Great and Holy Friday

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, reflects on the meaning of Great and Holy Friday of Eastern Orthodox Holy Week. On this day, the Church is brought face to face with the fatal torment of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As the chill of death crept through His body, our Lord cried out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” These shocking, devastating words harken back to the words of Psalm 22. “I am poured out like water, all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within Me. My strength is dried up, My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth….a band of evil men have encircled Me; they have pierced My hands and My feet. I can count all my bones. People stare, they gloat over Me. They divide my garments among them and they cast lots for my clothing.” Christ’s emptying is our filling. As we emerge from a worldwide pandemic, a time of suffering, despair and death, we are reminded to think back to God’s past faithfulness in Christ—we are assured that He is faithful in the midst of our present circumstances. And that we will be, in the words of King David, “delivered and not disappointed.” The cry of Christ from the cross forever highlights the stark contrast between emotional despair and absolute trust in God’s eternal faithfulness. Today, we remember the Passion of the Christ upon the cross—the Lamb of God who takes away of the sin of the world.