This is
Passion Week for all Christians. It is a week of introspection and correction. We
remember the death of Jesus Christ. He was the most betrayed the most isolated
person to whom even the Roman justice showed injustice in trail and death. I
said ‘even the Roman justice showed injustice’ because the Romans though very
cruel had strict laws of justice and punishment at that time. But he was tried
in night, denied food, beaten and permitted to be crucified though the law
found him not guilty. The Governor washed his hands and threw the righteous man
to the hands of the people. That was not justice according to the Roman law.
Still His
death was inevitable. His death should happen in such a way that His last drops
of blood should shed down on this earth for the remission of man’s sins. He was
the sacrificial Lamb of God. Jesus was God’s the atonement for man’s sins.
The Old
Testament part of the Bible tells the futile attempts of man for the remission
of his sins. Rites and rituals of the Old Testament period, though they were
ordained by God, could not wash away their sins. No genealogies could save them
from sin and punishment. They lived in perpetual contempt. They had to perform
sacrifice after sacrifice. Old Testament people lived in fear of curse,
punishment and eternal death. It was a period in which God proved their inability
to remit sins.
There came
Jesus, the Son of God. He was the predestined as the atonement of God. He
preached salvation for all human beings. He healed the sick and gave back life
to the dead. He surrendered to death and shed His blood for the remission of
man’s sins.
Let me
note down some Good Friday thoughts.
1.
Jesus was the only person born to die. His
life’s purpose was to die for the remission of man’s sins. We are born to live
in this world. We are trying to live as long as possible. Jesus came to die and
shed His blood. No death is possible without birth. Hence he was born as a man.
2.
Jesus came to heal and to give life. Jesus did
not preach a life of disease and sin. He admitted the presence of sin and
disease, but He did not accept them. He taught to resist, conquer and live
happily.
3.
Jesus was a doctor for the sick. He was comfortable
with sinners. He gladly shared His dinner with cruel tax collectors, prostitutes,
destitute, lepers, outcast and the downtrodden in the society. He was
constantly in search of physically and spiritually sick people. Healing the
spiritually, physically and materially sick people was a part of His mission in
the earth.
4.
He lived and died for the whole humanity. He
spoke to the whole humanity. He lived as a role model to the Jews, the white,
the brown, the yellow and the black. He never called any with these names.
5.
His death was not a defeat. None could defeat
Him. It was the fulfillment of His life’s purpose. He gave Himself to death.
His death was a victory. It was a way of triumph. He prohibited the Jewish women
from lamenting for Him. For His walk to the place of crucifixion was a royal
parade of a victorious military general.
6.
He died not for Jews, not for any special
sects of people. He died for the whole humanity. He bore the sins of all human
beings born in this earth. There is no other leader who claims such a wider
magnitude for his life and death. No other leader in this world opened a way of
salvation for the whole human kind. Only Jesus claims to open an ever living
way to God and salvation.
7.
He declared freedom to all. In Him there is no
separation between Jews and gentile, master and slave and man and women. It is
freedom from sin and bondage. He set man free.
8.
He did not establish a new religion. No
religion of the time supported Him. He sought the protection of no religious or
philosophical school. He was a role model to live. He showed a way to live. He lived
successfully without sin. Till today, none need the endorsement of any religious
sect to believe and follow Jesus.
9.
His last words on the cross was, “It is
finished.” It was the successful completion of the mission. It is a victorious
cry. It was an unexpected shout of joy and victory for His enemies. He proved
that success is not always living to the standard of man; it is fulfilling the
life’s purpose. He left nothing undone. He completed the purpose, gave up His
life and left this world.
What a life story. What a successful life. Jesus
has no peer in this world. That makes this Good Friday a wonderful time.
So I wish you, a ‘Happy Good Friday’.
Professor Jacob Abraham
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