Today is Good Friday. It’s when we gather at the foot of the cross to ponder and give thanks that Jesus gave his life for ours. He paid the price for our sin so that we could be reconciled to God.

I sometimes tell the story about a young person who asked me why Good Friday is called “good” since it’s the day Jesus died. I’ll say to you what I said to him: It’s good not because of what happened TO Jesus, but because of what happened FOR us.

There are many powerful realities to ponder on Good Friday. In today’s devotional, let me focus on this. As one of his people, he died for you. Not a perfect version of you. Not what you wish you were like on your better days. Not the cleaned-up, spotless version of you.

But you.

In your worst moments. In your mistakes. In your embarrassments. In your shame. In your blunders. In your sin. And yes, even in your doubt.

Theologian Don Caron writes: “The most staggering commission the Father gives to the Son is that he go to the cross to redeem a race of rebels.”*

To redeem a race of rebels.

2 Corinthians 5:21 is considered one of the most succinct expressions of the Gospel: “God made him [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

That’s right. Because Jesus died in our place, and because he was our substitute on the cross, we are presented before God credited and cloaked with the righteousness of Jesus himself.

It’s one thing to die for people who are impressive and who can somehow pay you back. It’s another thing to die for the rest of us. “Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6).

Today, give thanks. Without the cross, the gates of heaven are closed to you and everyone you love. With it, they are open.

“The most staggering commission the Father gives to the Son is that he go to the cross to redeem a race of rebels.”

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Notes and extra content:

—Here’s what’s happening at Westminster Church this Holy Week.

–The Up Devotional is published 5 days a week (Monday-Friday) and returns on April 1, 2024.

–*D.A. Carson, Basics for Believers: The Core of Christian Faith and Life (BakerBooks: Grand Rapids, 1996), 47.

–Bible quotes are from the NIV.