FRI-04-10-2020 – What Makes Good Friday GOOD?
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Good Friday - April 10, 2020
What Makes Good Friday GOOD?
Good Friday’s Chronology:
Jesus Arrested, early in the morning
(Matthew 26:47-56; Mark 14:43-50; Luke 22:47-53; John 18:2-12)
Jesus stands before Annas (John 18:13-14, 19-23)
Jesus stands before Caiaphas, He is condemned and Mocked
(Matthew 26:57-68; Mark 14:53-65; Luke 22:4a, 63-65; John 18:24)
Jesus stands before Pilate
(Matthew 27:11-14; Mark 15:1b-5; Luke 23:1-7; John 18:28-38)
Jesus is sent to Herod (Luke 23:6-12)
Jesus is returned to Pilate, where He is sentenced and flogged
(Matthew 27:15-26; Mark 15:6-15; Luke 23:13-25; John 18:39-19:16a)
Jesus is mocked by soldiers (Matthew 27:27-30; Mark 15:16-19)
Jesus is led to Golgotha where He is crucified about "the third hour" (9 a.m.)
(Matthew 27:31-34; Mark 15:20-25; Luke 23:26-34; John 19:16b-17)
Soldiers cast lots for Jesus' clothing (Mark 15:24)
Those near the cross insult and mock Jesus
(Matthew 27:39-40; Mark 15:31; Luke 23:36-39)
Jesus blesses a criminal (Luke 23:40-43)
Jesus speaks to His mother Mary and to John (John 19:26-27)
Darkness covers the land from "the sixth hour" (12 noon) to "the ninth hour"
(3 p.m.) (Mark 15:33)
Jesus cries out to the Father (Matthew 27:46)
Jesus declares, "It is Finished" (John 19:30a; Luke 23:46)
There is a mighty earthquake (Matthew 27:51-52)
A centurion declares, "Surely He was the Son of God!"
(Matthew 27:54; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:47)
Soldiers break the legs of the other (John 19:31-33)
A soldier pierces Jesus side with a spear (John 19:34)
Jesus is laid in the tomb
(Matthew 27:57-61; Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42)
Sermon
On a Friday morning Jesus, carrying the horizontal portion of His cross, began
walking to the site of His execution, to a hill just outside the city.
Jesus was put to death in one of the most barbaric fashions known to mankind,
crucifixion: At about 9 AM, He was laid on the vertical beam and a large nail was
driven through the arch of one foot, then placed on top of the other foot and
nailed through to the wood. Jesus’ arms were then stretched across the horizontal
beam, and His hands nailed securely through His wrists; at this point, the cross
was lifted up and dropped into a hole, sending pain throughout Christ’s body.
After hours of pain and suffering, Jesus sovereignly declared, “It is finished.”
Sin’s curse and its penalty were defeated at the Cross.
The Bible records seven sayings of Jesus on the cross:
1. Luke 23:34, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
2. Luke 23:43, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
3. John 19:26–27, “Woman, behold your son!” “Behold your mother!”
4. Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
5. John 19:28, “I am thirsty.”
6. John 19:30, “It is finished!”
7. Luke 23:46, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit."
At about 3 PM, Jesus knowing that all had been done, ushers in His own death,
saying, "I am thirsty,” and a soldier fixed a sponge on the tip of a spear and held it
up to Jesus’ lips, after which Jesus cried out, "It is finished,” He then said, “Father,
into Your hands I commit My spirit,” and with that He gave up His own life.
Jesus’ cry, “It is finished!” is just one word in Greek, the word tetelestai. This
expression was part of everyday language during the time of Jesus: When a servant
completed a job for his master, he would say tetelestai, meaning, I have finished
the work. When a merchant at the marketplace exchanged goods for payment, he
would say tetelestai, meaning, paid in full.
When Jesus spoke from the cross “tetelestai” [It is finished], He was declaring
that everything required of Him by the Father was completed, He had satisfied the full
payment for our sins, once and for all.
Jesus cancelled our eternal sin debt by paying for it with His own life. You see,
sin separates us from God, so God sent His Son into the world to restore the
relationship humans had with God before sin entered creation and condemned us.
The relationship between God and humanity was restored at the cross;
forgiveness was granted and the righteousness of God was imputed to us through
Christ, that’s why He declared, ”It is finished!”
That’s why we call it “Good Friday.” Although it certainly wasn’t a good day for
Jesus, for He was rejected by His own people, dragged before Annas, Caiaphas,
Pilate, Herod, and then back to Pilate who threw up his hands in defeat, giving in to
the escalating mob of Jews yelling “Crucify Him!” Crucify Him!” “Crucify Him!”
