GOOD FRIDAY 2010

There are many evils in this life, and in the sufferings and death of Jesus we see a number of them, evils such as:

à        Governmental officials who are weak and allow things they know to be wrong to be committed. There are many Pontius Pilate’s serving in government today, and every time we fail to stand up for what is right, or do not help and defend those who wrongly suffer, we are Pilate’s.

à        Zeal for God which is misdirected and deaf to the truth, so that it even excuses sinful actions in order to achieve its desired ends, is evil. Also evil, however, is using such false zeal as an excuse for not being zealous for God.

à        The mocking and shaming of the weak and defenseless is evil.

à        Death, and especially murder and unjust death, is evil.

These evils seen in Jesus’ sufferings and death are but a few of the many evils in this life. Some come upon us simply because we live in a fallen, broken world. Others come because of our own sins, or the sins of others.

What is the greatest, the worst, of evils? Not knowing and having God as your loving Father, but as your enemy. What could be worse? After all, every other evil in this life is just that: in this life. When this life ends, so does the evil. How many times, after someone dies who was sick and was suffering greatly, have you heard it said: “Well, at least his suffering is over and he’s at peace.” What if he’s not at peace? What if God is angry with him because of his sins and throws him into hell, where he will suffer day after day after day after day, for days without number or end? There is nothing that comes close to that evil!

That is precisely the evil that the Evil One, Satan, tried to bring upon us all at the beginning and is trying to bring upon you in your life. Look at the evil he brought upon Adam and Eve. He tempted them to disobey God, and they did. Afterward:

à        They wanted nothing to do with God and so ran from Him and hid. How terrible, to run away from the only One who could help!

à        When God mercifully sought them out, they did not confess but only made things worse by blaming Him for what had happened. “It was the woman you gave me!”

How evil! They who had been made in God’s image and likeness were now enemies of God, like Satan himself! What greater evil could come upon a person than being like Satan?

The devil brought this great evil upon us all when he led Adam and Eve into sin, for we are their children, conceived and born in their image and likeness. Our sinful natures and actions reveal that we are like Satan, and not God. If God had not come to Adam and Eve in mercy, and with the promise of mercy, our end would be evil, indeed.

But, He came to them with mercy. He promised them, and all of us, a Savior who would come, not simply to deliver them from evil, but to deliver them from the Evil One. Deliverance from the Evil One, and from all the evil that he brings: this is what God, all the way back in the beginning in the Garden of Eden, promised us when He said to Satan, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; He shall crush your head, and you shall crush His heel." This great promise was fulfilled on the cross.

The crucifixion of Jesus took place 2,000 years ago, but the deliverance it brought about began long before with God’s promise. Jesus’ death on the cross, His death as the guilty One because He bore the sins of the world, is the weight that crushes Satan. Christ proclaimed this when He cried out, “It is finished!” just before He died. God’s seeing Jesus as His enemy because He bore the sins of the world, His judging Him for the sins He bore – our sins – was finished. Those who trust in Jesus, who take refuge in His death, are now no longer seen by God as being sinful and evil like Satan, for their sins have been wiped away. “He was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed,” Holy Scripture promises (Isaiah 53). In Christ’s death for us we are healed, delivered from sin and Satan.

This is why, at the end of the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray: “But deliver us from evil.” A better translation of His words is, “But deliver us from the evil one.” Christ had in mind the mercy God promised in the Garden of Eden when He taught us the Lord’s Prayer. Its closing words sum up the deliverance we have by His death on the cross. We should have this in mind, then, when we pray that prayer. There is no greater evil that could come upon us than to not have God as our Father but be under the power and control of Satan and his hosts. There is no greater deliverance we could receive, then, than that which took place when Jesus died on the cross. The crushing of Satan by the forgiveness of our sins, our deliverance from the Evil One and being brought into the Father’s kingdom – this is our ultimate desire and prayer. This is what we have in Christ who died for us and on the 3^rd day rose from the dead. For to Him and those who are His now belongs “the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.” Amen!