I find it somewhat ironic that this, the Friday before Easter, is called “Good Friday,” because in all truth, what happened to our Savior that day was anything but. Having been handed over to the authorities by one of His twelve trusted disciples, He was accused, beaten, spat on, mocked, and marred by a crown of thorns that was driven into His skull. As if that wasn’t enough, our sinless Lord was further taxed as He was forced to carry a heavy cross beam to the place of His crucifixion. Totally naked, humiliated, and in horrible pain, He was hung upright with His hands and feet nailed to that piece of wood and further tormented by the Roman guards. Yet even more excruciating than all of that was the burden He took on Himself in our place as He died. You see, it wasn’t just His own pain He felt as He hung there, it was every form of affliction ever suffered by the human race, from Adam to the very last person born. In those hours, He experienced the full impact of sin’s devastation, and humanity’s entire burden was placed on Him so we could be redeemed and set free.

My friend, there is nothing you go through that your Savior didn’t feel and no sin you commit that He didn’t carry. When He took His last breath on that day over 2,000 years ago, Jesus made every crooked path straight and exchanged your yoke of heaviness for His unconstrained freedom. He bore the full weight of your load so you can rest in His finished work, and today, He invites you to hand Him your burden and receive His peace, even as you face the unknown. He paid it all to release you from your chains, so run free, child of God, and rejoice in the goodness of your Living Lord!