Good Friday 2024

29^th March 2024

Nineteen hundred and ninety-four years ago, Jesus shared the last Supper with His disciples and then went out to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. He knew what was coming. He prayed that the following day's events might be prevented, but He submitted to the will of His heavenly Father, saying "Not my will but your will be done”. The chief priests and Jewish elders sent Judas Iscariot with a large crowd of soldiers and officials to arrest Him.

At daybreak, He was taken to the Sanhedrin, the ruling Jewish council, who gave Him a show trial and falsely convicted Him of heresy. Ironic, don't you think, that the Son of God was convicted of heresy? They condemned Him to death, but they didn't have the political power to execute Him, so they took Him to Pontius Pilate.

Pilate interviewed Jesus and found Him innocent. He announced this to the crowd, but they insisted that Jesus should die. Looking for a way out, Pilate sent Him to Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, who happened to be in Jerusalem at the time. Herod questioned Him but the chief priests and scribes were there, vehemently accusing Jesus, so Herod sent Him back to Pilate. Pilate appealed to the crowd again, but the crowd kept shouting, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” Pilate washed his hands in front of the crowd and told them, "I'm innocent of this man's blood. It's your responsibility”. They answered, "Let his blood be on us and our children”. Pilate had Jesus flogged and handed Him over to be crucified.

The Roman soldiers put a crown of thorns on His head, beat Him, spat on Him and mocked Him. They made Him carry His cross to the place of execution, but He was too weak from the flogging and beating, so they made another man, Simon of Cyrene, carry it for Him. At 9 o'clock that morning, the Roman soldiers nailed Jesus Christ to a cross, and left him there to die.

Luke 23v33-34a
When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals — one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

Jesus's motivation, more than anything else, was for the Roman soldiers who were torturing Him, and the Jewish people who had demanded his execution, and the Pharisees and Sadducees who had persecuted Him, and people like you and me, to know God's forgiveness, so we could be restored in right relationship with God.

At twelve o'clock, darkness came over the land of Judea. The Son of God was dying, and creation was mourning.

It stayed dark until three in the afternoon, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”. In that moment, He paid the ultimate price for sin – He was separated from God the Father. Soon after that, He said "It is finished”. He had done what He came to do. He had suffered enough. Then He prayed, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit" and He'd died.

Can you imagine the horror?

At that moment, the curtain of the temple was torn in two. There was an earthquake. Tombs broke open and many dead people were raised to life. The Roman centurion and the other soldiers with him were terrified and exclaimed, "Surely this was the Son of God”.

In less than 24 hours, Jesus had been betrayed, arrested, put on trial four times, falsely convicted, condemned, flogged, tortured, mocked, crucified and separated from His Father in heaven, and He'd died.

A few days before, Jesus had ridden in triumph into Jerusalem. The people had shouted "Hosanna to the Son of David”. Now he was dead. How had it come to this?

How could the Son of God die? Jesus was the kindest, gentlest, purest person who'd ever lived. For 3 ½ years He'd spoken the most beautiful words humanity has ever heard. He'd performed miracles that amazed the people fortunate enough to witness them. Surely Jesus was wise enough to find a way to avoid this appalling death. Surely He was powerful enough to escape. Even His closest friends didn't understand. It seemed to them the greatest tragedy, the most bewildering and frightening thing they could imagine.

The only explanation is that Jesus chose to die. In fact, He'd told them this several times, but they hadn't understood:

Matthew 16v21
… Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

John 10v11
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep"

John 15v13
"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down his life for his friends."

While Jesus was being arrested, the disciples tried to prevent it. Peter even attacked one of the soldiers. Jesus told him to stop, and then He said:

Matthew 26v53-54
"Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”

Jesus chose to die exactly the way He did die, in accordance with the Biblical prophesies about Him, the way He and His Father had agreed before the beginning of time. He died for us, as Paul wrote:

Romans 5v6-8
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Even today, most people can't understand it. How can anybody choose to die for people like you and me? Jesus died to pay for your sins and for mine. If we believe that, God forgives us our sin, accepts us as His children, and gives us eternal life.

Romans 3v23-25
…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.

Everything necessary to pay for your sin has already been done – there is no more to do! There is no other sacrifice necessary for sin:

Hebrews 9v27-28
Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people...

Hebrews 10v14
... by one sacrifice [on the cross] he [Jesus] has made perfect for ever those who are being made holy.

All the crimes against God that you have committed – all your wrong actions, thoughts and desires – have already been totally paid for - 100%.

Romans 8v1
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus

Praise be to God!

The correct and just penalty for sin is death, not just physical death but eternal death. But Jesus died so that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us. The penalty for our sin was paid by Jesus. God will never demand that the penalty for our sin should be paid twice – that would be unjust. And God's justice is perfect.

This Easter, let us take time to contemplate the depth of Christ's suffering for us, and the wonderful eternal salvation His suffering won for us, and let us give ourselves afresh to Him in grateful and joyful service.