Today, as I write, it is Good Friday.  It is the day we commemorate the fact that Christ was crucified and would rise on the third day, just as He had promised.  One of my favorite Good Friday scriptures is found in the Old Testament, in

Isaiah 53:5 But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

As Christians commemorate “Good Friday” we recognize that Christ willingly gave His life as Atonement for our sins.  He was nailed on the cross after having been beaten and mocked and suffering through a sham of a trial.  As John says in his gospel, Christ came unto His own and His own received Him not.  He was rejected.  He was crucified and gave His life on “Good Friday” as the punishment for our sin.  I started to say we “celebrate” Good Friday rather than “commemorate” Good Friday.  In some ways, I am not so sure if that word celebrate applies.  I have so many emotions that go through my heart and my mind when I contemplate what occurred on that day.  I am saddened by His suffering and humbled by the knowledge that my own misdeeds and sins made His very sacrifice necessary.  Celebrate?  In some ways that word does not seem right.  Yet, in another sense, I celebrate that God commended His love toward me in that while I was still a sinner Christ died for me.  In the midst of my rebellion, in the depths of my unbelief, before I ever knew Him – Jesus went to the cross for me.  He gave His life and rose again on the third day.  He died in my place.  He is my Savior.  His sacrifice has brought me peace with God.  In that sense, it is a Good Friday indeed.