Tag: Good Friday

Good Friday, Despite What Muslims Say

On By Mona SabahIn Uncategorized
crucifixion

Today is the traditional day for Good Friday. When I was a new Christian, I was still not sure why it was called “Good Friday” when it was held that Jesus Christ was crucified on that day (the day after the Jewish Passover). Many people did not know but others understood the importance of this day.

Good Friday is the day that Christians remember the debt that Jesus Christ paid on the cross for our sins. He endured so much suffering that a new word originated — “excruciating.” The word comes into our language as a combination of 2 words: ex = out of + cruciare = to crucify (crux means cross). Cruciare referred to the torture on the cross done primarily by the Romans.

excruciate (v.)

1560s – from Latin excruciatus, past participle of excruciare “to torture, torment, rack, plague;” figuratively “to afflict, harass, vex, torment,” from ex “out, out from; thoroughly” (see ex-) + cruciare “cause pain or anguish to,” literally “crucify,” from crux (genitive crucis) “a cross” (see crux) (from Online Etymology Dictionary)

There were many who were crucified before Jesus. Research shows varying opinions of who exactly started the practice (Babylonians, Assyrians, Persians) but all agree that it dates back to around 6th Century BC. The research also shows that all considered this to be one of the most shameful ways to die. The Bible stated in the Old Testament that it was a divine curse to die on the tree (referring to hanging or crucifixion). Deuteronomy 21:22–23  “And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance” (ESV).

The National Center for Biotechnical Information (NCBI) has an article that explores the history and pathology of crucifixion… if you are interested in the Scientific details. The article outlines that death was the inevitable result but the idea behind crucifixion was prolonged agony due to scourging beforehand with whips that had bone fragments and metal on the ends that would grip and tear the flesh. There was dehydration from loss of blood and profuse sweating due to torture and shock from the pain. Finally, when the person was too tired to hold his body up on the cross, as he would relax his muscles, he would aspyxiate himself.

The medical article noted that the Roman guards were only allowed to leave after the death of the victim, which they would sometimes hurry by breaking larger bones of the legs, by puncturing the heart or lungs with a spear or by building a fire underneath so the victim could not breathe at all.

These are all truths we find in the death account of the Gospels. Jesus Christ went willingly to the cross – not as a victim of the Pharisees, of the Roman Governor Pilate, or the crowds. No… He had predicted his death and resurrection numerous times in Scripture.

Luke 13:33; Matthew 16:21; Matthew 17:22; Mark 8:31

Luke 13:33 Nevertheless, cI dmust go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that ea prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

Matthew 16:21 pFrom that time Jesus began to show his disciples that qhe must go to Jerusalem and rsuffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on sthe third day be raised.

Jesus Again Foretells Death, Resurrection

Matthew 17:22 mAs they were gathering1 in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men,

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

Mark 8:31 uAnd he began to teach them that vthe Son of Man must wsuffer many things and xbe rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and yafter three days rise again.

Why am I belaboring the point?

Well, because Muslims do not believe that Jesus Christ died on the Cross.

Why do they not believe that Jesus died on the Cross?

Because the Quran tells them so… but the Quran says other things as well:

Q3:55—Allah said, ‘Jesus, I will take you back and raise you up to Me: I will purify you of the disbelievers. To the Day of Resurrection I will make those who follow you superior to those who disbelieved. Then you will all return to Me and I will judge between you regarding your differences.

Q5:117—[Jesus said,] I was a witness over them during my time among them. Ever since You took my soul, You alone have been the watcher over them: You are witness to all things.

Q19:33—[Jesus said,] Peace was on me the day I was born, and will be on me the day I die and the day I am raised to life again.’

*Q4:157 – Main Verse for the belief (presented here in 2 forms)

Sahih International—And for their saying, ‘Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah.’ And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but another was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain.

Yusuf Ali—That they said (in boast), ‘We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah’; – but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not.

*If you would like to see a deeper discussion of these verses, please read this article “It was made to appear like that to them: Islam’s Denial of Jesus’ Crucifixion” by Gregory R. Lanier -Assistant Professor of New Testament
Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando.

The main point here is that we believe that Jesus Christ suffered and died on the cross. There are historical records of this occurrence. The apostles were terrified of the Romans coming after them, yet they boldly proclaimed His death and resurrection. It is this truth that Christianity can boast of the Good News of the Gospel – that Jesus Christ came into this world, died on the cross for the remission of our sins and He rose again from the dead, thereby defeating sin and death.

His last words on the Cross confirm this truth “It is finished.”

