Take some precious time to reflect on Jesus as we remember Good Friday and celebrate Easter.

“Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” – Luke 23:43

Our grandson loves toy cars, tractors, trucks. Anything that moves on wheels. 

He is literally in paradise when he plays with them. And anyone who gifts him with a vehicle will be his best or greatest pal – at least for that moment.

There is nothing like being called the GOAT (Greatest of all Time). 

There are many tennis greats like Nadal and Djokovic. Yet most would rank Roger Federer the GOAT among tennis players not just for his skills but his sportsmanship. 

Football fans have more icons to choose from. Yet Messi might stand out as the most likely GOAT star in the footballing galaxy.     

Regardless of “Who is Who” in whatever field of human achievement and in whichever epoch of time, all will pale in comparison to Jesus – the Greatest Of All Time in the most significant ways.  

And that is most lucidly revealed in the final moments and last words of Jesus’ life.  

Three Ironic Taunts

The rulers scoff at him with: “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” (Matthew 27:42)

The soldiers taunt him with: “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.” (Matthew 27:37)

One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying: “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 

At the receiving end of this barrage of human depravity and ingratitude, Jesus offered the other criminal who hung beside him this radical assurance: “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”    

Paradise was another name for heaven, the eternal throne of God and the eternal home of those who trust in him.   

Here is a game changing truth: Jesus, the most innocent man, experiencing hell on the Cross from us and for us but promising us heaven! 

JESUS
A man experiencing hell from us but promising heaven to us!

Jesus failed old Israel’s national expectations of a mighty Messiah who had come to give them the silver bullet of self-redemption.

We give each other hell when we fail one another’s subjective expectations.

So, never under-estimate what your fickle and failed expectations might make you do in marriage, family, work and ministry.

We gave Jesus hell for our failed fickle expectations. He, on the other hand, offered us heaven from his faithful obedience to God.

Little wonder Jesus is the greatest of all time. 

This is all the more poignant as this relentless mocking of Jesus comes after he was betrayed by a kiss from his very own disciple, Judas. 

Then Jesus was arrested, stripped, mocked and beaten to a pulp by the soldiers. This was followed by three sham trials. Utterly false accusations were hurled at him. He was summararily sentenced to be crucified. 

All that unbridled inhumane treatment and uncensored injustice would have scarred any ordinary human for a lifetime. 

In our modern psychological lingo, Jesus would have suffered not mere post traumatic stress disorder but permanent traumatic stress disorder!  

Three Salvation Paradoxes
In Jesus and the Cross, we are struck by God’s masterful control over evil. God turns Good Friday into Easter Sunday. 

God repeatedly performs this reversal of fortunes throughout salvation history. From Sarai’s barren womb comes Isaac. From Pharoah’s genocidal plot against the Hebrews comes the Exodus. From Israel’s two major Exiles come the remnant. From the remnant comes Jesus.  

OUR REALITY PARADOX
God turns Good Friday into Easter Sunday.
He wins by losing.
Reality is not what it seems

So, Jesus finally wins by initially losing. This is the salvation paradox of Christ and his church. So it is for our master, so it must be for his disciples.  

All of which tells us that reality is not what it seems in this fallen world.  

The Bible tells us that we may be persecuted but never exterminated. Disciplined but not be destroyed. Pruned but ever fruitful.

So let’s pray to be increasingly strengthened – in our high calling to be his witnesses – to initially lose but finally be victorious in Christ.  

Our Pain Paradox

In Jesus and the Cross, we see that “God is revealed most where he is hidden most”. This is often why God chooses to work through our suffering. 

Unlike Monopoly, we cannot bypass suffering to get to glory. 

There is nothing more decisive than a stunning goal in the last seconds of a soccer match. 

OUR PAIN PARADOX
“God is revealed most where he is hidden most”
= Why God chooses to work through our suffering

There is no greater come back – from trailing throughout a basketball game – than a last minute dunk shot which takes the NBA title.    

There is no greater come back than Jesus rising triumphantly from the dead after being crucified so meekly on the Cross. 

Little wonder, Jesus is the greatest of all time.  

Our Ministry Paradox
In Christian living and ministry, nothing is more powerful than meekness. 

We might be so quickly condemned by our repeated failures or by our thin consciences. 

We might be so easily stereotyped by family. Or labelled by frenemies. Yet through it all, we will be so liberated by Jesus. 

We might be so easily judged by man but we will be so assuredly vindicated by God. We might be lightly accused by man but we will never be accursed by God. 

Little wonder, Jesus is the greatest of all time.  

Only as we embrace these gospel paradoxes of following Jesus can we arise with his  resurrection power to become the truest Christ-like children of God and servants of the gospel to our world. 

Only as we lean wholly on Jesus can we be the surest Christ-like spouse, parent or child through tiring days and long nights in our homes.      

Prayer: 

O Jesus, I thank you with all of my heart that though you faced hell on the Cross from us and for us, yet you graciously offered us forgiveness and heaven. 

Make me forever grateful and thankful to Lord Jesus. Teach me not to give hell to my loved ones when they fail to meet my fickle expectations.   

Empower me by your Spirit to embrace salvation paradox. That you alone can turn Good Friday into Easter Sunday by your masterful control over Satan and sin. 

Strengthen us to accept the pain paradox of suffering enroute to glory. Be with us as we live out the ministry paradox where nothing is more powerful than you working through our weakness. 

Through all of these experiences, help me to believe ever more deeply that Jesus is the greatest of all time. Amen.