It's Good Friday. So What?

"God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8 NIV)

The calendar says it's Good Friday, and that Easter is just two days away.  But all I hear on the news is COVID-19 this, coronavirus that.  Wear a mask, don't wear a mask; don't shake hands with anyone; and by all means, stay six feet away from everyone.  And please, please stay inside (unless what you've got to do is really, really important, like buying mulch for landscaping your yard, or running to the store to get that chocolate bar you've been craving, or getting take-out for dinner from your favorite restaurant).  Yet we are supposed to remember that today is Good Friday, the day Jesus died.

Well, it is true that we have been hearing a lot about death lately.  Mortality rates, death counts in every country under the sun, and fear that only comes when people begin to consider the possibility that they might be next.  We are certainly afraid of death.

So the question comes to my mind: why did Jesus actually have to die?  I certainly know people who are uncomfortable with the idea.  Frankly, I am uncomfortable with the idea. I also know people who outright reject the notion that God requiring Jesus to die for us is like, the best plan?  Really? Surely God could have come up with a better idea.  Couldn't he have just said, "OK, it's all good.  No, really, I've got this taken care of.  You're all in!"  It sounds good, and there are many days I wish it were true, especially when I spend time with really nice people who won't accept the message of forgiveness and salvation through Christ.  But the problem is, it just doesn't match with what the Bible says about God.  He is loving, yes, but he is also just.  He is holy and righteous and cannot just ignore sin.  So, as much as I would like that to be different, I can't change who God is, at least not without changing what Scripture says about Him.   

I'm no theologian, but it's pretty clear to me what the Bible is saying.  By ourselves, we just don't make the grade. (You can read for yourself in passages like: Leviticus 11:44-45, Isaiah 6:3-5, Leviticus 17:11, and Romans 3:23-26.)  But what is also clear to me is that God loves me and has made a way (see Romans 5:8) for me to be saved.  It's not really my place to question his methods, as much as I might wish for other options.

So today is Good Friday.  Jesus had to die because God required it, based on who He is.  But the key here is that God did make a way for us.  It's there for the taking.  In the midst of COVID-19, when fear is the emotion of the day, we can find peace because someone else died for us.  So when we die (and we will die, if Christ doesn't return first), we have nothing to fear. Because of Christ, this is a very, very good day, indeed.