Jesus is condemned to death. Jesus is condemned to death! Is this just?

Surely on a human level, this is a travesty of justice. Jesus’ trial is a sham, violating virtually every rule regarding fair trials under both Jewish and Roman law. There was no due process exercised in this trial; Jesus was innocent of any wrongdoing.

But consider Jesus’ condemnation from God’s point of view. Was Jesus’ death justified?

Listen to these words of Scripture:

· The wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23)

· He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree. (1 Peter 2:24)

· He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people. (Hebrews 9: 26-28)

These Scriptures tell us that from God’s point of view, Jesus’ death was justified. Indeed, Jesus’ death was necessary if anyone is to be saved – for without His death, God would have to punish you and me for our sins.

The Bible teaches us that God – our perfectly holy and righteous God – cannot tolerate sin. From His very nature, He cannot tolerate sin. Furthermore, God is just, meaning that he will right every wrong, he will apply just punishment to every wrongdoer. We like this when those who wrong us receive punishment. The problem is that each of us has wronged others, so each of us deserves punishment. That is, I deserve punishment.

So if I am to have any hope, Jesus had to die because of my sin.

Sin! Our society doesn’t like this word. We don’t mind talking about our foibles, or our weaknesses, or our failures – but sin! No, we don’t like to admit that we are sinners.

What is sin?

One definition: Sin is any want of conformity to, or transgression of the law of God.

God is the one who defines sin. God, our Creator, has the absolute authority to dictate to us the terms and conditions of our being able to enter His presence – indeed, He has the absolute authority and right to determine whether we live or die. Sin is the refusal to recognize and submit to that authority in any area of our lives.

And what is the law of God? Remember how Jesus summarized it?

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. . . . Love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:37, 39)

Do you live up to those? Do you put God first, always? Do you love Him will all of your very being? Do you always love others sacrificially, considering their welfare as important as your own?

No. I don’t, you don’t. Indeed, in our very nature we are rebellious, we do not want to submit ourselves to higher authority – and so we pretend there is no God, or redefine Him as an indulgent grandfather, waiting for us, longing for us to come to Him.

But God is King of the universe. He is the moral authority. He is the Judge. And His verdict is that every one of us is a sinner, every one of us deserves eternal punishment. Paul in Romans 3 makes this absolutely clear: Without Christ’s death, all of us are under the just condemnation of God. Listen to these words:

For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:9-12)

There is no wiggle room here. There are no exceptions. Paul tells us that every single person is a sinner; every man, woman, and child deserves an eternity of punishment, separated from our holy and perfect God.

So are we without hope? Keep reading! Paul goes on to explain the basis of our hope in verses 20 to 26. Please read those verses as they appear in your Bible; let me offer you the following loose paraphrase:

No one can stand before God and say, “I am righteous,” on the basis of the way they live, on the basis of their living up to any standard. (And God didn’t provide us with His law for that purpose – Instead, he provided us with His law so that we might understand who He is and how far short of His perfection we fall.) Every one of us sins, every one of us fails to acknowledge who God is and to respond accordingly, every one of us violates the law of God. Thus we deserve God’s condemnation. Indeed, God would not be just, He would not be righteous, He would not be the perfect moral authority if he failed to condemn our sin. But God, instead of condemning us as we deserve, has offered us a way for sinners to receive the verdict “Righteous!” instead of the verdict “Condemned!” This way – foretold and pictured and hinted at in the Old Testament – does not depend on our living up to a set of rules or our doing some great deed. Here is the way: Believe in Jesus Christ. Quit trying to prove to God that you are worthy of His favor. Turn away from yourself and look to Him. The only way – the only way – any sinful human can receive the verdict “Righteous!” is as God’s gracious gift, through the payment made for our sin by the Messiah Jesus on the cross. God Himself sent His beloved Son for this twofold purpose: To display His perfect justice, in that every sin receives just punishment, and to display His mercy and love in declaring righteous all condemned sinners who believe in Jesus. This is our God: Supremely just and supremely loving.

Do you understand? Can you see why Peter says we have “joy inexpressible?” We are sinners! We deserve God’s condemnation! And we can do nothing on our own to change that. But God sent His son Jesus to suffer and die on the cross for us, so that He might right every wrong and still invite us to become the perfect bride who will rejoice with Him for all eternity.

That is why today is Good Friday. Not Black Friday. Not Sad Friday. Not a day to mourn a dying man (though his death should lead us to contemplate the enormity of our sin). Not a day to feel sorry for Jesus being mocked and spat upon (though we must acknowledge that we participate in such mocking whenever we disobey Him). But a day, as John Newton said, for “pleasing grief and mournful joy.” Yes, mourning at the price our beloved Savior paid. But joy because this one sacrifice saves us completely, because in this great act of love Christ Jesus laid down his life for you, for me; joy because this horribly painful act that we celebrate today – yes, celebrate — allows each and every person to join God’s beloved family for all eternity — if you will only believe.

So where are you, friends? Trying to comfort yourself by pretending that there is no Judge? Trying to live up to a good standard?

The shed blood of Jesus Christ is your only hope. But what a hope! Open your heart to this amazing love! Receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior — and eternal life begins for you on this Good Friday.