Dear BPCWAians, This Friday is Good Friday. Why is it called good? What happened that day that made it good? Good Friday is the day our Lord Jesus Christ was unjustly abused and cruelly crucified on the cross at Calvary.  When we read Isaiah 53:3-5, we can scarcely even begin to fathom the rejection, despise, and pain the Lord Jesus went through, “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. (4) Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. (5) But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed”. How could all these be good? Christ suffered badly.

Good for believers. Christ went through all the uncalled for abuse, public shaming, and unimaginable torture unto death – all for sinners gain! As the hymn writer of “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded” well penned,

What thou, my Lord, hast suffered was all for sinners’ gain:

mine, mine was the transgression, but thine the deadly pain.

There is absolutely nothing that the infinite God, our Lord Jesus, gains or benefits from the sufferings He came to bear. And there is no reason why He should need to come and to take man’s abuse and die for us at man’s hands. Especially when He knew full well that the very ones He came to die for would also be among those who would desert Him, abuse Him, torture and kill Him. He did all these on that Friday so that good will come to believers.

Good because of the Great Exchange. What is this good about? It is for the spiritual and eternal good of believers. Christ lived, suffered, and died in our place so that we will not face the eternal penalty of sin, being cast into hell in eternal suffering, hence eternally separated from God. How was this achieved? How can we be declared righteous before God and spared from the penalty of our sin? It was achieved at an infinite price which Christ paid for us. It is often called the Great Exchange, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2Cor 5:21). Christ stood in our place, took our punishment, the just in place of the unjust. Isaiah 53:3-5 shows us this Great Exchange clearly. We see Christ taking on what we deserved. We read “he”, “him”, “his” versus “our” and “we”. Christ took on our griefs and sorrows, and He took our place for the punishment of our transgressions and iniquities.

Good response must be expected. If you were a father who had to one day give your son to suffer just a minute fraction of what our Lord Jesus suffered in place of an ungrateful and despicable enemy of yours, would you call that day good? God so loved the world, He did exactly that and was well pleased with His Son Jesus Christ who came to do His will. Good Friday must bring the right response from us towards our God. While the world revels mindlessly on this long weekend public holiday, I hope you will spend Good Friday reflecting upon His Goodness, spending time in reading the relevant Bible passages on your own, and with your family. Why not spend this week’s family devotions on the events that led up to and that transpired on that Friday that led to the infinite good for you and your family? And I pray that each of us will respond with our best – our consecration to Him, who took our place, to reconcile us to God.

Lo, here I fall, my Savior! ‘Tis I deserve thy place; look on me with thy favor, vouchsafe to me thy grace.

What language shall I borrow to thank thee, dearest Friend, for this, thy dying sorrow,

thy pity without end? O make me thine forever; and should I fainting be, Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to thee.

Dear child of God, may I ask how is your love for your Saviour today? I’m not asking if you cry at the thought of what He did, or if you feel very emotional when you take the Holy Communion. In the Father’s love, He gave of His best – His only begotten Son for your redemption. It was a love that was demonstrated in action, in the greatest sacrifice ever made. Our Lord Jesus Christ left His heavenly glory, lived His earthly life despised of by His own. He didn’t do or live as He pleased, but all to secure your good. What “good” occupies your life? The goods of this world? Good grades? Good living? Return to Him and spend your life seeking the most important “good”. To hear His report of your life as “Well done, thou good and faithful servant” (Matt 25:21). Love Him in return by doing His will.

Yours in our Lord’s service

Pastor