Colossians 2:13-14 says: “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” When we say that Jesus Christ’s blood has covered us, it means that He has paid the debt we owed God Almighty – for every big or small trespass (transgression, slip, error, or false step). When God looks at us on Judgment Day, He will only see the blood of Christ over us. He has us covered in every way, shape and form. Jesus Christ has completely removed our debt. We do not have to pay the penalty. He already did. We do not have to worry about where we are going after we die – that has been decided (by giving us the free gift of eternal life).

It is finished.

As a Christian, do you believe this to be true for you?

If you do not, let today be the day you bow your knees in gratitude and humility to the God who saved you. Repent of your trespasses and all the wrong you have done. Confess your heart’s secrets to the Lord and watch what He does with your life. Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord so that you may live!

Good Friday is a day of the Good News of the Gospel. May it be so!

The Sacrifice of the Lamb

On By Mona SabahIn Bible, cultural diversity, culture, Diversity, Family, Muslim, Testimony, Uncategorized4 Comments

australian-lamb-gains-access-to-india

One day, a man visited our home in Pakistan and he brought along the sweetest thing I had ever seen in my life. We were not allowed to have our own pets. We had a guard dog, but the guard (sometimes chauffeur) used to feed, pet, keep the dog. We played with him sometimes, but it was greatly frowned upon by my nanny who insisted on scrubbing us down if we had even touched the dog, for dogs are considered dirty in Islam.

The man brought something even more special than a dog… he had a rope and at the end of that rope was a little lamb. It had a sweet face and just stared at us, chewing on whatever it was in his mouth. My parents took the lamb from him and thanked him. My older sister immediately fell in love with it and said that she would only feed it flowers, for it was too precious to eat just plain straw and grass that the man had brought along with him. She took the lamb’s leash and ran off to the heavily flowered garden in front of our home where she stayed true to her promise.

Each day, we played with the lamb until we got used to its presence. It would roam around our home and three gardens (one at the front, in the middle between our house and annex and then one at the back of the annex). I remember just sitting outside, watching it roam around and eat a few nibbles from my hand. Never did we question where this gift came from or why my parents decided to get us a lamb as a pet. We simply enjoyed it.

Early one morning, I awoke to a very loud noise of someone crying… no, it was almost like a child’s scream. I jumped out of bed, scared to death and the screaming/crying noise would not go away. I ran out of the house, still in my pajamas, and followed the horrific sounds as they were coming from the back garden. As I approached, I knew something was terribly wrong. There were men with beards standing around the back faucet, where we had a small concrete basin for washing off yard dirt or larger, messy chores.

One of the men saw me staring with eyes as large as saucers at the scene. He screamed at our cook “Get her out of here!” as I started to scream and cry. When the man had turned around to see me, I saw what had been making the noise. It was our beloved lamb. There was blood all over the place – the wash basin, the ground and on the two men who had done the sacrifice. In the middle was our lamb with it’s neck sliced open. Blood had covered a part of its body as well. I realized then that it was a lamb my parents had bought for Eid Al-Adha (Eid of the Sacrifice) which all Muslims celebrate with a sacrifice of a lamb 70 days after the end of Ramadan (annual season of fasting) and after sighting of a new moon according to a Lunar Calendar. Never had I given it any thought of the lamb that was to be sacrificed for our party meal.

lamb sacrifice

This is something still practiced all around the world by Muslims. Eid Al-Adha is the festival to remember Abraham’s obedience to God to sacrifice his son (we won’t argue which son it is right now…). It is a celebration that allows families to come together and give thanks to Allah. My parents still pay for a lamb to be sacrificed in Pakistan and the meat to be distributed to charity.

In the book of Revelation 5:6, there is a passage that says that “And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.” As we discussed what it must have looked like to have a lamb slain, I thought back to the bloody scene I witnessed.

We don’t like to think of the blood or the guts. We like things to be sanitary. We get our meat nicely packaged at the grocery store. Our streets are clean, our news is clean, our water comes out of the faucet clear, our clothes are clean and we have hand sanitizers in every location. It’s not considered polite to discuss the gory details of any event, especially dealing with blood.

I think that’s one of the things I have noticed most about living in the United States. While we lived in a nice home in Pakistan, we weren’t always guaranteed clean water out of the faucet. I remember being quite upset several times when I turned on the faucet for my bath and the water ran brown.

Our treatment of Jesus’s sacrifice should not be sanitized. We need to accept the fact that it was a bloody mess. That he suffered and he felt every bit of the pain on the Cross. As we look at Good Friday as the day that commemorates Jesus on the Cross, we need to remember that He was the lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8 and 1 Peter 1:20). Our Lord gave up every drop of blood for us. The least we can do is to acknowledge His sacrifice for us in the way it happened… not as a sanitized version of the cross, but a Cross full of God’s glory and His willingness to provide for us a spotless, sinless lamb who takes away the sins of the world. Amen.