Good Friday I

Matthew 27:27-54

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 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!” And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. 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.

As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads 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.” So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “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. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. 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?” And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” 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. But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. 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!”

This is Good Friday. At the end of the crucifixion account, but in another gospel, Jesus says two things wile on the cross. The first, the very first statement from the cross was, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” The second, and the second to last statement, from the cross was, “It is finished.” 

In these times, a blood sacrifice was required for the cleansing of sin. They would take the best animal with no impurities or defects, and would slice it’s neck and offer it to God on an altar. Yes, it is a graphic picture, but it was reality at that time. Here, in this passage, we see God as a human, who has laid aside His exalted and transcendent position and has become like you and I (Philippians 2:5-8). He has come to save the people who have rebelled against Him since Adam and Eve. He has been rejected by them. They have taken His rules and guidelines that dealt with the heart and transformed them into legalistic laws that dealt solely with the actions, turning a God of love into a God that is condemning and shallow. They spat in His face with acts that they knew He found heinous. They loved the darkness. They did not want to leave it. They took the King of Kings, the Creator, the God that they claimed to love and nailed Him to a cross to die with the lowest of criminals, a death that is the most excruciating (which actually was a word created by the Romans to reflect the torturous manner of the cross that they perfected to execute criminals; in fact, it was so bad, that Roman citizens, even the worst, would not and could not be executed on a cross) and humiliating death of all deaths. You and I, we make up the “they” group that I am referring to as well. We spat in His face, mocked Him, beat Him, whipped Him, rejected Him, and chose death over Him. Yet, He still came and dies for us and has given us the ability to not only be saved from our sins and the punishment that we rightfully deserve, but also has given us the gift to come into a relationship with Him and sit at His feet and talk to Him and read about Him from His Word. How beautiful of a gift that we have been so graciously given. While on the cross, Jesus exemplified love. Love demonstrated by its maker. Jesus, Himself, said “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:12-13). The extreme weight of this sacrifice amazes me. The fact that I am loved enough for God to die for me to be able to know Him absolutely leaves me speechless. It blows my mind that God did that for me so that I can know Him and come to live for Him and bring Him glory. As the Jews made sacrifices to God for forgiveness, Jesus was our sacrifice. He is the only sacrifice that we ever need. He was bloodied for us. He was striped for our iniquities (Isaiah 53). May we look at what happened today 2,000 years ago and say, “truly, this is the Son of God.”

This is part I of the Good Friday message that I have coming. Part II coming tonight. Then be looking out for an Easter message also!!!

God bless!!!

-Ryan Scott