04-19-2019 – Why It Is Called Good Friday?
Study the significance of Jesus' last seven sayings from the cross!
(Please note: there is a glitch the last 2 1/2 minutes of this sermon recording.)
4.19.19 ~ Luke 23:34
Why It Is Called Good Friday?
1. “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
-Luke 23:34
When you consider all that had happened to the Lord already, His unjust arrest,
a variety of mock trials, beatings, blasphemous contempt spewed out by the Jewish
people, the religious leaders and the soldiers, as they mocked Him.
And how does our merciful Lord respond, He asks the Father to forgive them,
when by all rights He could have brought judgment down upon them.
Paul said it this way (1Corinthians 2:8), “None of the rulers of this age
understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”
Acts 2:22-24 says, “Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man
accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among
you through him, as you yourselves know. This Man was handed over to you by
God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put
Him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised Him from the dead, freeing
Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold
on Him.”
John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that
whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were
still sinners, Christ died for us.”
2. “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
-Luke 23:43
There were two criminals being crucified, one on either side of the Lord. One of
them yelled insults at Jesus, the other saying, that although they deserved the
punishment they were receiving, Jesus was innocent of any crime. Then the
criminal speaking reverently about Jesus asked Jesus to remember him when He
came into His kingdom, and Jesus affirmed that the man would be with Jesus in
heaven, for he had clearly believed in Christ as Lord.
Jesus knew that His death was imminent and that He would soon be in heaven
with His Father, and so, Jesus used “paradise” as a synonym for “heaven.”
Paul says (2Corinthians 12:4), “[that he] was caught up to paradise [where]
he heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell.”
John writes (Revelation 2:7), that all genuine believers in Christ “will eat from
the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.”
So, paradise is the place of blessing and reward where all Christians go after
death, or at the “rapture,” to live with God forever.
3. “Dear woman, here is your son,” [John] "Here is your mother."
-John 19:26–27
Consider all that Jesus had gone through the previous 5 days: At the beginning
of the week they praised and adored Him, but today, they cried out for Him to be
crucified. Jesus was betrayed, mocked, dishonored, beaten, unjustly sentenced and
nailed to a cross.
And now, on that cross, Jesus expresses His love and care for His mother by
entrusting her to John, “the disciple whom He loved.” And from that very hour John
took Mary into his own household to care for her as his own mother.
What great love Jesus displayed for His widowed mother, and what
responsibility He gave to His disciple John, whom He favored. This same John
would outlive all the other Apostles.
4. “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?”
-Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34
This is a quote from Psalm 22:1, looking ahead to the time when Jesus would
take upon Himself the sins of the whole world, paying for them by His own shed
blood.
Isaiah 53:5, “He took upon Himself our sins.”
1Corinthians 15:3, “He died for our sins.”
2Corinthians 5:21, “Even though He knew no sin, He became sin on our behalf.”
Galatians 3:13, “He became a curse for us.”
Hebrews 9:26, “He has done away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”
1Peter 2:24, “He took our sins in HIs body on the cross.”
1Peter 3:18, “He died for sins, once for all.”
1John 4:10, “He became the propitiation [atonement, appeasement] for our sins.”
The Father had to turn away as Christ took sin upon Himself, and God’s wrath
was poured out on Him.
Habakkuk 1:13 says God cannot look upon wickedness [sin] with favor, and so,
the Father had to turn away from His own Son, in a sense withholding fellowship
from Him..
The fellowship the Father had with the Son had to cease while Christ became sin
and God poured out His wrath upon Him. Jesus was now alone, cast away, forsaken
and abandoned by the Father, for the one and only time in all of eternity.
5. “I am thirsty.”
-John 19:28
Jesus didn’t want to drink the sour wine, it couldn’t quench His thirst, or deaden
His pain, for He was only minutes away from death. Notice in the first part of John
19:28, “knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be
fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty.” This is referring to Psalm 69:21, “for My thirst
they gave Me vinegar [sour wine] to drink.“ Jesus hastens the end to come!
6. “It is finished.”
-John 19:30
Jesus’ cry, “It is finished!” is one Greek word, pronounced teh-tel-es-sty
[tetelestai]. This phrase was part of everyday life and language in Jesus’ time.
When a servant completed a difficult task that his master had given him to do,
he would say to his master teh-tel-es-sty [It is finished]!
When the Jewish people went to the temple with their sacrifice, the High Priest
would examine what had been brought and would use the Hebrew equivalent of “It
is finished!” in order to express, "Your offering is accepted, you have fulfilled your
obligation and reasonable offering.”
When a merchant at the market place made a sale and payment was handed to
him, he would say teh-tel-es-sty, i.e., “I am satisfied with your payment.”
Jesus had taken our punishment for sin; He had cancelled all our sin debt by
paying it Himself, with His own life, everything was complete and finished according
to the sovereign will of God the Father in heaven.
Sin separates us from God, if we want to go to heaven to be with God, the curse
and condemnation of sin must me removed. God sent His Son for this purpose.
Jesus died on the cross to get rid of the power of sin to condemn us. Salvation is
complete. "It is finished".
Isaiah 53:5-6, “He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our
iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by his wounds
we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our
own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
Romans 3:23-24, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are
justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
Romans 10:13 “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Jesus' proclamation, ”It is finished,” is God’s sovereign and eternal verdict for all
who believe in Jesus Christ, having become victorious over sin, death and judgment
through God’s One and Only Son.
Everything is complete. “It is finished!”
7. “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.”
-Luke 23:46, cf. Psalm 31:5
The Son of God accomplished all the Father had for Him to do, to fulfill all
righteousness, to secure salvation and redemption for all who believe in Him. But
notice, Jesus says “I commit My spirit into Your hands.”
God the Son gave up His spirit, Jesus’ life wasn’t taken from Him, nor did He
just expire; His body was going to die when He sovereignly chose for it to die, but
His spirit would be with the Father in heaven.
John 10:17-18, “I lay down My life--only to take it up again. No one takes it from
Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and
authority to take it up again.”
As Jesus hung on the cross, there was total darkness from noon to 3 pm, as
God’s wrath was poured out on the Lamb of God. Once Jesus had taken full
punishment for the sins of the world, the communion He had with the Father was
restored, for the work He had come to do was now finished and redemption had
been granted to all who believe in Him (John 10:28), "I give eternal life to them,
and they will never perish.”
That is why such a horrible, dark, and sorrowful day is called “Good” Friday.
Pastor Mike Hale