Jesus was turned over to the soldiers under Pilate who mocked Him, after which
He was flogged almost to death, and then made to walk to the site of His own
execution, where He suffered in agony for six hours on the cross, before He died.
It is called “Good" Friday because the cross is proof and testimony of God’s
merciful, gracious, and sovereign love for us, love so powerful that Jesus took upon
Himself our punishment for sin, that we might receive forgiveness from God.
When Jesus cried out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" you can
hear the depth of Christ’s abandonment from the Father; He was all alone on that
cross, as God’s wrath was poured out on Him for our sins.
Isaiah 53:3-6, “He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face. He was
despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us
all To fall on Him.”
Hebrews 9:22, “According to the Law, one may almost say, all things are
cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”
Hebrews 9:26-28, “Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the
foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has
been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And inasmuch as it is
appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also,
having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for
salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.”
Hebrews 10:1-10, “For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to
come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which
they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise,
would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once
been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins? But in those
sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. For it is impossible for the blood
of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when He comes into the world, He
says, “Sacrifice and offering You have not desired, but a body You have prepared
for Me. In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no pleasure.
Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come (In the scroll of the book it is written of Me) to
do Your will, O God. After saying above, ‘Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt
offerings and sacrifices for sin You have not desired, nor have You taken pleasure
in them’ (which are offered according to the Law), then He said, ‘Behold, I have
come to do Your will.’ He takes away the first [LAW] in order to establish the
second [GRACE]. By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the
body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
Hebrews 10:17, “He then says, ‘And their sins and their lawless deeds
I will remember no more.’”
The Bible declares that everyone is a sinner, deserving death, yet God in His
great mercy grants eternal forgiveness and eternal life, through His One and Only
Son, Jesus Christ; His sacrificial death set us free from sin’s penalty forever.
Romans 3:23-24, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being
justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 6:23, “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in
Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Jesus was sentenced to death, although He was innocent of any crime. His
blood was shed as the once for all payment to God for our sins.
2Corinthians 5:21, “He [God] made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin on
our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
”It is finished,” is God’s sovereign declaration that full payment for sin was made
by the Son and received by God the Father, through the power of God the Holy
Spirit, as Jesus’ last words declare, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.”
1John 5:11-13, “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this
life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of
God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the
Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
John 3:16, Jesus willingly endured the most horrific and lonely death, in order to provide
forgiveness and eternal life, this is God’s greatest demonstration of His love for us.
When Jesus cried out, “It is finished!” He was proclaiming that sin’s curse and
condemnation had been eternally removed from everyone who, by faith, believes in
Christ as Savior; that is what makes Good Friday Good!
But what if the crucifixion was all we had, what if Jesus did not rise from the
grave? How would we know for sure that our sins really have been forgiven?
Luke 5:18-26, “And some men were carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed;
and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him. But not
finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and
let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in
front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.” The
scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this man who speaks
blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” But Jesus, aware of their
reasonings, answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts?
Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins have been forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and
walk’? But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to
forgive sins,”—He said to the paralytic—“I say to you, get up, and pick up your
stretcher and go home.” Immediately he got up before them, and picked up what
he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God. They were all struck with
astonishment and began glorifying God; and they were filled with fear, saying,
“We have seen remarkable things today.”
On a Friday afternoon Jesus’ body was taken down and laid in a tomb, a large
stone was rolled against the opening. The seal of the Roman governor was placed
across the stone sealing the tombs contents; additionally, a Roman guard unit was
stationed at the entrance, at the demand of the Chief Priests and Pharisees, to
ensure that Jesus’ body stayed in the grave; but, (as we will celebrate in two days)
early Sunday morning, the Roman guard became like dead men, they fainted at the
sight of God’s mighty angel, and Christ came out of the grave alive, just like He
said that He would.
Mark 8:31,"Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many
things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be
killed, and after three days rise again.”
In order to prove that His death (on Friday) really brought forgiveness for sin to
all who believe in Him, Jesus’ rose from the grave on Sunday, demonstrating His
authority over sin, death and judgement, forever.
John 11:25-26, Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in
Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never
die. Do you believe this?”
I hope and pray that you can answer that question affirmatively, without any
hesitation or reservation, believing in your heart and mind, as I do, that Jesus
Christ, God’s Son, is both Lord and Savior, and He has set us free from sin’s penalty
and has granted us eternal life. That is the Good News that begins today on Good
Friday and will be fully revealed and proclaimed on Easter Sunday morning.
May the LORD bless you and keep you, and be gracious to you. May The LORD
turn His face toward you, shine upon you, and give you peace”
(Deuteronomy 6:22-24).
Pastor Mike >‘(((><