation of being publicly stripped and tortured before an entire city.  Jesus identifying with our despair by proclaiming, "let this cup pass from me," and, "why have you forsaken me?"  Jesus teaching us forgiveness by praying the Father's forgiveness on the very people who were killing him, while they were still driving in the nails.  This is how he died, forgiving to the end.  There is no better picture of forgiveness.  He is forgiving his murderers, while He is forgiving all of humanity, while He is forgiving me for being so unforgiving.

Hebrews 4:15 says:

"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin."

Jesus went through the same difficulties we've gone through, yet showed how to walk through them without sinning.  He teaches us how to live our lives in how he lived his own, most profoundly in the events of Good Friday.  At the cross, Christ perfectly modeled obedience, faith, trust, relationship, surrender, power, honesty, humility, forgiveness, and love.   There has never been a better example of any of these things, and they were all demonstrated simultaneously, at this decisive moment, the hinge of human history.  Things are going to be different after this.

So, back in Zechariah 3, Joshua must let the Lord clean him, and give him the pure vestments.  Continuing from verse 9:

"For behold, on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven eyes, I will engrave its inscription, declares the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day.  In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come under his vine and under his fig tree.”

Good Friday is the day that all of the iniquity of the land is removed.  Paul speaks about those with a "self-made religion" in the second chapter of Colossians.  Those making rules like, "Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch," as if through these rules we could make ourselves clean.  He says that these rules "are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh," (Col. 2:23) and hence could never make us clean.  Then Paul unlocks the secret in the next chapter:  "Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3).

Stop trying to clean yourself.  Let yourself be guilty and dirty tonight.  Paul says that we are to be, "always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies." (2 Cor. 4:10). Carry his death in your body, and let yourself feel the cost tonight.  Die with him tonight.  But set your sight on his promise.  If you pursue Him, he will give you a new heart and will clean you from the inside.  Psalm 37 says to, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." (Ps. 37:4)  Your heart will change.  Your desires will change.  You will be made clean.  From the inside out is the only way it can happen.  It is God's Spirit that does it.  Your cares of the world will fall away, and you'll slowly begin viewing life through the lens of eternity.  Tonight we're celebrating the event that brought us salvation.  Jude says that Jesus is going to present us to the Father "blameless," and, "with great joy." (Jude 24)  Tonight is the night Jesus takes your sin onto himself, and he goes out to save the entire world.  He became sin for you tonight.  Come to him dirty,  "Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner," and let him clean you.  You are forgiven.

David Bennett Thomas is a professor at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, where he teaches music composition and theory.  He likes to write and record original music for choruses, chamber groups, jazz musicians; and to arrange traditional hymns and spirituals in a jazz style. http://www.davidbthomas.com