Most Non-Christians and Christian alike are aware of the celebration dates of the days known as "Good Friday" and "Easter Sunday". But one is an extra-special day, that though seen as a solemn and sad day, should be seen as a day of celebration and joy, the day known by Christians as "Good Friday".
This is the one day in recorded history that the Chosen people of God, the Hebrews, the Jews are reviled for, for it is this infamous date in history that the Jewish High Priest Caiaphas more than 2,000 years ago, sought the death of one of his own people, who turned out to be the Jew’s Messiah, the Son of God, Jesus, The Christ prophesied thousands of years earlier by God’s Holy Prophets.
Easter Sunday is a day celebrated by some, and recognized by many, mostly the Christians of all denominations including The Catholics, as the day that a man known as Jesus, who had been crucified and buried in a tomb, was miraculously resurrected by God.
This was done in the fulfillment of all of the Prophetic Hebrew Scriptures recorded in the Hebrew’s Torah recorded by Hebrew prophetic writers thousands of years prior. It also served to fulfill all of the biblical prophesies spoken by Jesus Himself many times prior, to this fateful day.
The Jewish High Priest named Caiaphas, along with his loyal band of Pharisees feared Rome, and feared that Jesus might cause trouble for his position as chief priest over the jews of that area. Jesus was perceived as a threat teaching things outside Hebrew traditions handed down to Moses and others.
So Caiaphas, the pharisees, and a hand full of Roman soldiers, arrest Jesus for the crime of Blastphemy, as the supposed "King of the Jews" and a possible threat to Rome. By saying that Jesus claimed to be a king, the Jews thought was enough to show to Pilate that Jesus was a threat to Rome and to Cesar, which Pilate never established as truth.
Jesus is dragged to Pontious Pilate to be judged since Caiaphas had no authority to have Jesus crucified, and put to death, but when Pilate discovers Jesus is being charged with breaking "Jewish religious laws" and was no threat to Rome or the emperor, Pilate refuses to judge him and sends Him to King Herrod king of Palestine. Herrod’s hands are tied though for He has no authority to crucify or kill any citizen under Roman Authority, so Jesus is again marched, dragged back to Pilate.
After questioning Jesus and having him flogged, and mocking Him, Jesus is presented to Caiaphas and his mob of disclaimers, who loudly began crying for Jesus crucifixion. Even when offered Barabas to substitute for Jesus, so that an innocent man would not die, Caiaphas and the mob cried out for Jesus to be crucified.
Frustrated, knowing Jesus to be innocent of any wrong doing, Pilate washes his hands of the situation, still unable to quieten the mob, pilate finally orders Jesus crucified by his soldiers.
Jesus is taken out and crucified, and as he hangs there on the cross, a sinless lamb led to the slaughter, all of the sins of all mankind, from the creation of Adam to the present day and beyond, are heaped upon him causing such pain and shame, shame as the "Son of God" having to be covered in our sin.
His pain, His embarassment, His anguish, His shame, is so powerful, and what hurts him most is His seeing His Father Almighty God turn His back to Jesus in disgust, the disgust of knowing that His ony Son Jesus, being perfect and sinless, was now covered in the one thing that Almighty God reviled and detested and hated most, "SIN".
Jesus cries out to His Father, "My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?" in other words asking God why He is not looking upon His only son as he hangs there receiving this shame, a shame The Father had requested, But God ignores Jesus. God is shamed by the sight of His Son filled with sin.
Finally after every sin had been heaped upon him. Jesus announces to His Father who is still turned away, "It is done" and finally, "Father into thy hands, I commend my spirit." and Jesus dies.
For any true Christian, who truly believes in Jesus, in His crucifixion and in the belief that through this one specific act of obedience to death Jesus sacrificed for the remission of all of our sins, we as Christians should celebrate and rejoice.
This one monumentally selfless act by Jesus enables every human being, to stand gloriously, sin-free before Almighty God, having been cleansed, justified, purified, sanctified, through the shed blood of Jesus, as soon as it is through our choice and our faith applied to us.
The instant that we accept and believe in Jesus sacrifice for us and for the remission of our sins, "It is done" these three words should hold a powerfully special meaning in our hearts, offering us a peace of mind, that we could never have possibly known, before Jesus went to the cross for us.
Jesus takes this special gift one step farther for us though. Once laid to rest in that tomb, Jesus reports to Hell, or Hades, where all of the lost souls of the past, prior to his crucifixion were, to show to lucifer/satan that Jesus had taken the sin of man upon himself and then Jesus claims all the dead to himself and sends them back to heaven.
Finally with both sin and death defeated triumphantly, he meets with Mary Magdelene in the Garden outside his grave and announces to her that He is arisen, and Mary rushes back to join the others and announce what had happened.
Jesus receiving our sins is a monumental act of obedience to God and love for us, for without this act, we could never be sin free and never be permitted to address God as Father, for truly it is only through this act of love by Jesus and Him adopting us as brother or sister, that we can lay claim to God as our adopted Father.
There is great and significant importance to Jesus defeating death, but the true miracle, the true gift is found in the forgiveness of all of our sins, by a sinless man named Jesus who accepted my sin and your sin and the sin of all mankind from Adam forward as his own.
The resurrection of the dead by Jesus could never happen without His first eradicating all sin. Not one follower of Jesus would have any importance at all without sin first being defeated. There would be no Bible, no significance to the stories about Jesus and His miracles, without the defeat of sin. Christianity would not be, without Jesus loyalty to Almighty God His Father and Our Father and Jesus obedience to death for the remission of all sin.
This is the true Miracle, the True Gift of Easter that Christians around the world celebrate.