Good Friday, Our Daily Calling

"And he said to them all, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." Luke 9:23

Good Friday is a time to remember the sacrifice our loving Savior made to free us from the bondage of sin. Jesus became the Paschal Lamb for all humanity. Instead of routine cleansing rituals of animal sacrifice, the Son of God became the ultimate sacrifice once and for all. Christ's suffering became our healing, and His death became our eternal redemption.

"And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him: and he asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am? They answering said, John the Baptist; but some say, Elias; and others say, that one of the old prophets is risen again. He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God. And he straitly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing; Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day. And he said to them all, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and the of holy angels." Luke 9:18-26

Jesus used an essential opportunity with the disciples to share this truth of cross-bearing. In Luke chapter 9, Christ asked the disciples whom others thought He was. He also wanted to know who they thought He was. His identity is the basis of salvation. His pathway to Calvary is the way of the cross, a road whereby others follow the sinless Son of God, not a mere mortal or political outcast. Jesus expressly told the disciples of His coming rejection, suffering, death, and resurrection. In Acts, the apostles preached "the way" to others who had not heard of Jesus. In this passage, Christ is teaching the disciples the essential truths of salvation. Then, Jesus tells them to follow Him by taking up their crosses. The purpose of salvation is not power through military intervention or social reform through political change. Salvation is accepting Christ for who He is, what He has accomplished, and following Him daily on the new way of eternal life.

Good Friday is the annual reminder of our daily calling, take up your cross and follow Jesus. Today, most people turn away from a call to sacrifice something. We want our desires met above everything else. Our mortal desires are for the here and now, personal gratification above patience and discipline. Our immature voices complain and bemoan waiting or denial of our requests and demands. Jesus calls us from our human desires leading us to a mortal life into spiritual desires of following Him to immortal, eternal life. We are too focused on the here and now. Christ's sacrifice points to the above and beyond, a spiritual place we cannot achieve of ourselves without His death and resurrection.

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." Romans 8:35-37

Christ's death on the cross has no equal in demonstrating His love for us. That love is the essence of God and cannot be separated from those who love and follow Jesus. Yet, His love compels us to taste victory through death. We are to lose everything to gain everything and more. Jesus calls us to sacrifice this short-sighted mortal life to gain eternal life.  

Still, there is a paradox. Although Christ physically died so we might live, and He calls us to take our crosses leading to sacrifice, He does not call us to certain physical death. While the disciples would have understood the horrifying imagery of the cross, our death is different. As Christ explained to Nicodemus in John 3, we are spiritually dead while simultaneously physically alive. Christ calls us from spiritual death into eternal life. This transformation extends beyond the physical grave into an eternal reward. We choose to relinquish our selfish desires and motivations for a Christ-like way of life.  Christian is not a placeholder of ideas or beliefs; we are Christians when we, through faith in Jesus and by God's grace, live according to Christ's example.  It is more than a cognitive admission, emotional attachment, or willful adoption of a list of beliefs. When we are  Christian,  we enter into a relationship of eternal significance. Jesus transforms us into His image.  

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." Romans 12:1

Furthermore, Christ reminds us we are to follow Him daily. Just as He sacrificed Himself on the cross, we should be living sacrifices unto God. We have eternal life because of His death. Our lives are now living examples of His gift on the cross. We are not examples of suffering and death; on the contrary, we are living testimonies of conquerors, triumphant followers of Jesus who have tasted the water of everlasting life. Serving Christ introduces God's love, joy, and peace into our lives and the lives of those we meet.

As we remember the sacrifice Christ made for our sins this Good Friday, may our hearts be filled with gratitude for His suffering and death, and may our thoughts be consumed with the magnitude of Christ's sacrifice. Finally, may our lives be continually renewed in taking up our crosses and following Jesus.