April 18, 2025

“There was the Son of God being so himself that even a Gentile executioner sensed it. On the cross we see the Bridegroom, loving to death; the Lord of glory, giving out his life; the Lord of hosts, crushing Satan; the King, enthroned. ” 

― Michael Reeves from “Rejoicing in Christ”

Good Friday is a paradox. From a purely human perspective, it looks like the public ministry of Jesus ended in absolute and abject failure. Starting with the betrayal of Judas, it goes from bad to worse, ending in the disaster of a scandalous and public execution. But from the biblical perspective, God’s glory is at its highest point when Jesus’ worldly status is at its lowest. The irony is plain to see even in the account of the crucifixion. Jesus was the rightful heir of David; the Prophet, Priest, and King for all God’s people - even though the course of his ministry resulted in him being betrayed, falsely accused by Israel’s under-shepherds, abandoned by his disciples and closest friends, crowned with thorns and led out of Jerusalem in a shameful procession to his place of execution. There he was powerfully exalted above all present, with the inscription “King of the Jews” hung on the instrument of his death. 

Our ability to see God’s glory on the cross depends on our grasp of how he describes himself in Scripture. Throughout the Old Testament, God reminds his people of his character: he is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Nowhere are God’s mercy, grace, forebearance, and steadfast love more plainly seen than at the foot of the Cross. It is here that we see God’s eagerness to forgive sin as Jesus forgave his executioners and the mocking crowds, and even called a thief crucified alongside him into saving faith. 

At the cross, we are invited to see the depths to which God was willing to go to rescue his people from the punishment for sin - and so, in the profound humiliation of Jesus, we also see the height of God’s glory, and the clearest revelation of his gracious character as Jesus atoned for all our sin so that we might receive all his righteousness by grace through faith. Though the cost was staggering, and the suffering great - Christ paid it all, and his last words speak to the great hope we have in him.

It Is Finished

Please join us this evening at 6:30 as we gather to consider what God has done for us in Christ.