40 Days of Preparation Good Friday

At 9:00 a.m. this morning some 2000 years ago Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross and the process of His crucifixion for my sin began. Second only to Easter Sunday, Good Friday is the highest of all Christian Holy days!

²⁵ And it was the third hour when they crucified him. Mark 15:25 (ESV)

Jesus’ crucifixion occurred only after he had been mocked, beaten and flogged by the Jewish authorities and then the Roman soldiers.

²⁷ Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. ²⁸ And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, ²⁹ and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” ³⁰ And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. ³¹ And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him. Matthew 27:27–31 (ESV)

These beatings and floggings had so weakened Jesus that He was to weak to carry His own cross. Imagine if you had been visiting Jerusalem that day and had been compelled to carry His cross for Him.

³² As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. ³³ And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), ³⁴ they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. ³⁵ And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. Matthew 27:32–35 (ESV)

Did you notice that the Son of God died with only the clothes he had on as the sum total of His earthly possessions. John gives us a more detailed inventory of Jesus’ final possessions.

²³ When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, John 19:23 (ESV)

I believe that it is fair to say that when Jesus died His earthly possessions were little more than the clothes on His back. It is much more than ironic that the placard which the Romans nailed to the cross above Jesus’ head actually stated the truth about Jesus’ identity.

³⁶ Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. ³⁷ And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” ³⁸ Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. Matthew 27:36–38 (ESV)

The grace of God for which Jesus gave His life is most prominently displayed in Luke’s account of the two thieves between whom Jesus was crucified.

³⁹ One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” ⁴⁰ But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? ⁴¹ And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴² And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” ⁴³ And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”Luke 23:39–43 (ESV)

It is indeed a historical and theological fact that Jesus Christ came to the earth for the expressed purpose of dying on the cross. He did this for one reason, to provide a sacrifice for sin. It is terribly depressing and incredibly sad that the people for whom Jesus died treated Him with such hatred, disrespect and acrimony.

³⁹ And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” ⁴¹ So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, ⁴² “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. ⁴³ He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” ⁴⁴ And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. Matthew 27:36–44 (ESV)

At noon darkness veiled Jerusalem. This was indeed a strange occurrence. Scientists and others have hypothesized how this darkness might have occurred.  Some have speculated that is was an unusually bad storm or a solar eclipse. How it happened is less important than why it happened. Jesus is taking upon Himself the punishment for the sin of all the people who have ever and will ever live. In the this process Jesus suffers the wrath God has for sin. Jesus has to suffer much more than physical pain while being crucified He also must bear the penalty for sin. It is in this despair and pain that Jesus cries out to God His Father.

⁴⁵ Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. ⁴⁶ And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” ⁴⁷ And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” ⁴⁸ And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. ⁴⁹ But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” ⁵⁰ And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. Matthew 27:36–44 (ESV)

At 3:00 pm Jesus’ struggle ends. He yields His Spirit. Once more John gives us a bit more information. According to John, Jesus’ final words were “It is finished.”

³⁰ When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:30 (ESV)

This phrase was common in the world of the New Testament, but it was not a common phrase for ones final words. It comes from the world of business and would best be translated today by our phrase “paid in full.” In other words Jesus is saying when he gives up His Spirit that the sin debt is paid, it is done, it is over. That the sin debt is paid is powerfully illustrated by an occurrence in the temple and the reaction of nature, and the previously dead to Jesus’ death.

⁵¹ And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. ⁵² The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, ⁵³ and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

These incidents were so revealing that the godless centurion who had witnessed Jesus’ death came to a strange and startling conclusion, “this was God’s Son!”

⁵⁴ When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” Matthew 27:51–54 (ESV)

How will you spend today? Do you really believe that Jesus was God’s Son or have become too sophisticated for such intolerant and ancient thinking. Has Good Friday become just another day for you?

I believe that Jesus Christ actually lived a sinless life and that He preached, healed and cast out demons just like the biblical authors described. I also believe that He was crucified between two thieves and that when He died He bore the penalty for my sin and that through faith in Him I can be saved. This faith is not cheap, however. It cost me my life, just as it did Jesus.

When one is saved we will want to follow Jesus wherever He leads. My lifestyle, my ambitions, my desires, my bank account, my schedule, my relationships and every other aspect of my life are no longer my own, they are His! I am to follow Him. This is how we are to celebrate, every Easter, Good Friday, holiday, Lord’s day, and weekday.  This is how those who walked with Jesus then lived, and how those who truly follow Jesus now live. Because Jesus died for us shouldn’t we be willing to live for Him?