Good Friday Devotion

This Good Friday Devotion is part of a series of devotions for the week before Easter.

But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
Isaiah 53:5

The Roman crucifixion was nothing to sneeze at.

It was designed to do more than just inflict pain (but it definitely did that, too). The point of making the punishment unimaginably brutal was to deter others from committing the same offenses.

The Romans wanted to make a public spectacle that drew crowds and humiliated the offenders. They wanted everyone to see that no one could stand up to them and get away with it. That those convicted of crimes were powerless against the hand of Rome.

Just as each of us is powerless against the consequences of our sins.

The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). There’s no way around that. Acts 10:34 says that God shows no partiality. If everyone is guilty (and we are), then everyone deserves to be punished for their sins. Without Jesus stepping in, we would be subject to the wrath of God and there’s nothing we could do about it.

But here’s where it gets good: Jesus wasn’t powerless.

Jesus could have stopped His crucifixion at any point in time. He didn’t just die for us, He endured for us. That’s the ugly truth about the gospel. We call it a free gift, because it doesn’t cost us anything, but it was forged in the blood of Christ. And the price He paid was enormous.

John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world…” The crucifixion was the love of God on display for the world to see. What Jesus went through was unimaginable to me, but I am so thankful He did.

Find all the devotions in the Holy Week series here.