good friday and Easter musings

It's Good Friday today. You know the story right? It's the day we remember when all of God's perfectly justified wrath on mankind was all placed on his son. A few thoughts have been in my head all day.

At the start of his ministry, Jesus is baptized, and as he comes out of the water, the Bible says,
"And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." Mark 1:11

At the end of his ministry, Jesus is on the cross, and he finds himself alone, crying out,
"My God my God, why have you forsaken me?" Matthew 27:46

The same Father who found great joy in his beloved son, now has to turn his back on him as the full wrath of God that was intended for mankind, for you, for me, is placed completely on Jesus.

That's what happened because of our sin. Sin isn't just something that makes us feel bad about ourselves. It is our sin, that as a great hymn says, "held Him there, until it was accomplished." Our sins were the nails in his hands, the spear in his side.

We are all like Peter. We will deny Christ as we pretend that we don't know him as we live our lives in sin. We abandon him. Yet even though our sins condemned him, Jesus decides to save us.

A man without sin can't be held by the grave. If the wages of sin is death, then the grave has no reason to hold Jesus, the one without sin, but the one who took on the sins of the world so we didn't have to.

A good man who taught lessons through metaphors couldn't do that. Jesus is not simply a good moral teacher. He is not just a historical figure who was crucified for causing a ruckus in Roman occupied Israel. He is the King of Kings, Lord of Lords who fights for a world he loves, and wins.

So Jesus rises from the dead. He conquers it. He defeats it forever. The battle, the war, the victory is his, and he shares that with us. That's grace. When we were the ones that put Christ on the cross, yet when Jesus complete's the ultimate comeback story, he wants us to share in the victory with him. So we rejoice, we sing hymns, we worship, we celebrate.

The greatest story ever written as a dramatic ending. The hero dies in the middle, but he wins in the end.

#TrueStory

Happy Easter

what's the story?

If you had to define Christianity, or what it meant to be a Christian, what would you say?

I ask that to students who claim the Christian faith as the religion that they subscribe to. I get a variety of answers. Most of the time, I hear something along the lines of this:

It means you believe in God. It means you try to be a good person. You know follow the golden rule. Don't curse, don't drink, don't smoke, don't have sex before your married. You know stuff like that. You go to church.

I always find it curious that students neglect an important part of their definition. They complete leave out the "Christ" aspect. Christ is the Greek translation of Messiah, which of course means savior.

Christianity is all about the need for a savior.

The suffix "ity" is used to form nouns expressing the condition corresponding to the root word. Therefore, Christianity encompasses those who have a savior, those who have been saved.

What makes you a Christian is not some high moral code that you abide by. It's not about how many Sunday's you've gone to church.

It's about admitting your need for a savior. It's about having a personal relationship with the God of the universe. It's following a man who died, but you won't find him in any burial site. Instead, you'll find him on a throne.

It's about knowing a God who loved the world, even a world that hated him and wanted nothing to do with him. Despite the rebellion, God offers an olive branch. An exchange, a trade, a substitution took place that looks like a poor business transaction, a poor career move. Jesus abandons his post by the side of the Father to walk in  a world that mocked him and put him to death? The very world he was trying to save? What kind of a God does that?

A God that loves the world and wants to dwell with his people. Who wants to know every single of us intimately. One that hates sin and loves righteousness.

It's Holy Week. It's the home stretch of the Lent. For some that means next Friday you don't have to eat a fish sandwich from McDonald's or Wendys. For others, they can resume drinking pop and eating chocolate. 

Jesus didn't die so you could go on a diet for 40 days. He didn't die because he wants you to live by a moral code. He died because he wants to know you, he wants to walk with you, and live with you for eternity.

He died because he loves you.

That's a #truestory