The Saddest Day in History

No scene in sacred history ever gladdens the soul like the scene on Calvary.
 Nowhere does the soul find such consolation as on that very spot where misery reigned,
where woe triumphed, where agony reached its climax."
[C. H. Spurgeon]

Agony indeed reached its climax on the day that our Lord died. The hope of generations, the promised One, the Messiah was hanging on a tree of shame. The hope of humankind seemed lost to those who had followed Him and were now witnessing His end. I grew up in a tradition that tended to gloss over the despair of this day, focusing instead on the triumphant entry of Palm Sunday and moving straight into the victory of the Resurrection at Easter. The cross was identified and celebrated throughout the year, but no special time was given on Good Friday to fully consider the weight of its implications. The gospel of Matthew records that Jesus’ soul was “…overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death”(Matt. 26:38) during the hours leading up to the crucifixion. It is in the observance and consideration of the events of Good Friday that we are reminded that Jesus came not only to save, but in order to do so, had to suffer on our behalf.

He Shared in Our Suffering

Isaiah describes Jesus as a “man of sorrows” and indeed the gospel accounts are full of examples of His grief and suffering. However, during the hours leading up to and during his death, Christ endured such immeasurable sorrow that our humble consideration can only appreciate it in part. Beginning at midnight as Jesus went into the garden to pray, Good Friday was the twenty four hour period in which Christ met with indescribable suffering on our behalf. He suffered, teaching us how to respond to our own suffering. During the time in the garden, we see the Savior go first to the Lord in isolation with the Father. We witness how isolating and depressing suffering can be. Jesus was alone in His suffering and openly grieved, asking for another way. In the public square, we see Christ deal humbly and submissively to His accusers. He neither defends His reputation, nor does He lash out in violence against them. On the cross, we see the Savior continuing to serve others: He takes time to consider His mother and the thief even in His greatest agony. There are many other lessons to receive in the careful observance of Christ’s suffering. In our times of suffering we can look to the example He set for us and be comforted that our high priest knew our grief. On Good Friday, we can find comfort that Christ shared in our suffering and therefore respond by sharing in the grief of others.

He Bore Our Sins

Not only did He bear our sorrows, but Isaiah states that He was crushed for our sins. Our punishment was piled on Jesus at the cross and the weight of it was described to have a crushing effect. The anticipation of the burden of bearing the weight of our sins caused the Savior twice to seek another way to reach reconciliation with man. He ultimately submitted to the Father’s will and faced the cross and the sins of man. The Father had to forsake the Son as He cried out to Him from the cross. Peter said that He bore our sins in His body, why? He bore our sins on that tree so that we would die to sin, so that we could be reconciled to the Father. When we consider the cross and the weight of our sin resting upon Him who knew no sin, we have a responsibility to respond. Our response to the cross is one of obedience, a death to the fulfillment of self and sin. The cross reminds us that with Christ we have died, we have died to sin and are born in righteousness. Continuing to sin, Hebrews says, profanes the blood of the Covenant. On Good Friday, we remember the weight of sin that brings death and commit to live in the righteousness Christ won for us.

Hope That Sunday is Coming

For those who accompanied Jesus in His time on earth, this Friday seemed anything but good. The hope they had in Christ’s ministry on earth had ended. They couldn’t see that His ministry would continue on this earth through them. We, however, have the benefit of seeing Good Friday through the lens of the Resurrection. Good Friday becomes a celebration to those who know the rest of the story. By reflecting on the suffering of Christ, we are reminded of His great sacrifice and are compelled to respond. We can also look to the promise of His resurrection to keep hope in a broken and sinful world. Good Friday helps us to recall that amidst the agonies of this life, there is great hope that the final victory is coming. That is good news! Not only should we look to this future for our own benefit, but we should share this hope with those who are suffering all around us. On Good Friday, we can share the good news that there is hope for this life and a new life to come!

Melody Powell lives in Clinton, NC, with her husband Nelson and five year old daughter Lily. She currently is pursuing an MA in Women’s Studies and hopes to minister to foster children who are transitioning into adult life out of the system. She attends The Vine Fellowship, a church plant, where she serves children and the women of the church, and assists in leading worship.

