Every year the Christian Church celebrates something called Holy Week which starts today. Traditionally we call today Palm Sunday because it was seen as the day Jesus rode into the city of Jerusalem on the back of a colt donkey. The Jewish community that had been following Him during His ministry celebrated His entrance into the city because they felt it was the beginning of His earthly kingdom. 

But I want to focus on what happened on Friday of this week. This was the day that the powerful leaders of Judaism stripped, mocked, and crucified the Son of God. It is traditionally called “Good Friday.” But why in the world would we call something like this good? It is because even though these powerful people were planning to kill Jesus, God in heaven was planning to save the world from itself and bring about the greatest good in history! God created the world and Adam and Eve but the Bible tells us sin came into the world through them. They decided to take power into their own hands. From this day humans have been suffering from the consequences of their actions. But God promised He would send a Savior one day who would undo all the evil that had been done. We know that Savior as Jesus.

I want to focus today on a conversation Jesus had with a man named Nicodemus during the days leading up to the crucifixion to help us understand what the crucifixion had to do with Christ saving the world.

“For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. Anyone who believes in Him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the One and Only Son of God."

So, what did the crucifixion have to do with salvation and why do Christians call “Good Friday” good? What does the cross mean for the world?

Jesus suffered the penalty of sin so we wouldn’t have to

We as humans have a tendency to sin. Even after we know the Truth of God’s Word, we continue to put ourselves in His place. We want control. But when we depend upon ourselves and not God for everything, we sin. And the Bible says that the penalty of that sin is death.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

But the great news is that the Bible also says that God loves us and doesn’t want us to suffer the penalty of that sin, even though we deserve every bit of it. This is why He came to earth in human form. He traded places with us! He lived the sinless life we should have lived. He died a death we should have died. He took all our guilt and pain and died and in turn wiped our slate clean.

Jesus Reconciled us to Father God and to one another

The truth is that our sins have alienated us from our God and from others. Jesus saves us from our sins, but He also mends our relationships with others. The power of Jesus causes all relationship barriers to be torn down.

For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile everything to Himself by making peace through the blood of His cross — whether things on earth or things in heaven. (Colossians 1:19-20)

His power can even tear down the barriers of ethnicity and nationalism.

Jesus Death and Resurrection secure Hope for the future

The Bible ties Jesus crucifixion with His resurrection. He suffered on the cross, was buried, and on the third day He arose from the grave. This proved His claim to be God. But He also declared that one day He would return and make all things complete again. He will destroy evil, sin, and death once and for all. Then He will take His place on the throne of His Kingdom and rule the world by justice, peace, and love (Revelation 21-22).