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Easter and the Resurrection as they relate to the Christian holiday, discussed through historical perspective and traditions.
The goal in offering traditional devotions through the Stations of the Cross is to help Christians make a personal spiritual pilgrimage through prayer and meditation. During this time, Christians are asked to carefully consider the main scenes of Christ's sacrifice on the cross of Calvary.
Good Friday's significance and origins as understood through its history, rituals, and traditions.
Jesus trusted so completely that God would raise Him from the dead. And He also fully knew that the salvation of all of mankind was hinged on the completion of His mission, including this one final miracle: His resurrection.
He preached life-changing sermons, and taught intriguing parables, healed hundreds of incurable diseases, fed thousands miraculously, calmed storms instantly, walked on water unflinchingly, raised people from the dead, and trained just a dozen men, eleven of whom would go on to change the world forever.
As a last act of humiliation against Jesus, the Roman officers twisted a crown of thorns and placed it on his head. Taking up the reed they had given him as a mock scepter, they repeatedly struck Jesus in the head with it. Then they bowed in mockery to the King of the Jews, and led him away to be crucified.
The story of Good Friday can be studied and discussed in many ways. There's the why of it, the how of it, the people involved in it, and the repercussions of it. But the bottom line to the Good Friday story is that Jesus suffered and died so that mankind could be saved and find peace.
Two men hung next to Jesus on the day of his crucifixion. They were both sinners, but one had a hardened heart. The other man knew who Jesus was and took the opportunity to ask for forgiveness. He said: "Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
John 4:46-54 records a healing miracle, or sign as it is referred to, which is the second sign of eight revealed in the Gospel of John. These signs authenticated Jesus and His mission as the Christ of God. “So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.”
While God originally instituted animal sacrifice as a way of providing ceremonial cleansing for His people, those sacrifices were not able to cleanse man's conscience from the effects of sin. Only the blood of Jesus Christ could remove the stain. The author of Hebrews taught in his letter that only by becoming a human could Jesus die, and it was only through his death that the power of Satan could be broken.