Good Friday
By Danny Santiago Torres
"What good is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, and has not works, can faith save him? And if a brother or sister be naked, and have need of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Go in peace, be ye warmed and filled; but ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it has not works, is dead in itself." James 2:14-17 (NKJV1960)
The death of Christ is a real fact that makes us look back to the union we have with Him on the cross. He came to the cross because of his rejection of the idolatry of the governments and the religiosity of the Jewish systems. His attitude made Him a dissident in the eyes of all institutions, religious and secular.
institutions, religious and secular. Jesus had a different vision from the religious of his time. The way He looked at and treated human beings, made those who did not think like Him, consider Him a dissident.
He was considered a dissident, to the point of treating him as a revolutionary of his time. Today we see how those who proclaim themselves religious live under the sedative of conformism, in a way without precedent.
conformism, in an unprecedented way. There is no clear commitment to the mission of the cross. They speak of the death of Jesus on the cross, but that is as far as their commitment goes. There is no
commitment of life, a mission that reminds each brother that the Son of God is no longer on the cross, that he rose to give us eternal life.
The religious instructions speak of Koinonia, but they do not go out of their environment to establish authentic relationships with others. The links between God and his church remain only in the theory of a religion conditioned to the convenience of each one. They speak of Diakonia, but there is no concrete commitment in favor of the weakest and most vulnerable. They speak of Liturgy, but they have reduced personal experience to rites and ecclesial celebrations. They speak of
Martyria, but they do not make faith credible because they have confined it to the temples.
The cross was an instrument of torment and death. Jesus gave a new meaning to the cross. He reversed, by his death, the curse of seeing the processes of pain and death as the end of every purpose in our life.
In Luke 9:23 Christ invited his disciples to take up the cross. "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." Luke 9:23 (NKJV1960). When He asks each one to take up his cross and follow Him, it is an invitation to face everything, because the only thing that could stop man and God's purpose in his life, was death, and Jesus conquered it on the cross. Christ asked his followers to be willing to die every day in order to follow him. Being a disciple of Jesus implies a total commitment.
commitment. To follow Jesus one must be willing to pay any price and make any sacrifice. That is the end of Christ's death, that is the power of the cross.
The power of the cross comes alive when we can let humanity know how valuable they are in the eyes of God, tell them that we are precious and that God has our name carved in the palm of his hand because he loves us. The power of the cross teaches us to
to model. To model with my life, and not with my words, giving witness to a total transformation of our lives. The power of the cross summons us to serve. That power compels us to get up from the table, take off our cloak, tie the towel around our waist, pour water into a basin and wash the feet of the needy. The power of the cross compels us to love. It is giving to one another, it is doing for others what we would want them to do for us, it is doing for others what we would want them to do for us, it is doing for others what we would want them to do for us.
is to do for others what we would want them to do for us, it is to make the gospel credible.
Pastor Danny Santiago Torres,
Charisma Christian Church
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead (James 2:14-17 NIV).
The death of Christ is a real fact that makes us look back at the union that
we have with Him on the cross. He came to the cross for his rejection of the idolatry of governments and the religiosity of the Jewish systems. His attitude made him a dissident in the eyes of all institutions, religious and secular. Jesus had a different vision than the religious people of his time.
The way he looked at and treated human beings made those who didn't think like him consider him a dissident, to the point of treating him as a revolutionary of his time.
Currently we see how those who proclaim themselves religious live under the sedating conformity in an unprecedented way. There is no clear commitment to the mission of the cross. They speak of the death of Jesus on the cross, but their commitment ends there. There isn't a commitment of life, a mission that reminds each brother/sister that the Son of God no longer on the cross, rose to give us eternal life.
The religious instructions speak of Koinonia, but they do not create the conditions to establish authentic relationships with others. The bonds between God and his church remain only in the theory of a religion conditioned to the convenience of each one.
They speak of Diakonia, but there is no concrete commitment in favor of the weakest and most vulnerable. They talk about Liturgy, but they have reduced the personal experience to ecclesial rites and celebrations. They talk aboutMartyria, but they do not make the faith credible because they have confined it to the temples. The cross was an instrument of torment and death. Jesus gave a new meaning to the cross. He revoked, through his death, the curse of seeing the processes of pain and death, as the end of every purpose in our life. In Luke 9:23 Christ invited his disciples to take up the cross. Then he said to them all: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me (Luke 9:23 NIV). When he asks everyone to take up their cross and follow him, it is an invitation to face everything, because the only thing that could stop someone and God's purpose in their life was death, and Jesus defeated it on the cross. Christ asked his followers that they be willing each day to die to follow him. Being a disciple of Jesus implies a total commitment. To follow Jesus one must be willing to pay any price and do anything even to sacrifice. That is the end of the death of Christ, that is the power of the cross. The power of the cross comes alive when we let each person know the value they have in the eyes of God, tell them that we are precious and that God has our name carved upon the palm of his hand, because he loves us. The power of the cross teaches us to model Jesus. To model with my life, and not with my words, bearing witness to a transformation of our lives. The power of the cross calls us to serve. That power leads us to get up from the table, take off our cloak, tie the towel around our waist, throw water in a container and wash the feet of the needy. The power of the cross compels us to love. It is to give to each other, to do for other people what we would like them to do for us. This is to make the gospel credible.
Pastor Danny Santiago Torres,
Charisma Christian Church