Good Friday

So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). There they crucified him. . .

John 19:16b-18a

As Spring abounds with new life all around us, it is as if God is decorating for our celebration of new life in Christ. Adding joy to this natural beauty, my household is celebrating the birth of our firstborn son, Charles. Seeing his rapid growth these first few weeks has brought Jesus and his Father to my mind in a particular way.

One night, while holding Charles in my arms, I considered God the Father's perspective on Jesus as he grew into a mature man whose mission was to lay down his life. I cannot imagine the resolve required from both God the Father and God the Son, knowing from Christmas that the cross awaited this little Christ on Good Friday. As I look at my son's little wrists and palms, his cute feet and toes, I am struck with the cost of forgiving my sins at the cross. I am eternally grateful that God, both Father and Son, chose to pay it in full. As a new father myself, this Easter I am uniquely grateful to God the Father.

Now, it is certain that God the Son voluntarily set his face like a flint toward Calvary's cross. Without question, no one took Jesus's life away. Jesus laid down his life of his own accord. All the same, the cross was also the Father's will. How much this must have cost the Father's heart! The Father – who must always remember his baby boy's features – sacrificed dearly to see Jesus as a grown man, pierced in his wrists and ankles, blood running down his palms and feet.

Here, at the foot of Christ's bloodied cross, the Christian learns their own firstborn cry, “Abba, Father!” as the Holy Spirit teaches us the meaning of Jesus’s last recorded prayer before death, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” Is this not the reason why the Father willed and the Son endured the cross? Is it not to give new birth according to a living hope beyond death, even death on a cross? Yes, to give new life for many newborn children of God through the death and resurrection of his beloved and only begotten Son.

Therefore, we who were once dead in our sins may now be born again, not of man's will and sinful blood but of God's will and Christ's blood. Today – if you hear the crying voice of God's only begotten from the cross – soften your heart and cry out with him to the Father; either for his mercy to be forgiven or in thanksgiving as one who is already forgiven! Then, together let us sing the old hymns,

How deep the Father's love for us

How vast beyond all measure

That he should give his only son

To make a wretch his treasure

And,

Amazing grace how sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me

I once was lost but now am found

Was blind but now I see

Abba, Father, we admit our guilt and receive Christ's prayer for our forgiveness. We give thanks for his crucified compassion and for your salvific sacrifice.

• Ask for a deeper appreciation for the Father's deep love for you.

• Confess any cold-heartedness towards Christ's pierced-heart for you.

• Intercede for nations were the cross of Christ is not known or preached.