Good Friday

This is the day that Christians have historically remembered as the day that Jesus was arrested, tried and convicted, and crucified in Jerusalem.
I can't help but be reminded by the wicked storms raging outside my house right now of that scene at Golgotha when Jesus took his last breath. In the Bible (Matthew, chapter 27), the writer describes the scene this way:

From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. (v. 45)
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. (v. 50-51)

When the storms today started raging and the sky got dark, everybody took notice. We immediately turned on the news to see the latest forecast. We even stopped cooking dinner to see what was developing and ended up in the bathroom waiting for the tornado warning to pass. My mom called to check on us. My wife's mom and sister called to check on us. News crews were dispatched to the storm centers to report on what they saw.

The account of the crucifixion of Jesus reads much the same way. When the sky got dark and the earth shook and the rocks split, everybody took notice. Even one of the guards who had ridiculed and beaten Jesus said, "Surely he was the Son of God" (v. 54).

So, seeing today's storm (on Good Friday) reminds me of that guard and the storm he saw on the very first Good Friday. He had not been a believer in Jesus as the Son of God before the storm, but afterward, he declared his belief for sure.

On this Good Friday, will you say with me...Surely Jesus is the Son of God!