April 3, 2026: GOOD FRIDAY

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.“

(Matthew 9.36)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

From John 15, verse 13, we read “No greater love is there than this than a man would lay down his life for the sake of another.” The theological implications of this statement uttered by Jesus to His disciples during the Last Supper are ancient. They depict the very truth of His purpose on earth in that moment. He is the “good shepherd” who would lay down His own life for the sake of the flock given to Him by the Master of the flock. The Master of the flock is God. His Son is the appointed Shepherd whose care for them creates the image of unity and likeness. The litany of Holy Week, as the gospels lead us, speaks to the conflict with those who were intended to be appointed and anointed shepherds of the flock. Jesus found them to be more like wolves in shepherd’s clothing waiting to devour the sheep. They only steward the flock in order to have more sheep to devour because their taste for “blood” has become insatiable. Little wonder why God said to Israel through the prophets, “I no longer desire your sacrifices. but mercy and the pursuit of the knowledge of God which is to be hidden in your heart.” (Hosea 6.6) The heart of the people, and their leadership, had wandered far from God. The further from God they moved, the colder their heart was for faith and faithfulness. Strangely, they felt a burning heart for unrighteousness and the lust for things of this world. Only now can we understand how this works because of the image of “dry ice.” It is so cold that it burns the flesh. You know the sensation perhaps not with an experience of dry ice. Remember when playing in the freezing cold and you came in to warm your hands? You made the mistake of thinking warm or hot water would speed the process. Instead, the shock to the skin was painful as if it was burning. This is the way sin does its work. The analogy of “how do you boil a frog” is appropriate at this point. You slowly turn up the heat. The frog slowly adjusted to the rising temperature until it was too late and was seduced into accepting the boiling water. This is what Satan does by heating up the self and turning the focus away from God. It is like a shepherd who turns his flock toward the wolf or the bear or the lion and tells them “it will be okay.”

Today, though, we find ourselves at the cross. It is Good Friday. We remember the crucifixion scene. It is not sanitized. It is bloody, horrific and sickening. Why we want to clean it up is beyond me. We must face the fact that Jesus our Savior, the Good Shepherd, took on the lion, the bear, the wolf, the carrion, the carnivores of human hearts and human lives. He left it all “on the field” as some would say in today’s vernacular. He didn’t survive the battle but He won the war. He was torn to shreds, left bloodied beyond the ability to bruise and tormented with bitter drink and the derision of others. Yet, as in the attempt of Satan to tempt Him in the wilderness, His Spirit prevailed. It could not be taken from Him. He had to choose to whom He would entrust it: God, His Father in Heaven, or Satan, the Prince of Demons. Jesus chose God. That is the story of Holy Week. It was all about the accountability of choosing “God’s will not Mine be done.” It is rarely pretty and safe to do so. The world is a dangerous place. Jesus told His disciples, “In this world, you will have trouble (warning them that such trouble would come because they would live and serve God in His name); but fear not, for I have overcome the world.” (John 16.33) Notice He was already confident of His victory over the world. It allowed Him to go out and lay down His life for the sake of us! Jesus loved us so much that He put Himself between our sin and our eternal death. He asks us to give our hold on sin and take hold of Him. He so knew us even before we were born that we would become as one in His image! That choice is ours just as it was His. We are no longer sheep without a shepherd. We have looked to the hill from whence our help comes. It comes from Him and Him alone.

TODAY’S PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness but as righteous works of faith, hope and love in Jesus’ name. AMEN.