What does Lent have to do with me?

As a child I never heard people talk about Lent – except maybe when Mom instructed me to clean the fuzz out of the clothes dryer (“Lint” and “Lent” are two very different things, but they sure do sound the same down here in the south, especially to a 3^rd grader).

As I grew older, I saw Lent as a 2^nd try on your New Year’s Resolution.  Did you fail at giving up sugar in January?  You can always try it again in March!

When I finally discovered that Lent is in fact a 40-day season Christians set aside to prepare for Easter, I assumed it was for someone else.  All I had ever done to prepare for Easter was pick out a frilly dress and ask my mom to make green bean casserole for lunch.

I do not think I even knew an evangelical Christian who observed the season of Lent. 

And yet, as I've explored more, I've grown to appreciate the season of Lent, not for the external actions with which we often associate it, but instead for how it helps me refocus on what truly matters – the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Instead of seeing Lent as an opportunity to lose a few pounds, impress my friends with my self-discipline, or re-start a failed New Year’s resolution, I've learned that Lent can be a wonderful time to intentionally spend 40 days reflecting upon the glory of the Gospel. 

Starting today I’ll be fasting from something I enjoy, but what I fast from is definitely not the point of Lent: Jesus is!

I’ll also be reading through the Passion Week recorded in the Gospel of John, meditating on one chapter per day.  I’ll start today in John 12, read through John 21, and then begin again until we celebrate the Resurrection together on April 20^th. 

Not only this, but I’ll be praying for opportunities to talk about what I’m learning with those around me. What a wonderful opportunity to start a spiritual conversation and share with someone about what Christ has done for us!

Here are my questions for you:  Would you be willing to try Lent this year?  What could you do to intentionally focus on magnifying Christ and His sacrifice over the next 40 days?  How can you use this season of reflection to talk with others about the One who has made all the difference for you?

Emily Anthony loves collecting polish pottery, hiking in the mountains, helping teenagers with their algebra homework, and talking with women about what God is doing in and through their lives.  After spending six years serving as a missionary teacher to third culture kids in Budapest, Hungary, Emily returned to the United States to pursue Masters of Divinity in Women's Studies here at Southeastern. She recently began serving as a ministry assistant for Embrace Women's Missions and Ministry at the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina.

Today we have our final mini-series post from the Whitfield's.  Haven't you loved hearing from them each Wednesday?! Thank you so much Keith & Amy for sharing with us this month!  To check out their past post's click here.  

Let's Hear From Keith:

An artist several years ago painted a picture that illustrates the way our lives are generally, and the hope we have as Christians specifically. In the painting, a lone man rowed his small frail boat across a lake through the night. Adding to the ominous feel of loneliness and darkness, the artist portrays threatening conditions on the water.  The wind was high and stormy, and the rippling waves were cresting and crashing across the lake. There was no sign of hope in sight except for one lone star. Continuing to row, the man fixed his eyes on that star.

Beneath the picture, the words "If I lose that, I'm lost!" were written.

Not only does this picture illustrate our lives, it illustrates the lives of the Christians Peter wrote to in his first epistle. Socially and politically, they faced the waves of suffering and the threat of persecution. 

Peter knew he had to capture their minds from the fears and concerns of their present circumstances to remember their living hope in “a salvation to be revealed” to them when Jesus returns. 

(1 Peter 1:3-5) ³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.  

Peter directed their minds away from their situation by pointing them to the abundantly rich and securely purchased salvation that they had in Christ. Peter says this salvation should replace fear and concerns with joy. In 1 Peter 1:8-9, he says, “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you have do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

What are the aspects of salvation that should give us joy?

Peter lists a number of them in these verses: “great mercy,” “born again,” “living hope,” and “inheritance that is imperishable,”  

Via

But, when you read the verse, they are given in a standard list. Peter runs them all together. They can’t really be analyzed in isolation from each other. Let’s look. 

Great Mercy. What a wonderful way to describe God’s kindness towards us! Someone once said, "Grace is getting what we don't deserve. Mercy is not getting what we do deserve." Oh, how much we have fallen short of God perfect holiness! But, God shows us mercy. His mercy does not just do something for us and produces something in us, for it was according to his mercy that we were Born Again.  

