Good Friday – Living Word Fellowship

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As Christians, we believe that Jesus Christ is our example and we are to “follow in His steps.” We also believe that we are in the final days of this world. How should we conduct ourselves? What needs to be done? Christ’s example in the last hours of his life provide us with insights that we should apply today. In this podcast, I will identify three things that Christ focused on that are relevant and needful for us to follow in these final days.

Finish the work

The book of John in chapters 13-17 details the conversations that Jesus had with His disciples before His crucifixion. His words provided instruction, comfort, warnings and encouragement. Everything was done so that they “would not fall away” as He said in John 16:1. Instead of focusing on His forthcoming death, Christ focused on finishing Hi work of preparing the disciples.

What an example to us! So often we’re enticed to focus on our own misery or problems. But God wants us to focus on accomplishing what He’s put us here to do—proclaiming the Gospel and living a spiritually restored Word-life.

If Satan can get you to lose your focus, your service to Christ will be incomplete. Always remember: focus on the mission. Nothing else matters.

In John 17:4, just before His arrest, Jesus clearly stated that His work was done. His work of calling, strengthening, and preparing the members of His spiritual body was now complete. But this work had been accomplished by a physical, earthly body seeking out and ministering to other humans (the disciples) who were members of His spiritual body.

Here again we see what we are called to do in these final days. We must be busy:

Finding the members of Christ’s body who are lost in sin
Strengthening those members once they’ve been reconciled to God.

Realize, my brothers and sisters, that you were not saved to minister to yourself. According to the Book of Ephesians chapter 4, we are all here to strengthen each other in the faith of God. In fact, in one sense, our very spiritual survival depends on each other. We are called a spiritual house (1 Peter 2:5). In your natural home, the beams in the walls are supported by the floor. The walls support the ceiling. The beams in the roof support the roof itself. Everything is supported by the foundation.

Ask yourself: do you actively work to strengthen your brothers and sisters in this Christian faith? Do you participate in church social events which are necessary for strong bonds? How are you inspiring them? Are you bombarding heaven with your prayers? Inquiring about their welfare and working to resolve their problems? Or are you lost in a world of your own?

Relationships are formed by constantly being together–in good and bad times. Bonds are strengthened by constant interaction and broken by isolation. In basic military training, cadets sleep in the same rooms, shower in groups, and even use the toilet without privacy guards between stalls. The lack of individual privacy forges one unit that fights, bleeds, and dies for each other.

For some reason, Christ’s spiritual army struggles with this concept.

We cannot afford to become lost in our own life. This is what our enemy wants. This is his method of “divide and conquer”, the same tool the Roman empire notoriously used to destroy its enemies.

In the final days, Satan purposes to distract believers from strengthening each other by inundating their own life with personal problems and selfish motives. Ultimately the entire church is weakened.

Jesus showed us that we must combat this by deliberately minimizing our own situations and actively engaging with each other in as many physical and spiritual ways as possible

Self-Prepare

But Jesus didn’t just prepare His disciples; He also prepared Himself for what lay ahead. John relates that Jesus spent much time in prayer, wrestling through until His earthly body was able to endure the trial that lay ahead.

It’s no easy thing to know when you’re going to die. Most of us don’t like to think about our death. In fact, we change the words to songs like “I’ll fly away” so that we sing “I’ll not die, I’ll be raptured by and by.” But Jesus faced His death in the same way He faced life—head-on.

Yes, He struggled with it as any human would. But He focused on getting Himself ready for what lay ahead.

Now, I will say that we live in the closing hours of the world and many of us may indeed be alive for the coming of the Lord. But whether you’re awake or asleep when He comes, my question is this: how are you preparing yourself?

I find it helpful to think about where you are right now. Do you feel perfectly ready to meet Him? Is the Spirit of God, which is Eternal life, burning in your soul? Ireneus, who we consider to be a messenger of God, once wrote:

“The business of the Christian is nothing else but to be ever preparing for death.”

How often Satan gets us focused on so many other things that we don’t realize that our death—and the death of this world—is inching steadily closer heartbeat by heartbeat.

Are there:

Things you’ve left unsaid or undone
Wrongs for which you need to apologize
Things you want to accomplish before you leave this world
Debts, wills, other important legal considerations you need to resolve
Family issues that need to be settled

We may not see this as being self-preparation but, again, the goal is to have nothing unresolved when you are called from this world. We live in a time where nuclear bombs can ignite our drought-ridden planet at any moment. Where death stalks each neighborhood on a regular basis.

Like Jesus, in the final days, work to be prepared for the coming of the Lord. That way, whether He comes for you or comes for us all, you’ll be ready.

