The day had finally come. Friday. Just five days after Jesus entered the streets of a cheering Jerusalem, He faced the covert plan of His betrayer:
“While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying,
“The one I will kiss is the man; seize him.”
And he came up to Jesus at once and said,
“Greetings, Rabbi!” And he kissed him. Jesus said to him,
“Friend, do what you came to do.” - Matthew 26:47-50
Jesus knew Judas would come. You can imagine that Christ had played this scene in His mind a few times... that kiss from the lips of the traitor against His cheek... the sounds of the swords clanging together from those that came to capture Him... All of the unnecessary drama from a group of people who had no clue what they were doing. Jesus would go willingly. He had been planning on it since the day He was sent to Earth.
Jesus was led away by those He had created. The beginning of the end... The end of the beginning...
Scripture tells us that Christ would go through a “trial.” He was brought before the high priest Annas, Caiaphas, Herod Antipas, and a man by the name of Pontius Pilate. None of them could pin anything on Him...none of them bold enough to condemn Him to die...that is until Pilate lets the people choose. Pontius would release one man... a murderer named Barabbas or Jesus.
The people chose the murderer over the Creator.
The King of Kings and Lord or Lords would face the most severe form of torture ever devised by the hands of man...before or since... the cross. And He would do so without ever thinking a sinful thought.
He would go through it for us.
By this time, Judas Escariot realized he has made a terrible mistake...tried to give the silver back... but eventually gave in to his overwhelming sense of grief. He knew he had caused the death of an innocent man... and it would cost him his own life by his own hand.
9AM - Noon on Good Friday. Three hours when the world held its breath, Satan snickered, and eleven scared students of Jesus went into hiding.
And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion.
And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him. And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. And it was the third hour when they crucified him.
And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.”
And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left.
And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying,
“Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him. And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?”which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” - Mark 15:16-39
And they would take Him down.
And they would put Him in a tomb.
And they would wait.
Was Jesus telling the truth when He said He was coming back?
Oh, yes.... He was coming back. THAT’S what we’re celebrating this Sunday.
Jesus keeps His promises. The tomb was empty and our eternity was forever changed.
Jesus’ death on the cross was the turning point for humanity. From that moment forward, every sin we’ve committed or will ever commit was covered by Christ’s sacrifice. So what do we do with that?
Continue to sin? Knowing that whatever we do is taken care of? Thinking that if it’s forgiven... why not continue to break God’s heart?
What’s the appropriate response to eternal grace and forgiveness?
“Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.” Romans 6:1-4;11-14
If you are a Christ-follower... sin no longer controls you. Why? Because of His resurrection! When He rose from the grave just three days after the events of Good Friday... we ALL received new life! New opportunity. New hope. New focus.
Sin lost it’s power that day. Death’s perfect record... spoiled.
When we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior...
We die to who we were.
Our past is buried
We resurrect with Christ into new life.
His grace is free. He gives it willingly. Why not sin? Because we should value what those who we are in a relationship with value. Christ paid the price to defeat sin’s power... why not choose to live in a way that honors that sacrifice and demonstrates our love for Him?
