Is it still Good Friday, when I don’t feel that good?
It is Good Friday today. A time when church bells are usually ringing, when even those who usually sleep in make the effort to come to church. A time usually full of colour and excitement. This year is different.
Maybe it doesn’t feel like a festival time to you. You can watch the online sermon in your pajamas on your couch. You can sing along with a YouTube video, but it’s not the same. By this stage in your semi-house arrest, you are probably starting to lose the motivation that came with the novelty of the situation. It now seems a little boring.
If that’s you, remember that Good Friday still means the same thing it did last year. It is still good. If you trust in Jesus, your sins are still forgiven. You are reconciled to God. You have nothing to fear from the future judgement of God. You are adopted into God’s family. You no longer need to live in fear, or to do good things out of a sense of duty and burden, but you can rejoice!
In the words of Romans 5:
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person– though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die– 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Rom. 5:6-11 ESV)
Re-read those glorious words. They remain true, whatever our circumstances. Which means we can rejoice today, even if it’s in our pajamas on our couch. Even if we cannot be as useful in the world as we want to be, God loves us so much that he sent his Son to die for us.
When the world seems so broken, remember the One who came to deal with the ultimate brokenness of sin. There will be a Day when there is no more isolation and separation; we will rejoice together with those of all places and nations in what Jesus has done. Until then, we can still rejoice, even if today has its own troubles.
Christ died for the ungodly. What a wonderful truth!