Easter > Holy Week Devotionals > Good Friday
1 CORINTHIANS 15:50-58
50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
REFLECTION
Read the text slowly and prayerfully – How do these verses provide a window into the heart of God? The importance of the resurrection? The hope we have for the future? Then walk through the three reflection steps of Observe, Interpret, and Apply.
ALL SAD THINGS BECOME UNTRUE
BY DAVID BARRETT
“But Sam lay back, and stared with open mouth, and for a moment, between bewilderment and great joy, he could not answer. At last he gasped: ‘Gandalf! I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was dead myself. Is everything sad going to come untrue? What’s happened to the world?’
‘A great Shadow has departed,’ said Gandalf, and then he laughed, and the sound was like music, or like water in a parched land; and as he listened the thought came to Sam that he had not heard laughter, the pure sound of merriment, for days upon days without count. It fell upon his ears like the echo of all the joys he had ever known. But he himself burst into tears. Then, as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring and the sun will shine out the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laughter welled up, and laughing he sprang from his bed.”
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
When everything sad comes untrue. I don’t know of a better description of what the resurrection of Jesus Christ means than how Tolkien described the conclusion of Lord of the Rings. The great shadow had departed. Tears ceased. Laughter welled up. Everything sad had come untrue. That is what the resurrection of Jesus Christ promises. That even though we still walk through the valley of the great shadow of death and tears have not ceased, there is a day coming when everything sad will come untrue. That is because the resurrection means that the hope Jesus purchased on the cross was paid in full. It worked, and the resurrection was God’s stamp of approval. And here is what that means practically for you: The resurrection means that God has the final word on everything sad in your life and will make it untrue.
Today is Good Friday. Think from a personal perspective what the resurrection of Jesus meant for those first disciples. These next few days were a time of utter despair. However, on Sunday, the tomb was empty. And their sadness turned to joy. Their despair was turned into triumph. Perhaps they realized that God had a plan the whole time. Yes, there were painful days, but there was a Sunday coming that had the final word and made everything sad come untrue.
The guilt, injustice, pain, despair, and death they personally experienced on the night of Jesus’ arrest and betrayal did not have the last word; the resurrection of Jesus made it untrue. What that means is that the guilt, injustice, pain, despair, and death that you personally experience in your life do not have the final word because the resurrection of Jesus will make it untrue.
Want to read more about how the resurrection undoes the brokenness of our world and gives us hope for the life to come? Check out the full article here!
Good Friday can be a hard day to explain to your little ones. Tune in to tonight’s Family Audio Story where we uncover why a day so horrible is good news for us. Listen here!
AND don't forget to join us TONIGHT at 6 PM for our Good Friday Service in the Worship Center. You won't want to miss it!
