[Faith-talk] Daily Thought for Friday, April 18, 2014

[Paul]

Hello to all of you on this Good Friday or, for some in my reading audience, a good Saturday morning as this is being written.  I hope that, by God's matchless grace and His providential care, that you all are doing well today.

Elizabeth Jaeger wrote the following for an LCMS publication called "Portals of Prayer." The title of her contribution is simply entitled "Good Friday," rendered as follows:

My dad died suddenly of a heart attack when I was twenty-two.  I remember going with my mother to the grocery store, watching the shoppers and wondering how they could go on as if nothing had happened.  My world had turned upside down.  How could the rest of the world not notice?

A large crowd cried out for Jesus' crucifixion.  On that first Good Friday, only a small group of people felt the same grief and hopelessness I felt after my father died.  A few companions heard Jesus cry, "It is finished." I'm sure they felt lost.  How could they go on without Him?

Yet, Jesus' death and resurrection brought to completion God's plan of salvation for all humankind.  That is what Jesus means when He cries, "It is finished." What appeared as hopeless to Jesus' followers became the hope of the world.  Jesus died to save us from the powers of sin, death, and the devil.  That is why we call this Friday good.

Jesus endured brutal pain on the cross to remove the sting of death for those who must say goodbye to those they love.  Death does not have the last word.  Christ promises all who believe that no good-bye is ever final.

And there you have Elizabeth's article which, although brief, hopefully was a blessing to you.

I have a question for all of you regarding Jesus' crucifixion.  Do you believe, in your heart of hearts, that among the crowd who clamored for His death were those whom He had cured? If I counted them right, there were at least 35 incidents that are mentioned in the Bible about Him curing individuals.  My opinion (and this is only mine, not something I read somewhere) is that they were not part of the crowd, but that the Jewish Sanhedrin and leadership got a bunch of people together to do this dastardly act.  Of course, we weren't there to verify this, so we don't know, but, as I said before, I don't believe that those He touched, whether that be through healing or just listening to Him and accepting His teaching, were not part of the crowd.  Anyone who wishes to comment on this please do so.

And now may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, in these last days in which we live.  Lord willing, tomorrow's Daily Thought message will focus on a particular individual who played a part after Christ's crucifixion.  Your Christian friend and brother, Paul