By God’s mercy, we gain spiritual rebirth. In this, everything changes. We are born again “into” something. We gained something by the new birth. The thing that we gained is a Living Hope. We have something to anticipate for the future. The living hope is a sure hope, because it is hope in an Inheritance that is Imperishable.  

Finally, note that Peter bases all of this on Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.
The resurrection is not just an historical event, but an astounding, paradigm-shattering miracle that (1) identifies Jesus as victorious over death, whose words can be believed and relied upon, (2) confirms our hope in him and (3) inspires in us a hope for life beyond mortal life.

Let's Hear From Amy:

Via

Let’s just be honest. Life can be so hard some times. For some of us it’s more difficult than others due to specific challenges that we face, but I don’t think there is anyone who would say that it’s easy all the time.

In the age of Instagram, we can quickly look at others and assume that everyone around us is deliriously happy, and everything is going their way. We are the only ones who are having a bad day. We see a snapshot of someone’s life (with a filter), and we begin to feel like we are the only ones who are fighting this battle of discouragement.

Work, ministry, responsibilities at home, assignments piling up, the humbling responsibility of raising children—these are all things that can overwhelm and wear us down. Truthfully, I fight this every day. And as I get older and realize that I am no spring chicken anymore, I have been able to add tiredness and aches and pains to the list. ;-)

So what happens? I look for escape. I wish I could just make the world go away. For one day. Stay in bed, read, eat, sleep, watch movies—all that good stuff. It probably isn’t true that it would fix things, but it just feels like it might.

But that can’t happen. I have little faces looking at me, asking to be fed and loved and driven to school. I have supervisors who are waiting for me to finish tasks. I have a to-do list that needs to be addressed.

So what do I do? I go to work. I take the kids to school. I do the things on my list. But I also realize that many of the pressures of life come from me. And I take my stress and my sadness and my worry to the place where I find hope.

Frankly, that’s not easy. I so quickly turn to dissatisfaction with current circumstances and regret over past ones. I look to either side and assume the grass is greener somewhere else.

So the past, the present, and the “anywhere but here” occupy my mind, but the future isn’t as quick to show up. But that’s the one thing I have going for me—my future. I was born again to a living hope.

If this week and the anticipation of Easter remind me of anything, it’s that something is waiting for me—“an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading.” And because of what Jesus did, it’s all real. The cross says I can count on it. The empty tomb says I can count on it. The story is true, and the promise is what I hold on to when I feel like I am losing my grip.

This reality is more true and real than all the other things that fight to take my thoughts captive. It’s enough to overcome sadness, enough to overcome pain. It’s real. Because of God’s great mercy, I can have a hope that lives.

So yes, life is hard. And every day doesn’t look like an Instagram picture. But I have a hope. My faith can live. And that makes all the difference.

Keith & Amy Whitfield live in Wake Forest, NC, where Keith teaches Systematic Theology at SEBTS.  Keith previously served as pastor of Waverly Baptist Church in Waverly, Virginia, in the years 2005 to 2010, and from 2010 until 2012, they lived in Nashville, TN, where Keith taught at a liberal arts college and helped to train church leaders. Amy loves teaching and writing, and has a passion for women to be transformed by the gospel in their daily lives.  Amy currently serves as Assistant to Charlotte Akin,  and also assists in other areas with research and writing.  Amy and Keith have two children: Mary (age 9) and Drew (age 7). 

We are keeping our mini-series moving along this month.  We can't believe that it is already week three of our series!  Check out today's post from Keith & Amy Whitfield on understanding the meaning of the resurrection.  To see their previous posts click here and here.

Let's Hear From Keith: 

How can we understand the meaning of the resurrection? Not just that it happened but why it happened and what this event means?

Biblically speaking, death follows disobedience. Take, for example, Genesis 3 and the sin of Adam and Eve. The next four chapters are marked by death. In Genesis 4, Cain killed Abel. Then Cain feared for his own life (4:14). “Then he died” is the refrain of the genealogy in Genesis 5. Again, in Genesis 6-7, death and destruction touched the whole earth as God judged through the flood. Death is an inescapable reality, even though God’s creation was originally designed for life and the flourishing of God’s good creation.

