From the Cross to the Tomb

You may think it strange that we call the day that our Lord Jesus was beaten, bruised and crucified a ‘Good’ day, but it’s because we already know the ending of the book.  We know that at the end, we all live happily ever after.  As gruesome as Jesus’s death was, we can remember that He had to die in order that we may live eternally that knowing it was His Father's will, He was prepared to suffer for it. As we recall John 3:16, we know that it was because God loved us so much that He was prepared to sacrifice His only son in order to redeem us from the gates of Hell and reunite us to live with Him eternally.

Much like a funeral, where instead of focusing on the death itself, we get to celebrate the person's life and what Jesus's death represents. Yes, we should feel sorrow and remorse for our sins, that caused the great lengths of suffering that Jesus had to endure, but we can also use Good Friday to remember God’s goodness in offering us a Saviour, and be eternally grateful for it.

Being a symbolic person, I have a few traditions and rituals that I like to enjoy on this long weekend.  For one, I like to wear red on Good Friday to symbolize Jesus’s blood that was shed for me.  I also like to wear something with a butterfly that reminds me that just like their cocoon, Jesus lay wrapped up in a tomb, but that He would came out of it like a glorious butterfly. I also make a point of joining many other Christians in South Africa by eating pickled fish – for me, it is a reminder that Jesus was a fisher of men, and calls us to be the same, and to acknowledge the spices that was used for Jesus’s burial and the vinegar that He was offered to drink on the cross.

On Resurrection Sunday, commonly referred to as Easter, I try to make a point of wearing the colour purple, the colour of royalty, to acknowledge that our Risen Jesus was truly the King. I make sure I have a Hot Cross Bun for breakfast and for lunch or dinner lamb is on the menu, remembering that Jesus was the perfect, spotless Lamb, without any blemish, that was sacrificed on the altar of the cross for all humanity, including me.  And as I enjoy my lamb with my mint sauce, I am reminded of my commit-‘mint’ to follow Him always, no matter what!

Corny I know, but how ever you choose to celebrate the special events of this long weekend, may it be a meaningful occasion for you. Let it be a time to remember your loving Lord and Savior Jesus, on the cross, to the tomb and then Risen and Alive…