Good Friday

Day one hundred twelve

It was great this morning to sleep in a little and then to wake up with the sunshine streaming through the window.  I think I actually woke up smiling!  So my prayer was filled with gratitude for the things that make me happy and bring joy to my life.  May I remember these things on the not so sunny days! 

The Last Week of Christ's Life

I never really knew much about Good Friday other than it is always the Friday before Easter Sunday and it is the day that many Christians commemorate the passion, or suffering, and death on the cross of the Lord, Jesus Christ.  It is more than just acknowledging the crucifixion, many Christians spend this day in fasting, prayer, repentance, and meditation on the agony and suffering of Christ on the cross. I think that any day that you can get people to focus on Christ is a good day. 

I did an in depth study of this day and the techniques used to torture and kill Christ when I prepared my seminary lesson a couple of years ago.  It was very difficult and affected my mood for several days.  My disposition is such that I had a hard time grasping that people would do these things to each other, let alone to an innocent man.  It was through prayer and meditation that I came to have a clearer understanding of what the Lord went through before and after He was hung on the cross.  It changed me and my love for Him forever.

It also helped me to understand the crucifixion's part in the Atonement.   His atonement included his suffering for the sins of mankind in the Garden of Gethsemane, the shedding of his blood, and his death and subsequent resurrection from the grave (Isa 53:3-12; Mosiah 3:5-11; Alma 7:10-13).  The death of Christ on the cross was not the final event of the atonement, it was the end of his suffering.  The resurrection from the grave is the final event of the Atonement.

One of the most touching parts of the crucifixion are the statements that Christ speaks as he is hanging from the cross and to whom he is speaking to:
 
To the Father on behalf of the soldiers that are crucifying him:
"Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34)

He was concerned for the spiritual well-being of the persons who pierced Him. He looked beyond their apparent motives, and showed concern for those who did not know what they were doing. (Words of Jesus on the Cross by Elder Alain A. Petion)

The thief hanging on a nearby cross:
"And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43)

One thief who was crucified recognized that he was like a sheep who had gone astray and turned to his own way (see Isa 53:6).  The Savior graciously answered and gave him hope. Truly the Savior cared for the thief who hung beside Him. (Words of Jesus on the Cross by Elder Alain A. Petion)

To his mother:
"he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!" (John 19:26-27) 

In her own pain, she must have sensed He was fulfilling the will of God, His Father. (Words of Jesus on the Cross by Elder Alain A. Petion)

To John the Beloved:
Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother!" (John 19:26-27)

John the Beloved would now see to her needs. These words teach an everlasting lesson from the Firstborn on family responsibilities: honor God’s will from generation to generation, honor parents, and see to each other’s needs. (Words of Jesus on the Cross by Elder Alain A. Petion)

To the Father:
"And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say,  My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"  (Matt 27:46)

Jesus’ loneliness in suffering reminds us that in His infinite love and respect for His children, God our Father may at times be silent so as to allow our meager efforts to gain the humble victory and to represent the “all we can do,” after which He will save us by His almighty grace (see 2 Ne 25:23). (Words of Jesus on the Cross by Elder Alain A. Petion)

To those around him:

"After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst" (John 19:28)

These words confirm in part the awfulness of Jesus’ physical agony on the cross. His bodily needs cried out for relief. His tongue struggled to articulate as it clung to His parched lips. In terms of physical suffering, we have a God who has “descended below them all” (D&C 122:8). (Words of Jesus on the Cross by Elder Alain A. Petion)

To the Father:

"When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost." (John 19:30)

From the first words of His prayer in Gethsemane to His last words on the cross, Jesus did the will of His Father. He drank out of the bitter cup that the Father had given Him, bringing glory to the Father and salvation to all humankind (see 3 Ne 11:11). (Words of Jesus on the Cross by Elder Alain A. Petion)

"And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost."  (Luke 23:46)

The Son of the Almighty gave His life voluntarily. He gave His life to bring to pass the Resurrection of all humankind. (Words of Jesus on the Cross by Elder Alain A. Petion)

After pondering these statements I too feel like the centurion who stated: "Truly this man [is] the Son of God" (Mark 15:39).  In the final hours of his mortal life Christ continued to be an example of the characteristics he is looking for in us; a forgiving nature, love for others, and the resignation of our own will to do the Father's will.   I love Christ for what he has done for me, it overwhelms me with sadness and guilt, but also gratitude, love and joy. It definitely is a Good Friday!