No doubt, many of you are already protesting that he didn’t die. I know what Islam teaches regarding this. But as a follower of Jesus who believes the Injil we have today is the accurate and unchanged word of God I have to believe that our Lord Jesus Christ died because the Injil so clearly teaches it.
Today is Good Friday, the day on which Jesus died. Some Christians act as though it is a day of sadness because the Messiah died. It is not a day of sadness. It is a day of rejoicing. In fact, the prophet David wrote this about the day of the Messiah’s death in the Zabur:
The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. – Psalm 118:22-24
The Injil makes clear that this cornterstone is Jesus Christ (see Mark 12:10-11; Ephesians 2:20; 1 Peter 2:4-7). His rejection is from God. Certainly God could have protected the Messiah; here is no doubt about that. But what if God wanted Jesus to die as part of his great plan to bring glory to himself by defeating Satan and removing his people’s sin? Jesus Christ did not die apart from God’s will; he died because of it: “This is the Lord’s doing.”
So we call this day Good because on it the Lord did a marvelous thing. Through the death of his beloved servant he accomplished salvation for all who would believe. Let us rejoice in this day!
