What’s so good about Good Friday?

17 CommentsSpecial Days

The story is told of a king in Africa who had a close friend with whom he grew up. The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life, positive or negative, and remarking, “This is good!”

thumbOne day the king and his friend were out on a hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. The friend had apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off. Examining the situation, the friend remarked as usual, “This is good!”

To which the king replied, “No, this is not good!” and proceeded to send his friend to jail. African_king_from_Catalan_Atlas_(1375)

About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he should have known to stay clear of. Cannibals captured him and took him to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to the stake.

As they came near to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone who was less than whole. So untying the king, they sent him on his way.

As he returned home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt remorse for his treatment of his friend. He went immediately to the jail to speak with his friend.

“You were right,” he said, “it was good that my thumb was blown off.” And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had just happened. “And so, I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this.”

“No,” his friend replied, “This is good!”

“What do you mean, ‘This is good?’ How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year?”

“If I had not been in jail, I would have been with you.”

*****

God was pleased to crush Jesus and put him under all that suffering knowing that we would be saved by His death. That’s real love. What truly seemed so horrible and tragic was really… very good!

Happy Good Friday!

Gustave_Doré_-_Crucifixion_of_Jesus

*****

Now read a not so good thing that happened to me on a Good Friday in 2007. It’s called “Murder at Peet’s.

Comments (17)

  3. Jennifer Loza

    Reply

    Pastor please give an update asap about the trip with Ray I’m dying to hear how that went. I was so sad I didn’t go. Let me know. I bet all kinds of stuff went on that I missed out on. Thanks Jennifer Loza

  6. Carol Nicholson

    Reply

    On Good Friday, I decided to pick up my cross and go to the Redondo Beach Pier with a friend to share why the death and resurrection of Jesus is Good News. We got viciously attacked by two athiests-but many got to hear the Gospel. God got the victory, because instead of scaring us away, they fired us up to preach some more. What the devil meant for evil, God meant for good!
    Praise God! Alleluia!

  8. Terry Burton

    Reply

    GOD’s love for us is so wonderful. Beyond our feeble comprehension.
    GOD bless you Brother for your faithful service to our LORD.

  9. Ryk

    Reply

    Forgive the typos and autofil Android. Did not belong in that comment

    😀 LOL

  10. Glenn Parker

    Reply

    Awesome day! We spent 4 hours driving around the city to witness, preach, and read Matthew 26, 27, and 28. What an AMAZING God we serve!

    I told everybody, “Friday may be simply good, but Sunday is AWESOME!”

  11. Ryk

    Reply

    Not sure why I am getting censored but I will try again.

    Is their anything an omnipotent God could accomplish through the crucifiction of Christ that it could not accomplish without the crucifiction of Christ.

    • Glenn Parker

      Reply

      Yes. He will separate the sheep from the goats, the good fish from the bad fish, the wheat from the tares, and the wicked from the righteous. Make sense?

      • theB1ackSwan

        I’m sorry, but how does that address the question? Simply stated, the question is asking why the death of ‘God’s son’ is necessary, much less the method God decided to use.

      • Ryk

        That does not answer the question. Look up the word omnipotent and try again.

    • Timothy Johnson

      Reply

      God is omnipotent in the sense that he has the power to accomplish anything he wishes. But he cannot act against his own nature.

      Just as a good judge cannot let a guilty criminal go free, so God could not simply forgive us without payment being made. He is perfect and holy, and his “eyes are too pure to look upon evil” (Habakkuk 1:13). And “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23); we deserved the death penalty. Therefore, “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22).

      But if someone else pays a fine for the criminal, then he is free. Thus through his Son’s death, God paid the penalty for us. He is now “just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26).

      Does that make sense?

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