Good Friday, April 14, 2006
Matthew 27:1-61
Steve Diehl, Walnut Creek Friends Church
Read the passage and respond to these questions:
            1.  List the people or groups who participated in the crucifixion of Jesus.
            2.  As the grim scene progressed, how did people’s attitude toward Jesus change?  and yours?
When Mel Gibson’s movie The Passion of the Christ came out, there was a great uproar.  Many thought that this movie put the Jewish people in an unfair and bad light, as the ones who put Jesus to death.
There were several culprits.  Did the Jewish people have a part in the crucifixion of Jesus?  Of course they did.  And so did Judas, Pilate, the Romans and people in general.  From a human standpoint, many people and groups participated in the crucifixion.  The Bible even expands that standpoint to include Satan himself (John 13:26-27).  On the one hand, everything infected by sin participated in the rejection of and execution of Jesus.
However, there is another perspective we must also see.  The Bible also reveals that God the Father executed Jesus.  We see this in the Old Testament picture in Abraham’s willingness to offer up his son, Isaac (Genesis 22:1-18).  It was declared by the prophets in Isaiah 53, and it was explained by the Apostles in Romans 3:21-26.
Jesus was not a mere martyr.  He was not overpowered by evil or evil men.  Jesus willingly gave up His life to His Father.  This was an agreement they had with each other from before the foundation of the world.
God is just.  He must always act justly every single time without exception, no matter how loving He is.  God does not forgive us by turning His back on justice.  God forgives us by executing justice on a qualified and willing substitute.  Jesus paid a debt we owed to God.  Since the debt has been paid, God forgives us.  This is why the writer of Hebrews wrote, “and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness (9:22).
God’s love cannot overrule God’s justice, but God’s love can satisfy God’s justice.  “For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).  Jesus loves you so much that He would rather die than live without you!  God the Father loves you so much that He would rather execute His own Son than execute you!  God’s love, expressed through and demonstrated at the Cross of Jesus Christ, is truly amazing.
Prayer
Thank Him and praise Him this day, and every day for His amazing love!