As we begin today, I want to walk you through the very familiar story of Good Friday… Here’s my timeline for the day:
- Thursday, early evening … Jesus dined with his disciples for what has come to be known as The Last Supper…
- Thursday, after supper … Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane, across the Kidron Valley over to the base of the Mount of Olives … and it was there he prayed so intently that sweat dropped off of him likes drops of blood… His disciples couldn’t stay awake with him; do you remember?
- Then, late Thursday night … Judas came with guards from the high priest, Caiaphas … to identify Jesus and have him arrested under the cover of night (afraid of what the people might do). Jesus was taken then to Caiaphas’ place and lowered down into a holding cell underneath Caiaphas’ house (Church of Gallicantu—the Cock Crowing)…
- In the wee hours of Friday morning … Jesus would be sent to Pontius Pilate, accused of nothing really, but pressured (by the religious elite) to crucify him, setting free a known murderer instead (a Passover tradition)…
- The FIRST HOUR of the day would be 6 AM (sunrise) … Jesus would have been approaching his time of crucifixion…
- At the THIRD HOUR, 9 AM … the crucifixion of Jesus began…
- At Noon that day—the SIXTH HOUR … is when all went dark, Jesus still hanging on the cross…
- By the NINTH HOUR—3 PM … Jesus, still on the cross, began to cry out… and then Jesus was dead. Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate to ask for his body (no other followers of Jesus were from Jerusalem, nor had means to take care of this). Pilate was surprised. Why? Because it usually took 12 hours on the cross to die; Jesus died at around 6 hours on the cross (THIRD HOUR TO NINTH HOUR)–half the time of most…
- This explains why the Romans soldiers began to break the legs of those being crucified with him. The Sabbath would begin at the TWELFTH HOUR (6 PM, sundown) … and they couldn’t have anyone hanging on the crosses in Jerusalem as the Sabbath began; that would be a desecration of the Sabbath … and Pilate would have had a riot on his hands… So, the soldiers broke legs to speed up the death process, making sure all were dead and could be removed from the crosses … all before the Sabbath began…
Folks, as you think about all that Jesus went through on that first Good Friday, what symbol comes to mind—a symbol that represented that day? If we can agree on what symbolized that very important day … then we can move on to the message God has given me to share with you on this Good Friday! What is the symbol of the day? Do you know? Listen to the story of Jesus’ death & burial from Mark’s Gospel (15:33-47, NLT) and I believe it’ll become very clear to you…
33 At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. 34 Then at three o’clock Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” 35 Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. 36 One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink. “Wait!” he said. “Let’s see whether Elijah comes to take him down!” 37 Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 When the Roman officer who stood facing him saw how he had died, he exclaimed, “This man truly was the Son of God!”
40 Some women were there, watching from a distance, including Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James the younger and of Joseph), and Salome. 41 They had been followers of Jesus and had cared for him while he was in Galilee. Many other women who had come with him to Jerusalem were also there. 42 This all happened on Friday, the day of preparation, the day before the Sabbath. As evening approached,
43 Joseph of Arimathea took a risk and went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. (Joseph was an honored member of the high council, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come.) 44 Pilate couldn’t believe that Jesus was already dead, so he called for the Roman officer and asked if he had died yet. 45 The officer confirmed that Jesus was dead, so Pilate told Joseph he could have the body. 46 Joseph bought a long sheet of linen cloth. Then he took Jesus’ body down from the cross, wrapped it in the cloth, and laid it in a tomb that had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone in front of the entrance. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where Jesus’ body was laid.
So, what was really going on that day? For one thing, it was a fulfillment of prophecy—the events of this day prophesied by the psalmist over 800 years prior to Jesus’ death. As a matter of fact, let me share that prophecy with you now (Psalm 22:15-18, NLT)…
My strength has dried up like sunbaked clay. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have laid me in the dust and left me for dead. 16 My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs; an evil gang closes in on me. They have pierced my hands and feet. 17 I can count all my bones. My enemies stare at me and gloat. 18 They divide my garments among themselves and throw dice for my clothing.