Give full testimony

Finally, Jesus gave clear testimony of who He was in the final hours of His life. In Gethsemane, His captors asked for Jesus of Nazareth and He responded by saying “I am He” twice. Before Caiaphas, He identified Himself as the Son of Man. Before Pilate, He identified Himself as the King.

He gave clear witness, or a full testimony, of what He believed. It didn’t matter whether or not they believed. What mattered was that the witness was given. And notice that the testimony He gave with His words was backed up by His life when He rose from the dead on Easter morning.

We’ve been given an opportunity in these last days. In a world of unbelief, we’re called to give full testimony of our faith. Christ commands us to be His witnesses unto the end of the world, unto the end of the age. This is to be spoken by our mouths and backed up by our life. Words alone are not enough. Dedicate your life to fulfilling this calling.

If you do this, God will vindicate you as He did Jesus and raise you up with Him.

Live it!

Today I identified three aspects of Christ’s ministry in the last days and showed how we are to do the same in the last days of this world. We must:

Finish the work He’s given us to reach out to those outside the faith while actively strenghtening those within it.
Prepare ourselves to meet Him
Give full testimony of what we believe

The geopolitics of Good Friday

Today, I started my Good Friday by listening to Luke 23 which covers the trial and subsequent crucifixion of Jesus on the Bible app. It struck me how adamant Pilate was at first to spare Christ’s life but, when faced with mounting political pressure… he gave in. Why?

As a Christian, I believe this moment was firmly orchestrated by God for the purpose of humanity’s redemption. But we must realize that God works His divine will through the choices that we make based on our perception of reality. Pilate had no idea that he was an instrument in the hand of God. But he did understand the natural forces of politics, rebellion, and conspiracy that led up to this moment.

As a historian and minister, I love to dig into the background of major moments in world history. Let’s take a quick look at what geopolitical forces conspired to bring about Good Friday.

What happens when the financial system collapses?

In AD 33 the Roman empire was confronted with a financial crisis that would have a global impact. A shortage of cash—largely triggered by political infighting in the Roman Senate, an outbreak of plague, and a strained financial market—resulted in an economic meltdown that is called the Financial Panic of AD 33.

Emperor Tiberius responded with a bailout—some 100 million sesterces lent at 0% interest to business owners and banks. This stimulus was injected into the market, primarily benefitting the elite but ultimately stabilizing the economy.

Sound familiar? Truly, history repeats itself.

But, while the world was grappling with a financial crisis, another event was mark AD 33 as a year unlike any other. On a hill outside Jerusalem, a Man hung suspended between heaven and earth, making a bridge between God and humanity with His body and blood.

These two events may well have been connected.

Why did Pontius Pilate condemn Jesus?

As financial panic spread throughout the Roman empire, Pilate himself faced an unprecedented challenge. He had been appointed by Sejanus, a man who effectively ruled the empire while the emperor Tiberius spent his days in a sort of voluntary exile in the gorgeous island of Capri.

Unfortunately, having power makes you want more power. Sejanus, who had 9,000 members of the Praetorian Guard at his disposal in Rome, was accused of planning a coup against the emperor and was executed before it could be carried out.

What followed was a persecution of Sejanus loyalists. So when a riot ensued in Jerusalem and the Jewish leaders threatened Pilate with an accusation of disloyalty, he had every reason to be concerned.

What does John 19:12 mean?

And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar’s friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.
John 19:12

It’s doubtful that Pilate had a direct relationship with Caesar Tiberius so the Jewish leaders weren’t talking about personal friendship. To not be a friend of Caeaser, non amicus Caesaris, was to lose a position of trust normally held by administrative leadership. Pilate’s loyalty was being called into question–and he couldn’t afford to have that happen. Not when he had been appointed by a a man who Caesar had recently executed. Regardless of how Pilate took it, the implications were clear—and so was the decision he had to make.

What does this all mean for us today?

I believe that God orders all things now as He did then. When we read the news online or see it on TV, we often wonder how things are all coming together. As our hearts break with those who’ve lost loved ones in mass shootings, or those who are victims of the ongoing pandemic, let us remember that everything—and I mean everything—plays some part in bringing about God’s perfect kingdom.

Without all the drama in Roman Senate perhaps the crucifixion would never have take place. Without all the drama in our halls of Congress, perhaps the pieces that are necessary for Christ’s return would never happen. But everything is working together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose.

History and prophecy

One final thought: let those who believe the Gospel remember that we are not here to save this world but to look for the world that is to come. While we may not understand all that’s happening, the wheels of history show us that our decisions result in biblical prophesy coming to pass.

So let us true believers draw comfort from God’s promises and lift up our heads, as we remember the sacrifice of the Son, for our future is bright.

Tag: Good Friday

The Final Days