Rev. Callum Macleod (Moderator)
Good Friday and Easter Sunday are important days in the life of the church. They help us celebrate what is the most momentous weekend in the history of the world. What do the events of this momentous weekend offer us in our troubled and broken world?
Jesus secures the purchase of a new freedom on Good Friday. The bad news story is that there was a day when sin entered God’s perfect world, spoiling its beauty and harmony, alienating us from God and placing us under captivity to sin and death. On Good Friday Jesus was arrested, tried, and condemned to death, and helplessly nailed to a cross. The good news of Good Friday is that it was the invisible nails of God’s love for a lost world that kept Jesus on the cross. God’s mission to redeem the lost took Jesus to Calvary’s cross. He bore our sins and suffered divine wrath to reconcile us to God. When He cried ‘Finished’, the work was done. The ransom price was paid. The cross becomes the key that unlocks the door of our captivity and opens the way into freedom through faith in Jesus.
The resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday brings the power of a new life. On the first day of the week the headline news was that the stone was rolled away, the tomb was empty, and the body of Jesus had gone. The later twist in the story, which surprised the disciples themselves, was that Jesus was alive, now victorious over death, sin and evil. On His ascension to heaven, and being seated at God’s right hand, Jesus was rewarded with the gift of the Holy Spirit for successfully completing his mission on Good Friday. Jesus sent the Spirit into the world as He had promised.
God’s work of transformation now takes on a new dimension. God is making a new people for himself as He builds His church. Forgiveness of sin is freely given. There is reconciliation with God through faith in Jesus. We have a new family – we are gifted the privilege status of being God’s children. The Bible describes such people as a ‘new creation’ (2 Corinthians 5:17). The old things are left behind and we are a new people, with new hearts, new desires, and a new way of life.
The resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday also gives us the prospect of a new world. the stone rolled away from the tomb on Easter Sunday leads to Jesus being the corner stone of this new world. Jesus has promised that He will return at the end of this age to usher in the glory of the eternal kingdom of God. When Jesus returns, we will rise in power and glory with Him. We will enter the world of the ‘new heavens and new earth’ promised by God in which justice and righteousness will dwell forever. This is the paradise of God. There will be no more suffering, or pain, or sorrow. Death itself will be finally overthrown!
This is all good news for our broken, confused and lost world. May we celebrate the momentous events of Good Friday and Easter Sunday together. May we embrace the new freedom purchased by Jesus on Good Friday. May we experience the power of the new life of Easter Sunday in a living relationship with Jesus. And may we cherish the hope of the new world into which Jesus will usher us when He returns at the end of the world.
Wishing you a Happy Easter.