In the New Testament, Jesus Himself grieved the reality of death. He wept in the presence of Mary and Martha when His friend Lazarus died (John 11:32-35). He wept because death is an unwelcomed intrusion into God’s good world. Death signifies that things are not the way they are supposed to be. In the presence of death, Jesus proclaims that death will not reign. He says, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25).

In Luke 24:1-8, we read the biblical testimony on Jesus’ resurrection. The women arrived to prepare Jesus’ body and found a surprise. The stone was rolled away, and there was no body to be found. Then, two angelic beings exclaimed, “He is not here but He has been resurrected!” (Luke 24:6).

So what does the resurrection of Jesus mean? Remember the connection between death and disobedience. If death is defeated, our disobedience has been dealt with. Earthly judges condemned Jesus, the innocent One, to the cross. But the Judge of heaven, God Himself, vindicated Jesus Himself from the dead. When we trust the verdict of God over the verdict of men, we too are vindicated along with Jesus. His life is our life. His obedience is counted as our own.  And His victory is ours.

Let's Hear From Amy: 

I look at my son and daughter now, and I remember that time of innocence and blessed ignorance in childhood. Remember when you really didn’t know what this thing called death was all about? Sure, you had heard of it, maybe even knew of someone who experienced it, but hadn’t really faced the despair that can come with proximity to it. Growth and change come for children, and there are many rude awakenings as awareness of the world grows, but that one is the worst.

But when I was eight years old, through circumstances in my family that no one could have ever imagined, I was thrust into that new understanding quickly and, for a brief span of time, rather repeatedly. I had experienced sadness before, but it had been a childlike sadness, over issues that were rather small and easily fixed. This time, I felt it all around me, in every person, and for a little while it came to stay. The seeming finality of death was all too real.

This chapter in my life opened the door for a battle with anxiety about this one thing-- fear of losing more family members, concern when all the people I loved weren’t right with me at all times, and worry that I couldn’t make it through the sadness if it ever happened again.

But as I got older, I learned two things. First, I learned that this thing I was so afraid of is unavoidable. It happens every day, and it happens to everyone. There is nothing I can do to stop it. By itself, that concept doesn’t help me much. If left alone with that, my fears will only grow.

But second, the gospel changes everything. When Lazarus died, Martha’s despair was great. She went so far as to tell Jesus, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” And He knows that anguish. He has entered the world of suffering and He knows that things are not right. But He told her in that same conversation, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he did, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”

He came into this world to live with us. He took our place in death to atone for sins. And He didn’t stay in that death—He brought resurrection and life.

This doesn’t mean that I don’t still struggle when I have to face grief. And it doesn’t mean that I don’t ever experience fear. But I have an answer now that makes all the difference. And that answer comes because of His resurrection.

I know that the anguish we feel every time we face this reality is there because this world is not the way that God created it. Things aren’t as they were supposed to be. But I also know that something changed that morning when the stone was rolled away and Jesus declared victory over death. Hope sprung forth, and it is enough to combat my worries. It says that every need I have has been met in Christ, even the need to be rescued from death. My sins are forgiven because of what He did on the cross, and the ultimate penalty of death has been overcome.

No, the world doesn’t look like it did in the beginning. But He makes all things new, and He sets all things right. And He brings hope that answers even our deepest fears.

Keith & Amy Whitfield live in Wake Forest, NC, where Keith teaches Systematic Theology at SEBTS.  Keith previously served as pastor of Waverly Baptist Church in Waverly, Virginia, in the years 2005 to 2010, and from 2010 until 2012, they lived in Nashville, TN, where Keith taught at a liberal arts college and helped to train church leaders. Amy loves teaching and writing, and has a passion for women to be transformed by the gospel in their daily lives.  Amy currently serves as Assistant to Charlotte Akin,  and also assists in other areas with research and writing.  Amy and Keith have two children: Mary (age 9) and Drew (age 7).