The Grave of Good Friday: Ezra’s Example of Repentance
By: Alex Geisler
As the days warm and flowers bloom, it’s so easy for us as Christian women to jump right into the celebration of Christ’s resurrection on Easter Sunday. This year especially, we are eager for the fulfilled promise of new life. But in order to more fully understand the wonder of the Resurrection, we must again recognize why Christ went to the grave at all.
When I first put my trust in Jesus, I intimately knew my need for a Savior. I desperately needed God’s grace, and he was merciful to provide it in Jesus. But over time, it became easy for me to casually assume that God would forgive my sins. Did it really matter if I sinned then? In my worst moments, it might be hard to identify my sins at all. First John speaks directly to this heart posture:
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.” 1 John 1:9 - 2:1
Sisters, confessing our sins isn’t a one-time thing, just like sinning isn’t a one-time thing. Yes, when we put our trust in Christ, all of our past, present, and future sins are forgiven. Period. But the heart posture of true faith in Jesus is to be more and more aware of our need for a Savior, not less. To be a Christian woman is to consistently be in repentance and believe Christ’s forgiveness.
But repentance isn’t easy, and it isn’t natural to us. In His kindness, our Father has given us examples throughout scripture of individuals pouring their hearts out to Him in repentance. While David often gets recognition for his repentant heart in Psalm 51, my favorite example of repentance is in the book of Ezra.
To set the scene - Ezra was a scribe, sent by the Lord, whose job was to teach the people God’s law. The people had turned away from the Lord, and the Lord was (yet again) being merciful to the Israelites by reminding them what His law commands...and how they were falling short. One day, Ezra is told that the Israelites have been intermarrying with people who were not God’s people - something the Lord had explicitly told them not to do. In response, Ezra tore his clothes, pulled at his hair, and fell to his knees in prayer. His prayer can serve as a guide for true repentance of our own sins today.
Boiled down, repentance might look something like this:
Know where you stand - Ezra 9:3 - 6
Ezra didn’t try to put on a front to the Lord. Rather than come to God in pride or defensiveness, he came in humility and lowliness. He didn’t even try to present himself as worthy of talking to God, but felt “ashamed” to lift up his face to Him. Ezra knew that God was perfect, and the sins that had been committed by Israel were an example that the people were not.
Own your stuff - Ezra 9:7-14
While it’s often easy to make excuses for our actions, Ezra doesn’t even try. He is honest and direct and doesn’t sugar-coat any of the peoples’ mistakes. He even goes all the way back to the beginning of the Israelite people and lays out how faithful God has been and how selfishly His people have always responded.
Ask for forgiveness, but accept the consequences - Ezra 9:14 -15, 10:2
Sometimes when we repent, we can be tempted to spell out the terms of how others should respond to our repentance. If we’ve apologized, shouldn’t we be forgiven? Ezra doesn’t assume so with the Lord. In fact, Ezra recognizes that the consequence for their sin should be total destruction of the people. The only thing that saves the people is God’s own character as a promise-keeper. The Lord had saved a remnant of the people in order to be faithful to his promise to Abraham. Despite their sin, the Lord would again show mercy to the people, but He would have been fair to destroy them.
Make a change - Ezra 10:3-19
Ezra is not content to repent to the Lord without taking steps to fix the sin the people committed. After his prayer, the leaders gathered all the people together and, one-by-one, they repented and separated themselves from their foreign spouses. This shows us that real repentance requires the act of turning away from our sin, not just receiving forgiveness so we feel better about ourselves the next time we sin.
Just like Ezra prayed to God for the sins of the people, Christians have an advocate in Jesus. After his warning, the writer of 1 John goes on to tell us:
“...But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” 1 John 2:1
Though we put our faith in Jesus, we will commit sins against God and others every day. No matter if you are new to your faith or fifty years in, we need daily repentance for our daily sins. And each time we do sin, Jesus is there with God the Father, pleading for our forgiveness.
What does it mean, then, to repent as a believer who has put her faith in Jesus Christ, our forever advocate? It means we repent like Ezra, but with the promise of forgiveness.
Where do we stand? We stand confidently before God, knowing that we are with Jesus, and that he has our back. We don’t have to come to God afraid, but we do come to Him mourning the reality of our sin.
How do you own your stuff? We own our sin honestly and completely, knowing that there is no sin too great that can’t or won’t be forgiven.
How do you receive both forgiveness and consequence? We rest in God’s mercy, knowing that He will forgive our sin because the consequence has been paid by the death of Christ.
How do we make a change? We plead for God to give us wisdom and self-control through His Holy Spirit. He is the one who provides the heart change necessary for us to desire holiness rather than sin.
This Good Friday we are reminded that our forgiveness came with a cost. As urban Christian women, I pray that we would make daily repentance a habit in our lives. As we do, let us give praise to the one who makes forgiveness possible every day. May we never forget that our freedom required the suffering and death of our perfect Savior, Jesus!
