This week’s devotions are based on Week 1 of Rooted – Grounded in Grace (CLICK HERE)
So I was curious.
Today is Friday the thirteenth.
In some ways, it’s just another day on the September calendar, but when the thirteenth day of the month ends up on Friday, somehow folklore identifies it as “unlucky.” Even if you are not superstitious, somehow Friday the thirteenth is a day you pause and think, “oh it’s Friday the 13th. I hope nothing bad happens today.” (Yes, you are welcome for now making you think about it!)
So I was curious.
How in the world did Friday the 13th become an unlucky day when every month has a thirteenth day. Why not Monday the 13th or Wednesday the 13th?
So I poked around the internet and found this on the History.com website:
According to biblical tradition, 13 guests attended the Last Supper, held on Maundy Thursday, including Jesus and his 12 apostles (one of whom, Judas, betrayed him). The next day, of course, was Good Friday, the day of Jesus’ crucifixion.
The seating arrangement at the Last Supper is believed to have given rise to a longstanding Christian superstition that having 13 guests at a table was a bad omen—specifically, that it was courting death.
Though Friday’s negative associations are weaker, some have suggested they also have roots in Christian tradition: Just as Jesus was crucified on a Friday, Friday was also said to be the day Eve gave Adam the fateful apple from the Tree of Knowledge, as well as the day Cain killed his brother, Abel.
There were some other possible explanations (the link is at the end of the devotion), but I got to thinking. If Friday the 13th is about sin entering the world and sin being defeated…actually it’s a pretty good day! I don’t think the Apostle Paul had “Friday the 13th” at all in mind, but he did have in mind what happened in the garden of Eden reversed on the cross of Calvary.
Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—
13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.
15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
Without the grace of God, every Friday and every 13th would be bad days. But if somehow Friday the 13th is about the 13 people who were with Jesus at the Passover meal and the day he died on the cross for all sin…including yours and mine…then what a great day today is.
Happy Friday the 13th…it’s as good as Good Friday!
Apply: The message of God’s grace applies every day. What is happening today in your life for which you are grateful for God’s grace?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, every day is the fortunate, blessed reality that you love me and are my Savior. Thank you for overcoming my sin with your death on the cross. Thank you for allowing me to have and experience every day your grace. AMEN.