Isn’t that incredible? And that was written over 800 years before Good Friday actually took place… Folks, I want you to understand today that it wasn’t that Jesus needed to die for himself in any way; it was that he needed to die for us! That was why God sent him; this was the purpose of his life! HIS DEATH WAS THE FULFILMENT OF GOD’S GREAT PROMISE (prophecies = promises) TO HUMANITY! Through his death, we can be made right with God; we can live a victorious lif
e with God … beginning now … and then forever!
If you haven’t guessed yet … it is the Cross that has become the central symbol for that wonderful act of LOVE—for that first Good Friday … which raises a huge question for me. How could this happen? How could this thing that had previously been a Roman symbol of destruction and cruelty and hate and torture … suddenly become a symbol of the Love of God? Well, let me say that … our GOD IS A GOD OF TRANSFORMATION. The Power of God transforms things … and it transforms people! And if it’s something that looks impossible, that’s right up God’s alley; God is the only one who could transform something so horrible … into something so wonderful!
Good Friday itself is about transformation! Good Friday was about the transforming of one kind of sacrifice … to another. Let me describe it this way: God’s incredible transformation that day moved us (away)…
FROM ANIMAL SACRIFICES… In the Old Testament days, when God’s people lived under the Old Covenant (agreement) with God—the Law, here’s what was happening…
- Genesis 8:20 (NLT) tells us, “Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and there he sacrificed as burnt offerings the animals and birds that had been approved for that purpose.”
- Genesis 22:13 (NLT) – “Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it [on an altar] as a burnt offering in place of his son.”
- Genesis 46:1 (NLT) – “So Jacob set out for Egypt with all his possessions. And when he came to Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father, Isaac.”
Exodus 12:24-27 (NLT) goes on to remind us of what Moses told the people of God about the original Passover sacrifice—the Passover celebration that Jesus and his disciples were about at the Last Supper (Maundy Thursday):
“Remember, these instructions are a permanent law that you and your descendants must observe forever. 25 When you enter the land the LORD has promised to give you, you will continue to observe this ceremony. 26 Then your children will ask, ‘What does this ceremony mean?’ 27 And you will reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt. And though he struck the Egyptians, he spared our families.’ When Moses had finished speaking, all the people bowed down to the ground and worshiped.”
When animal sacrifice was the norm, that was a day when it was rather messy to go to church! Could you imagine that a part of your pastor’s priestly duties today would be to do animal sacrifices on your behalf? (I could not…) Well, thank heavens that God has transformed our relationship with him! God has moved us … FROM ANIMAL SACRIFICES…
…TO THE PERFECT SACRIFICE! And that is the transformation that took place on Good Friday! Again, I am so thankful that God has transformed our relationship with him! No longer do we have to sacrifice cute (and perfect) little animals like a lamb! God has, instead, given us … as a gift … THE PERFECT SACRIFICE! And, folks, understand that the CROSS is what the day is all about! It’s no longer a negative symbol, but a positive one—a symbol of LOVE and of HOPE…
GOD KEEPS HIS PROMISES! GOD IS A GOD WHO IS IN THE BUSINESS OF TRANSFORMATION… God transforms the not-so-wonderful … into the incredibly wonderful!
No more animal sacrifices have to take place! This was awful! It had to be a perfect animal … and they would have to slay it as a sacrifice for our sins. Life is in the blood; so, if a sacrifice meant one life for another, blood (the life) had to be shed. It took a sacrifice of blood to give us life. But now God has given us THE PERFECT SACRIFICE. The altar has now been transformed … into a table of communion! We can now commune with God … without further spilling of blood or sacrifice…
The CROSS: An ugly symbol … turned into one of beauty! Only God could do that… Only the LOVE of God could be behind that…
Folks, this is why God can take the most awful things in our lives… and turn them into things of beauty! That’s what God does… GOD IS A GOD OF TRANSFORMATION … miraculous transformation! That’s what the CROSS is all about—the LOVE OF GOD. Good Friday reminds us of that… Now, on to yet another miracle—another prophecy fulfilled … in the resurrection…