{"id":485,"date":"2023-04-04T17:07:02","date_gmt":"2023-04-04T16:07:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scott-torres.com\/?p=485"},"modified":"2026-05-26T05:25:42","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T04:25:42","slug":"the-message-of-good-friday-easter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scott-torres.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/04\/the-message-of-good-friday-easter\/","title":{"rendered":"The Message of Good Friday & Easter\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We are in the middle of the most important week of the Christian calendar. Historically, it has been called Holy Week<\/strong>. Some refer to it as Passion Week<\/strong>, because it points us to the suffering and love of Jesus as He went to the cross to pay for the sins of His people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But within this week, two days stand out above the rest: Friday and Sunday<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friday is known as Good Friday<\/strong>, the day Jesus died. Sunday is Easter Sunday<\/strong>, the day Jesus rose from the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But why do these two days matter so much?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For years, I viewed them mainly as historical events. I believed they really happened, but I did not understand how deeply they mattered for my own life. They were real, but they felt distant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That changed when I became a Christian. My life changed, and so did the meaning of these days. In fact, they have only grown sweeter with time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what do Good Friday and Easter Sunday say to us about our relationship with God?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I had to summarize it, I would say this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good Friday reminds me that I am forgiven, so I have nothing to hide.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we know we have done wrong, our natural instinct is often to hide. We cover up, make excuses, shift blame, or try to manage what others see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That instinct goes all the way back to the garden. When Adam and Eve sinned, they hid from God. And in many ways, we have been doing the same ever since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Good Friday tells us that Jesus has dealt fully with our sin. He died in our place. He bore our guilt. He took the punishment we deserved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of that, Christians do not have to live in hiding. We can come into the light. We can admit what is true about our weakness, sin, and failure because our forgiveness does not depend on pretending we are better than we are. It depends on what Jesus has already done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is why we can sing with the hymn writer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy sin\u2026 is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear friend, is there something you have been hiding? Something you are ashamed to admit? Something you need to bring before the Lord?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good Friday reminds us: in Christ, you are forgiven. You can come out of hiding.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Easter Sunday gives us another beautiful truth:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Easter reminds me that I am justified, so I have nothing to prove.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Romans 4:25 says, \u201cHe was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through the resurrection of Jesus, God declares His people righteous in His sight. That means Christians are not accepted by God because of their record, performance, or effort. They are accepted because of Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His righteousness counts for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And because that is true, Christians can stop trying to earn God\u2019s approval. They do not have to prove themselves worthy of His love. In Christ, they already have it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear friend, are you trying to earn God\u2019s approval today?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are a Christian, remember: you already have it in Jesus.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if you are not a Christian, this same grace is offered to you. Jesus lived the perfect life you could not live. He died the death your sin deserved. And He rose again so that you could be forgiven, made righteous, and brought near to God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the good news of Good Friday and Easter Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, if I had to condense the message of these two days into just three words, it would be this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You are free.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We are in the middle of the most important week of the Christian calendar. Historically, it has been called Holy Week. Some refer to it as Passion Week, because it points us to the suffering and love of Jesus as He went to the cross to pay for the sins of His people. But within […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"1080"},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scott-torres.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scott-torres.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scott-torres.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scott-torres.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scott-torres.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/scott-torres.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":507,"href":"https:\/\/scott-torres.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485\/revisions\/507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scott-torres.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scott-torres.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scott-torres.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}