Good Friday – “A BETTER Sacrifice”
Verse: The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle. Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words he breathed his last. Luke 23:45-46
Read: Luke 23:1-56
You know the worth of something only buy what someone is willing to pay for it. You may think your old car is worth a lot of money because you’ve had so many good memories in it. But it’s only going to be worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Jesus made a statement of our worth at the cross. He looked at you and knew you were worth the gift of his life. He willingly gave his life to crucifixion to buy you back for His father
The process of crucifixion was brutal. It was not meant to be a fast death. Beheading was a fast death and that was ironically a right to you if you were a Roman citizen. This is why the apostle Paul was beheaded and not crucified. The Romans were experts at crucifixions and it was meant to be as excruciating as possible for as long as possible and to be public. The Romans wanted to instill fear into the people and the message was clear: Obey Roman rule or this may happen to you.
But it wasn’t the pain of the crucifixion that killed Jesus, it was his broken heart. Jesus didn’t anguish in the garden over the physical pain of crucifixion. He anguished over the idea of being separated from His Father during that pain. Jesus knew that He would have to absorb the sins of past, present, and future of all humanity while He hung on the cross. Could you imagine feeling the shame from every single person’s sin on earth?
The end of crucifixion was death by cardiac arrest, and science tells us that in the most extreme cases one’s heart would have exploded.
Jesus not only died of cardiac arrest, He died of a broken heart for all of humanity.
His heart broke, so yours could heal.