If you know me personally, you might know that I am a denominational mutt when it comes to religion. My extended family roots are found in Catholicism, I was baptized and am currently a Methodist, my husband considered himself Lutheran until he joined our Methodist church, and I went to a Baptist college for undergrad. I have great respect for each of these Christian traditions, and for many, many more denominations.
As a junior high student – before I moved to TN and before I was baptized or a church member – I remember hearing someone in my gym class say, “Man, Catholics are SO weird. They keep Jesus on the cross, but everyone knows he’s not there anymore. The grave was empty on Easter.” And, though I didn’t understand why, that comment did NOT sit right with my spirit.
Now, as an active believer and a teacher of the Word, I know why it didn’t sit right and still doesn’t.
YES – Jesus is off of the cross and out of the tomb – and PRAISE GOD for that!
BUT, Jesus WAS nailed to the cross. He died a human death by crucifixion. He wore a crown of thorns, withstood the beating and flogging, and suffered the nails and the asphyxiation that accompanied crucifixion. He bled from his side, and He was closed in the tomb.
An empty tomb is just an empty room if we don’t have the crucifixion.
Without the suffering of the Messiah, we do not receive pardon for sin. Without the suffering, without the death, there is no atonement for our unrighteousness.
Without Christ on the cross, our sins are still stains – not made white as snow – and our eternity is still dark.
Christ WAS on the cross, and sometimes we need to remember that.
Years ago, when I was in a season of struggling, I realized I needed to remember Christ on the cross. I called my dad and asked for a crucifix – surely his Catholic family had one to spare. They did – I was gifted the crucifix from my great grandfather’s funeral. And I hung it in my living room by my door, so that every day as I left my home in the morning, I remembered the sacrifice. And I remembered the love that comes from such sacrifice.
That’s what Good Friday is… a reminder that Christ WAS on the cross – that He willingly died an excruciating death because of His great love for God’s creation.
Yes, very soon we celebrate an empty tomb and a Risen Savior. But for now, on Good Friday and Holy Saturday, we sit in silence, pondering the sacrificial love and the suffering of the Messiah.
There’s something holy about the sacrifice.
There’s something holy about the silence.
And it all leads to salvation.
Praise God for the hard gift of sacrifice, pain, and reconciliation.
Resurrection is coming.
Kate with a Twang 