Today Is Good Friday - A Day For Reflection. He Didn't Have to Do It But He Did.
(anglicancompass.com)
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Come, you daughters, share my morning.
See him! Who? The Bridegroom Christ.
See him! How? The Lamb of God.
See it! What? His innocence.
See him, filled with love intense
as the shameful cross he's bearing.
O Lamb of God most holy,
who on the cross did languish;
O Saviour, meek and lowly,
condemned to suffer anguish;
our sins you carry for us,
to take despair from o'er us.
Have mercy on us, O Jesu.
Was going to post something, but now I don’t have to!
“On Easter Sunday we celebrate the most long-awaited and glorious event in the history of the world. It is the day that changed everything. On that day, my life changed. Your life changed. The destiny of all God’s children changed. When I think of what the Savior did for us leading up to that first Easter Sunday, I want to lift up my voice and shout praises to the Most High God and His Son, Jesus Christ! The gates of heaven are unlocked! The windows of heaven are opened! Today and forevermore, God’s grace is available to all.”
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf | The Gift of Grace
Thanks
This. The first Easter after my daughter's death was the first Easter I truly understood in both mind and spirit the pure joy and love for our Lord. I will see her again.
BC of our Savior the gates of heaven are unlocked! How lovely! My wish for you is the peace of this Easter! Truly sorry for your loss!
I wouldn't have survived it all without Jesus. He is our hope.
He did have to do it. Isaiah 55 tells us that the Father had to crush the son. Blood had to be spilled in order to cover sin. It was the only way. Its always been about the souls of Gods greatest creation, mankind. For it pleased him! Thank you Jesus. No telling how wicked I would be had I not met you.
The question as to whether Jesus "had to die" is one that has occupied theologians over the entire history of Christianity. What is clearly Christian teaching is that Jesus atoned for our faults and made satisfaction for our sins to the Father... but whether that atonement had to occur in the way that it did has been a matter of theological debate.
What seems to me a reasonable explanation to me is this: God decided to send Jesus to live among us, to be fully human so that he could teach us and show us the ways of the Lord. Once he became human, death was inevitable; and because his teaching challenged both the religious and secular authorities of his day, a violent death was likely.
So we are, in fact, redeemed by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, but are we compelled to believe that God deliberately willed the suffering of his Son? Jesus asked at Emmaus (Lk 24:26): “Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”
Was it necessary? Yes, but perhaps not because God willed it to happen exactly in that way.
We can not understand God. He is timeless. His will is His way. It's simple yet hard to understand. God sent Jesus to die for our sins to be forgiven. No questions, no wiggle room, no easy out. Did Jesus ask God to spare Him the suffering, to spare Him the separation and of dying and going to Hell? Yes. Jesus knew what was ahead for Him and He was sweating blood. He was made human.
God willed the suffering of His Son. It had to be for evil to be overcome.
In the way it happened was according to Old Testament Law regarding the Passover. A lamb without defect. Psalm 22, Isaiah 53 predict this. The gospel accounts and rest of the New Testament collectively explain how and why the crucifixion of Christ was the only way He could die. The manner of His death was predicted.
https://www.gotquestions.org/Psalm-22-16-lion-pierced.html
https://www.gotquestions.org/Passover-Lamb.html
1 Peter 1:19-21 - - - - 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God
When the Roman soldiers were ordered to crush the femurs of the crucified people (to expedite death—also to not allow people to remain on the cross into the Sabbath hours—a violation of law), only the two criminals had their legs smashed with the mallet. Christ did not have His femurs crushed because He was already dead.
When the soldiers approached Jesus, they determined that he was already dead, and one used his spear to pierce Jesus’ side to confirm it (see John 19:34). This fulfilled another Old Testament prophecy about the Messiah: his bones would remain unbroken (example, Psalm 34:19–20).
God decided to send Jesus in the beginning or else we wouldn’t see the fortelling of this messiah in the Old Testament. All the way back starting in Genesis 1. The only way for us to live, something had to die. The only atonement for sin is death. Fig leaves were not good enough in Gods eyes so he slaughtered ( a lamb most likely) an animal to make them skins for clothes. It was the only way to cover their sin. The shedding of blood. Christ had to take the sins of the world. What you must understand is that Christ wasn’t just the son of God, he was God in human flesh. He created himself. Once you understand the trinity and the spiritual aspect (realm) aka( are born again of spirit) then all of this makes sense. Christ had to suffer. Or else what is the point from genesis to revelation? It was 100% necessary. It had to happen. There was no other way for us to be reconciled to God other than him taking human form and taking the punishment for our sin. It is what explains how god can be both a righteous judge and forgiving at the same time. There is none righteous. If Christ didn’t do then all of humanity would burn in hell. Gods greatest creation would be doomed because not one single person has ever pleased God except himself in the form of the Son. The only perfect spotless blimishless lamb ever to walk the earth.
Think of the pain you would feel if you had to watch your son or daughter be tortured and slowly killed. God loved us all so much that He was willing to sacrifice His Son so that our sins could be forgiven.
Forgiveness is free. All we need to do is ask Jesus for He is the only way.
The eternal plan of God to put on display His wrath, anger, justice, grace, and mercy implies Christ did “have to do it.” The having to do it was always the plan for redemptive history.
A similar issue would be saying there was no purpose for the existence of evil. Instead, God (if He always knew it) solved the problem with the crucifixion of Christ for redemptive history. But it was always God’s plan to ordain evil for the use of/the end goal/the purpose of ultimately revealing His grace to the praise of His glory for eternity.
This doesn’t necessarily mean God experiences time as humans do in this life (linearly); rather time is an ever-and-eternal-present. However, the divine calendar and timetable of the crucifixion of the Son of God was set in eternity past and accomplished in human history.
Additionally, the prophets penned the words of the prophecy about the coming life, death, and resurrection of the Messiah, the Lamb, the Son of God. The long-awaited Messiah was expected to come, but most had a problem with His death (even His own disciples—like Peter attempting to behead an officer/guard in Gethsemane when they came to arrest Jesus). But it was a necessary death to a necessary plan in the eternal mind of God that was accomplished in the Son of God.
Very good and wise piece. Thank you for sharing.
Easter is a pagan celebration of Astaroth/Ishtar, fruit buns, rabbits and eggs all to do with Spring, fertility and reproduction. Jesus was not crucified on Easter, careful what you worship, same goes with Christmas
Nobody here said He was crucified on Easter. They are celebrating the death and resurrection of Christ our Savior.
Whatever one believes is what one chooses to believe. I choose to worship God and the Holy Trinity.
According to the Bible, Jesus Christ's death and resurrection took place during the Jewish Passover, which typically falls in March or April. Commonly recognized as the festival of freedom, this year's Passover begins at sundown on April 5 and ends on the evening of April 13.