Thank God It's Friday
Have you ever said that? The week has been long and challenging and you just can’t wait for the weekend and some well deserved R&R. “Thank God it’s Friday.” Today, we thank God that it’s Friday because this Friday we solemnly celebrate the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross at Calvary. You see, it had to be Friday because the next day was the Sabbath, which prevented Jesus’ body from being prepared for burial. In fact, that’s why the women were going to the tomb on that Sunday morning.
“Saturday evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went out and purchased burial spices so they could anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on Sunday morning, just at sunrise, they went to the tomb. On the way they were asking each other, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?’ But as they arrived, they looked up and saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled aside.” (Mark 16:1-4)
Saturday was the Sabbath so the women couldn’t prepare Jesus’ body; they couldn’t have even made the journey to visit the tomb. Jesus had died, but He wasn’t done with His body yet. The first Messianic prophecy is found in Genesis 3:14-15, but the groundwork had already been laid in Genesis 2. God’s perfect plan to save us involves the Sabbath day, the seventh day when God rested, the holy day God commanded His people to remember—it’s all part of His perfect plan.
“On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.” (Genesis 2:2-3)
“Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. (…) For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.” (Exodus 20:8-11)
God would continue to reveal other pieces of the rescue plan through prophecies, and Jesus fulfilled 108 of those prophecies while He was on earth. In his book, Science Speaks, renowned mathematics and astronomy professor Peter Stoner studied and calculated the chances of the fulfillment of Messianic prophecies. He concluded that the probability of even 8 of those 108 prophecies coming the pass is, conservatively, 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000,000. Several of the 108 prophecies were fulfilled on the Friday when Jesus was betrayed, arrested, tried, flogged, and killed. Below is a chart breaking down just eight prophecies that were fulfilled on this Good Friday.
Our God defies all odds, and when we take time to examine the evidence, the only logical conclusion is the one the Roman officer and soldiers arrived at after the crucifixion.
“The Roman officer and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, ‘This man truly was the Son of God!’” (Matthew 27:54)
God laid the foundations of His rescue plan when He laid the foundations of the Earth itself, and He continued to reveal His plan to His prophets, all leading to that Good Friday, when Jesus would pay our price on the cross. Thank God it’s Friday, remember that Holy Sabbath Saturday, and celebrate the resurrection on Easter Sunday! In this unprecedented time when the church doors are closed and services are only online in many areas, please share a link to an online church service with a neighbor or someone you know this weekend.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
—Redeemed
