It’s Good Friday.
A day dedicated to somber yet joyful remembrance of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion. Of course, the oft-asked question is “what is ‘good’ about that?”
It is good because of what the death of Jesus means for us. The Bible teaches that Jesus’ death on the Cross was what freed us from sin and from condemnation and the just wrath of God against our rebellion.
Historically, the church has affirmed this understanding of the atonement but recently there has been resistance against this crucial doctrine. The doctrine is known as “penal substitutionary atonement”, meaning that we are saved (atoned for) by the death of Christ (not in isolation from His Resurrection and the rest of His work). He is the substitute who bears the penalty of our sin.
Many today do not like this. Even within the Christian community there are many people who resist the idea that God poured out His wrath on Jesus on the cross. But we must not let this resistance take root in the church.
It is absolutely essential that we understand the cross in the perspective of penal substitutionary atonement. The Bible clearly teaches it. One passage in particular that clearly teaches PSA is Isaiah 53:
Surely he has borne our griefs
Isaiah 53:4-6, ESV
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
Later on in the same chapter Isaiah writes:
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
Isaiah 53:10-11, ESV
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
Isaiah 53 does not teach us that Jesus was merely a Suffering Servant who set a good example for us. Or even one who triumphed over the powers of darkness and Satan in His death and Resurrection. Those are both true elements of the work of Christ. He is our example and He has indeed conquered the powers of darkness and put them to open shame (Col. 2:15). However, that is not the full extent of Jesus’ atonement.
It is not popular today to speak of a wrathful God. We would much rather speak of a loving God. But we fail to understand that we cannot have one without the other. A loving God without wrath against sin and evil would not be loving.
Therefore, while our culture’s palate may not be attracted to a God who justly punishes sin, and particularly may be offended by a God who pours out such wrath upon His only Son, we cannot let our culture’s palate determine our theology. We must hold fast to the Gospel, the Good News, that was preached: that Christ died for our sins. He bore the wrath of God. Upon Him was laid the iniquity of us all.
There is indeed no Good News without that critical piece.