Just like we celebrate Jesus Christ’s birthday on Christmas day, we celebrate His death on Good Friday.

Death? And a celebration? Seems completely unrelated, right?

But that is exactly what happened over one weekend, long, long ago, which completely transformed the course of mankind.

Now, Jesus was no ordinary being. He was the one and only son of God, who came down to earth in human form. He lived only a short 33 and a 1/2 years on earth, but what a beautiful life that was! He performed many miracles, reached out to the ones in need, offered hope to the hopeless, loved the unlovable, healed the sick, was a friend to the lonely - in short, He was kind, caring and compassionate, and touched people’s hearts and transformed their lives forever.

Such a perfect, flawless, well-lived life, yet Jesus was crucified, or put on the Cross on Good Friday. Who would put such an innocent being on the Cross? Why did Jesus have to go through so much physical and mental agony? He was whipped, beaten, spat upon, mocked, insulted, humiliated, lied about by His enemies and deserted by His friends. He had to carry a huge, heavy wooden cross over a hill, all the while bleeding from the crown of thorns placed on His head and the lashes over His body. His hands and feet were nailed to the Cross, and every minute was pain and agony as He hung there, at the centre of two thieves.

Why such undeserved pain?

Why such a cruel death?

The answer is simple - love.

Jesus went through all this out of love for you and me. You see, sin leads to punishment, and to redeem us from it, we need a sacrifice. We need someone who lived just like us, but a completely sinless life. And that was Jesus. He took upon Himself what each of us can definitely not bear on our own - the weight of our sins. He took our punishment upon Himself because He loved us very, very much. Not only our sins, but also our sicknesses, loneliness, shortcomings, sorrows - everything was carried by Jesus once and for all on that Cross. He paid the ransom which sets us free, with every drop of blood that He shed on the Cross. His precious blood is what cleanses our sins and makes us as white as snow. The Bible tells us that,

“If we confess our sins,

He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins

and purify us from all unrighteousness”

While on the Cross, Jesus uttered seven short, but profound lines, which kind of sums up what His entire life was all about. These powerful last words carry much significance, since they are what Jesus said just before he died on the cross.

The first one was, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do”.

The second was to one of the thieves – “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise”.

The third was to His mother – “Woman, this is your son”. And to His beloved disciple – “This is your mother”.

The fourth one was, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?”

The fifth one was, “I thirst”.

The sixth one was, “It is finished”.

And the seventh and final one was, “Father, into your hands I commend My spirit”.

With a huge earthquake, the sky turning dark and the curtain in the temple splitting into two, Jesus’ life on earth came to an end. A man named Joseph took His body from the Cross, wrapped it in a linen cloth and placed it in a tomb carved out from a stone. Another huge stone was rolled over the entrance. The next day, the cave was sealed and two soldiers were put on guard right outside.

The end.

Or.. was it just a prelude to something far more amazing and unimaginable?

If Jesus’ story had ended in that tomb, of course we would all be very sad and mourning His death and sacrifice on the Cross. But the reason we celebrate His death is because..

because..

because..

Jesus won over death! Yes, that’s right! Early on Sunday morning, the tomb was empty! Two angels in bright shining clothes assured the people that yes, indeed, Jesus is alive!

Death could not hold Him! The grave could not keep Him! Just like a chick hatches out of an egg, Jesus walked out alive out of that tomb. And because He lives, we can smile, rejoice, live with a hope in our hearts that even after our lives here on earth are done, we can spend eternity with our risen Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

The gift of eternal life is the greatest gift Jesus has left us with.

The end.