The comfort behind Good Friday

Part of what made the deaths of Gandhi, Kennedy, and King — and others through the years — such tragic experiences was the sudden, unexpected shock of the news. It was one thing to lose the inspirational leader. Add to that the loss of a sense of predictability or stability in the world. If this could happen even to them, what assurance do any of us have?

It's hard enough to go on after a profound loss. How does one go on without an assurance that it's possible to go on?

This is another reason why the death of Jesus is different. This was not some unexpected tragedy that deprived the world of an important voice for compassion and charity. This was not a beneficent life cut short. This was a beneficent life completed and fulfilled.

That's part of the power behind the truth "that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures." The Presbyterians reading that from the 1970s WorshipBook would understand that as something like "as we read it in the gospels." But that could not have been what was in Paul's mind. Except for a possible early Aramaic version of Matthew, there would have been no gospels to read. They hadn't been written yet.

"The scriptures" for Paul and the other early Christians were the writings of the prophets and sages. They were the books of the Old Testament. (Though I find myself quite drawn to Marva Dawn's term First Testament.) And they were written at least four centuries before the crucifixion.

Those writings described some of what would happen. Their focus, though, was on what those events would mean for God's people. Their focus was on how the wounds of the Messiah would bring healing. Their focus was on the spiritual benefits that flowed from that sacrifice.

To say "Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures" was to offer a double comfort. First, the visible events happened just as predicted. The world is not spinning out of control. God is still in charge. He knew this moment was coming and he has prepared for it. The future is still secure in God's hands.

Second, this death was "according to the scriptures" in its spiritual benefits as well. If the visible events played out just as predicted, then we can be sure the invisible spiritual realities happened as predicted as well. The prophet who correctly predicted the fact of the wounds has also correctly predicted the outcome of those wounds. In those wounds, we are healed.

In that we can find comfort for today and confidence for tomorrow.