When Bad Turns Good

 

By:  Dale Weckbacher

 

Text:  Luke 23

 

Isaiah 26:3

You keep him in perfect peace
    whose mind is stayed on you,
    because he trusts in you.

(ESV)

 

One’s perspective on a situation determines how one will react to the situation when in it.  Unfortunately, without the benefit of seeing into the future, our reaction is generally in the perspective of the now of the situation.  However, God does know the future and has a unique perspective for He knows the outcome and is not surprised at any situation that comes up.  The challenge for those that have made Jesus the Lord of their lives is to learn to react to situations from a godly perspective of faith in God that the outcome will be for our good (Jeremiah 29:11).  When it comes to Good Friday, we have the benefit of hindsight, knowing that the death of Jesus would turn to celebration three days later and that Jesus’ death would provide atonement for sin and eternal life (Romans 5:8).  From this perspective of hindsight, we can learn valuable lessons as we look at the reactions of those present at the first Good Friday.

 

1)      The followers of Jesus – Grief and fear at the loss of the one they believed was Messiah and the fear they would be the next people crucified:  The twelve disciples had invested three and one-half years of their lives with Jesus.  During that time, they had seen many miracles, heard wise teaching from Jesus, including parables that they could easily remember.  Among those teachings was telling the disciples He would die and rise again in three days (Mark 8:31; Matthew 16:21).  Their failure to take the words of Jesus to heart led to their feeling grief, thinking Jesus was permanently gone and fear that they would be left alone to face persecution from the Jews and Romans.  While Jesus would ascend to be with the Father after His resurrection (Acts 1:6-11), God the Father then sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in the hearts of those choosing to believe in Jesus as their Savior so they would never be alone (Acts 2:1-13). 

2)      The Pharisees and religious leaders - Joy and fear at the elimination of a threat but fear Jesus’ followers would take his body and claim His resurrection:  The elation seen on Palm Sunday when Jesus entered Jerusalem would soon turn to cries from the crowd to crucify Jesus with the Pharisees leading the charge (Mark 15:11).  The ease with which the Pharisees could stir up the crowd was possibly due to unreasonable expectations that Jesus was Messiah and upon entering Jerusalem would establish His world government.  However, instead of entering the palace of Pilate, Jesus entered the Temple and turned the tables over, exposing their use of the Temple as a place of trade (Mark 11:15-19).  The death of Jesus would mean the end of the threat from the one that overturned the tables and the accusation of turning the Temple into a den of robbers.  However, they also heard Jesus speak of rebuilding the Temple in three days (John 2:19) and may have understood Jesus was talking about His body (John 2:21-22) and that after His death He would resurrect from the dead.  This explains why they felt the need to have Roman guards guard the tomb out of fear some of Jesus’ followers would steal the body and create the rumor of Jesus’ resurrection (Matthew 27:62-66).    

3)      The Romans – Satisfaction at preventing a potential riot but fear a riot could happen should the body of Jesus disappear from the tomb:  When Pilate witnessed an angry crowd calling for the crucifixion of Jesus, he turned Jesus over to be crucified even though he found nothing to accuse Jesus of that was worthy of crucifixion (Matthew 27:24-26).   Pilate did this out of fear there would be a riot.  While the death of Jesus might have stopped a potential riot, bringing satisfaction to the Roman officials, talk of Jesus’ followers stealing the body and creating rumors of Jesus’ resurrection created fear there would be trouble and why Pilate agreed to assign guards to Jesus’ tomb. 

 

The Romans and religious leaders heard and understood Jesus’ claims he would rise from the dead in three days more than Jesus’ own followers.  In three days, the followers of Jesus will see their risen Messiah and have their grief and fear vanish while the joy and satisfaction of the religious leaders and Romans will turn to fear the resurrection of Jesus will mean an even greater threat for the religious leaders and more trouble for the Roman government. 

 

The followers of Jesus, the Jewish religious leaders, and the Roman soldiers were in the middle of a momentous event but at the moment experienced grief, joy, and satisfaction.  These unprecedented times can cause us to experience emotions like those experienced during the first Good Friday.  While it is difficult to see any good in what is happening from our perspective, we must remember that what is happening now is no surprise to God and part of His plan.  We therefore must remain focused on our relationship with God through prayer and study of the Word of God.  This will not only prepare us for what lies ahead but also help us maintain our missional focus as a Church, spreading the Gospel and making disciples (Mark 16:15; Matthew 28:19-20).