Happy Easter everyone. Wow, did I just say that? Has four months of 2017 gone by so quickly that I hadn’t really noticed until now? Until I actually have a day off to reflect, I’ve realised that yes, the year does go by very quick, and more often than not, we can fall into the trap, of going through the motions. Of celebrating all the holidays and significant days of the year just like how we’ve done in years previously, because, ‘that’s how I’ve always done it’, or ‘that’s what should be done’. Easter, is no exception, sad to say. What has once become a time of reflection and re-evaluation is now one of frenzied busyness and unhealthy stress.
Back in the day, shopping centres and businesses were closed for four days- yes, they were indeed closed on Easter Saturday and Easter Monday, while now, that right and privilege is slowly being eroded away, with businesses and shopping centres expected to trade on the Saturday and Monday of the Easter long weekend period. So for me and my family within the retail industry, it can be difficult for us all to have a day off where the family is all together. Today, Good Friday, is the first day our family have been enjoying a day off since Christmas 2016…that’s a long time. But, in the same breath, it has made me appreciate the days when we are together. It has made this Easter period more significant in a way.
So as I continue to enjoy this Good Friday (and Easter Sunday), I am to point out that the purpose of the Friday before the Sunday is to reflect upon Jesus’ sacrifice for us. Because, lo and behold, Jesus didn’t have to die for all creation. He could’ve just walked away from it all. While He was both God and man, He was, need I remind you, still a man, with temptations like you and I- I bet you He was still nevertheless apprehensive about getting on the cross and taking the world’s sin upon Himself, even though He knew that that was the only way to save the world. Still He did it. And for that we as a human race ought to be grateful. For what we know now to be the dark day before the celebratory time which is Easter Sunday (when Jesus resurrected, defeating death in its sting forever), the disciples back then literally thought that this was it. Their Lord and Saviour had died, a martyr’s death. They didn’t know or maybe even understand, that Jesus would rise three days later.
So on this day, while we are to rejoice knowing that Jesus has overcome the grave for us all to walk into His kingdom, let us pause to reflect. That the cross was a moment of true and utter humility- that God came into the Earth, humbled Himself to live as a man, even to the point of death- and not just any death, but that of crucifixion where you are literally placed on display for your loved ones to see your demise…and it was all for you and me. Think about it. Can anyone in this society undertake such a feat? Can you or I? Probably not. Because of our selfish nature, we probably wouldn’t even want to die for anyone, let alone our family and friends, or better still, someone on the street that we don’t really know.
Good Friday is a time for us to realise the enormity of what Jesus was sent to the Earth to undertake. And to grasp and understand, that while we were still sinners (the emphasis is the word- still, that there is never a moment in our lives where we will fully become rid of what is within ourselves until we reach the otherside), Christ came for us. And so, I have compiled a list of 15 songs over the years that have had great significance to me as I enter in, to what it means to grasp fully the moment which is Good Friday, and why it is really called ‘good’. So without further ado, here are the 15 songs below that highlight Good Friday and all it represents. What are some of the songs that you’ve heard over the years that have spoken to you about such a day as this? Let us know in the comments. Til next time.
Death Was Arrested (North Point InsideOut)
Favourite Lyrics-
Alone in my sorrow and dead in my sin
Lost without hope with no place to begin
Your love Made a way to let mercy come in
When death was arrested and my life began
Forgiven (Crowder)
Favourite Lyrics-
I could’ve been six feet under, I could’ve been lost forever
Yeah, I should be in that fire, but now there’s fire inside of me
Here I am a dead man walking, no grave gonna hold God’s people
All the weight of all our evil, lifted away forever free
Who could believe, who could believe?
The Cross Has the Final Word (Cody Carnes)
Favourite Lyrics-
The cross has the final word
The cross has the final word
He traded death for eternal life
The cross has the final word
Above All (Paul Baloche)
Favourite Lyrics-
Crucified, laid behind a stone
You lived to die, rejected and alone
Like a rose, trampled on the ground
You took the fall and thought of me
Above all
The Wonderful Cross (Chris Tomlin/Matt Redman)
Favourite Lyrics-
O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross
Bids me come and die and find that I may truly live
O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross
All who gather here by grace draw near and bless
Your name
Lead Me To the Cross (UNITED)
Favourite Lyrics-
Savior I come quiet my soul, remember redemption’s hill
Where Your blood was spilled for my ransom
Everything I once held dear, I count it all as loss
Hero (Abandon)
Favourite Lyrics-
There He goes, a Hero, a Saviour to the world
Here He stands with scars in His hands
With love He gave His life so we could be free
The Saviour of the world
Jesus’ Blood (Delirious?)
Favourite Lyrics-
There’s a secret I must tell of all the love I’ve found
And it’s hidden in my heart, the day you tore my world apart
Hallelujah, King forever, friend and Saviour
Jesus’ blood never fails me
Thief (Third Day)
Favourite Lyrics-
Who is this man? This man beside me, they call the King of the Jews
They don’t believe that He’s the Messiah but somehow, I know it’s true
They laugh at Him in mockery and they beat Him ’til He bleeds
And they nail Him to the rugged cross, they raise Him, they raise Him up next to me
At the Cross (Love Ran Red) (Chris Tomlin)
Favourite Lyrics-
There’s a place where sin and shame are powerless
Where my heart has peace with God and forgiveness
Where all the love I’ve ever found
Comes like a flood, comes flowing down
At the cross, at the cross, I surrender my life
I’m in awe of You, I’m in awe of You
Where Your love ran red and my sin washed white
I owe all to You, I owe all to You Jesus
Power of the Cross (Shelly E. Johnson)
Favourite Lyrics-
Once in darkness, now in light, once blind, now you see
Once a sinner, now a saint, once bound, now free
Once a stranger, now a child, empty, now filled
Once condemned, now reconciled, broken, now healed
Once a prodigal, now home, once lost, now found
Once an enemy, now a friend, once poor, now crowned!
Jesus Paid it All (Kristian Stanfill)
Favourite Lyrics-
And when before the throne
I stand in Him complete
Jesus died my soul to save
My lips shall still repeat
O Praise the one who paid my debt
And raised this life up from the dead
Once Again (Matt Redman)
Favourite Lyrics-
Jesus Christ, I think upon Your sacrifice
You became nothing, poured out to death
Many times I’ve wondered at Your gift of life
And I’m in that place once again
I’m in that place once again
And once again I look upon the cross where You died
I’m humbled by Your mercy and I’m broken inside
Once again I thank You
Once again I pour out my life
How Love Wins (Steven Curtis Chapman)
Favourite Lyrics-
This is how Love wins, every single time
Climbing high upon a tree where someone else should die
This is how Love heals, the deepest part of you
Letting Himself bleed into the middle of your wounds
This is what Love says, standing at the door
You don’t have to be who you’ve been before
Silenced by His voice, death can’t speak again
This is how Love wins
Love Was Stronger (Josiah James)
Favourite Lyrics-
I was a child of wrath, an enemy of the King of Peace
But love was stronger, love was stronger
I tried resisting grace, the Son of God still took my place
Cause love was stronger, love was stronger
You are stronger than my sins You carried to the cross
With resurrecting love