GOOD FRIDAY: Darkness and a Torn Curtain

THAT DARK FRIDAY

On the day we call “Good Friday,” the day Jesus was crucified, the disciples didn’t see anything good. As Jesus hung dying on the cross, the gospels record a terrifying scene: the sun was blotted out, making the day as dark as night. Jesus died an agonizing death, and the disciples knew they might be next. They ran away and hid, leaving Joseph of Arimathea, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and other unnamed women to bury Jesus. In their horror and fear, the disciples forgot Jesus told them three times he would be killed and then raised to life (Matthew 17:22-23). We call that day “good” only because we know God raised Jesus from the dead. We know Easter morning follows that dark Friday.

A TORN CURTAIN

At the moment Jesus died a miracle happened the disciples couldn’t know about until later: God ripped the curtain in the Temple in two, from top to bottom. All four gospels record that detail. Why is it so important? The curtain God tore surrounded the Holy of Holies–the inner sanctuary of the Temple where the Ark of the Covenant was kept and place where the Presence of the Lord stayed. Only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies, and he could go in only one day a year, on the Day of Atonement. When Jesus cried, “It is finished,” God destroyed the barrier that kept all of us out of God’s presence. God was through with sacrifices: Jesus had paid humanity’s debt for all time. The final Day of Atonement had come.

BOTH/AND

Today is Good Friday: both the darkest day in the history of the world and the brightest day for all Believers. The Apostle Paul explained what happened on Good Friday to the Christians in Rome (Romans 5:12-16). Death, he wrote, entered the world because the first man sinned. Every person following Adam continued sinning, and death ruled the world. Then the man Jesus gave his life as a free gift to pay the wages of all our sins. Grace entered the world. Today we mourn the reality of sin and what that sin cost Jesus on the cross. But today we also give thanks for a torn curtain that says, “Come into My Presence, children. I love you. I love you enough to give My Son to die for you.”