Good Friday

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From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" When some of those standing there heard this, they said, "He's calling Elijah."

Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to save him."

And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, "Surely he was the Son of God!"
- Matthew 27:45-54


I got sort of decided to post this passage up, after reading another one of my friends' blog. It explains why today is Good Friday and although the four gospels do each describe the death of Christ Jesus, the one from Matthew describes it best.

Today is Good Friday. Today we celebrate a death, a death that bought back so much, a death that is worth so much, the death of Christ Jesus which so many have taken for granted, and so many have chosen to ignore. It often amazes me, although the amazement only started a few months back, that how people view Jesus's death as trival. A person's death can never be too trival if his death has the power to change the life of many throughout history. In fact, in Jesus's case, His death CHANGED history. I have never felt amazed by how people refused to acknowledge that Jesus is deeply embedded in history. But however, that's the case with me once too. I was blind, but now I see.

Well, but as I have said, I can easily churn out a post on why people should believe but I would rather people go explore it themselves. Maybe you have said, 'I have tried but it failed'. But have you try hard enough? If you have tried hard enough with the right attitude and open mind and with objectivity, you will find.

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."
- Mathew 7:7-8


God has promised us that if we just ask, if we just seek, if we can even take the first step to knock the door, He will be there for us.

This reminds me of the story of one of the newly converted sisters. She told me today, when we were making our trip back home, that she had sincerely prayed that God would remove all her mental barriers which are blocking her to come to know Him, and indeed, when she came for the service last Saturday, she was removed of all her mental barriers and was truly touched by the whole service. It was a powerful testimony of how one seeks and receives what she seeks for.

It is Good Friday, and let us all not forget Jesus's death for all mankind on the cross, the blood shed to wash all our sins away. And for all my non-believer readers, Jesus died so that we are washed clean of our sins, so that we can come before God, so that we can enjoy a personal relationship with God. I'm not saying that you must take my words for it, but you can check it out for yourselves if this is really true. What I want to ask is that are you going to take Jesus's death for granted?

It is Good Friday. It is Good Friday.

So do you believe in Easter?

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