There is plenty of disheartening and worrisome news. On this day that Christ carried his cross through the streets of Jerusalem, 147 Christians are being mourned in Kenya. They were brutally murdered because they believed in Him.
Iran is on the way to a nuclear bomb.
Two women were arrested in New York who allegedly believed they could only please their god by killing us.
Here at home Judeo-Christian values continue to be pushed out of the public square.
We will return to all these things on Monday. But today we focus on the perfect Lamb.
It is a good time to reflect on Good Friday, the truth of scripture and exactly what it is that we as Christians are celebrating! (It's not chocolate bunnies or marshmallow chicks.)
Christmas tends to overshadow most holidays, but ultimately, it is not a birthday that we celebrate -- it is the resurrection. It is Easter that makes us Christians!
If Christ had not risen from the grave, He would have been forgotten as a common rabble-rouser whose birthday would have no significance.
Today, on Good Friday, we think about the Cross and the sacrifice paid for our sins; the amazing love that took our place; and the grace we have been given.
Romans 5:8 tells us, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." While some worship a god who commands men to die for him, we worship a loving God who gave His son to die for us. Thank God for the cross and the empty tomb!
With Christ's resurrection, we have confidence. We have confidence in a caring Creator, rather than the chaos of the cosmos. We have confidence in a glorious future, rather than the finality of the grave. It is this confidence that sustains us in times of trial and tribulation - in times like these.
Why do we have such confidence? Because "It is finished." Christ's atoning work on the Cross is done, and we are saved.
On Easter morning, we do not gather to remember a martyr. We come together to worship the risen Son of God!
He is risen! He is risen indeed!