Good Friday 2022

Song of Introduction

#175 “Hallelujah, What a Savior!”

Betrayal

Reader 1:

Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them:

Reader 2:

Sit here while I pray.

Reader 1:

He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled.

Reader 2:

My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch.

Reader 1:

Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him.

Reader 2:

Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.

Reader 1:

Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping.

Reader 2:

Simon, are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Reader 1:

Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. When he came back, he again found the sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him. Returning to the third time--

Reader 2:

Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!

Reader 1:

Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders. Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them.

Reader 3:

The one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.

Reader 1:

Going at once to Jesus, Judas said--

Reader 3:

Rabbi!

Reader 1:

And kissed him. The men seized Jesus and arrested him. Then everyone deserted him and fled.

Song of Response

#206 “There Is a Redeemer”

Trial 1

Reader 1:

They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, the elders, and the teachers of the law came together. Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at the fire.

The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any. Many testified against him, but their statements did not agree.

Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against him:

Reader 3:

We heard him say: I will destroy this temple made with human hands and in three days will build another, not made with hands.

Reader 1:

Yet, even then their testimony did not agree.

Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus:

Reader 3:

Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?

Reader 2:

I am, and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.

Reader 1:

The high priest tore his clothes.

Reader 3:

Why do we need any more witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?

Reader 1:

They all condemned him as worthy of death. Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said:

Reader 3:

Prophesy!

Reader 1:

And the guards took him and beat him.

Song of Response

#178 O Sacred Head, Now Wounded

Trial 2

Reader 1:

Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate, who asked:

Reader 3:

Are you king of the Jews?

Reader 2:

You have said so.

Reader 1:

The chief priests accused him of many things. So again Pilate asked him:

Reader 3:

Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.

Reader 1:

But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.

Now it was the custom at the festival to release a prisoner whom the people requested. A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.

Reader 3:

Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?

Reader 1:

Pilate knew that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him out of self-interest. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead

Reader 3:

What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?

Reader 1:

The crowd shouted:

Crowd:

Crucify him!

Reader 3:

Why? What crime as he committed?

Reader 1:

But, the crowd shouted louder:

Crowd:

Crucify him! Crucify him!

Reader 1:

Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

The soldiers led jesus away into the palace and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him:

Crowd:

Hail, king of the Jews!

Reader 1:

Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

Song of Response

#186 “The Old Rugged Cross”

Crucifixion

Reader 1:

They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.

It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. The written notice of the charge against him read: The King of the Jews.

They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying:

Reader 3:

So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!

Reader 1:

In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves.

Reader 3:

He saved others but he can’t save himself! Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.

Reader 1:

Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

At noon, darkness came over the land until three in the afternoon. And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice:

Reader 2:

Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Reader 1:

When some of those standing near heard this, they said:

Reader 3:

Listen, he’s calling Elijah.

Reader 1:

Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink.

Reader 3:

Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down.

Reader 1:

With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.

The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said:

Reader 3:

Surely this man was the Son of God!

Song of Response

#185 “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”

Message

The Romans thought that it was going to be a normal crucifixion. They had done hundreds, thousands of these.

They had grown callous to the pain inflicted. They found joy in proving the superiority of Rome in the face of what they perceived as a lesser society, the scum of a lesser society.

So, when they brought three men to Golgotha, they thought it was going to be a normal crucifixion. Sure, there would be the crowds, the possible riots, but nothing more than they could handle. A day of watching the criminals die on the cross and then they would be done.

However, by the end of the day, the centurion in charge of the soldiers did not respond as he normally responded at the end of a crucifixion. Normally, he would have overseen the disposal of the bodies, joking at the justice done to those lesser than himself. Today, he said of the one hanging on the center cross: “Surely this man was the Son of God.”

What changed?

1A. A death filled with love

He saw a death filled with love.

Normally, the criminals he crucified cursed at the soldiers. But Jesus blessed them. He said:

Luke 23:34 (NIV)

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

The Prophet Isaiah compared Jesus to a lamb going to slaughter.

Isaiah 53:7 NIV

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

Instead of opening his mouth to condemn those around him, he opened it to forgive, as I said. He opened it to show love, as he made sure his mother would be provided for. He opened it to prove his love to His Father and to mankind, when he said, “It is finished.”

His death was a product of his love. John records for us that:

John 3:16 NIV

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Jesus himself said:

John 15:13 NIV

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

Jesus’s death was filled with love, and the centurion saw that.

2A. A death which fulfilled prophecy

He also saw a death which fulfilled prophecy.

One of Jesus’ last words was the crazy phrase:

Mark 15:34 (NIV)

“Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).

This is the opening line to Psalm 22. The Jews at this time did not have their Psalms numbered. They didn’t refer to them as Psalm 22, Psalm 23, Psalm 100. They referred to them as the opening line.

So, Psalm 23 would be “The Lord is my shepherd.”

Psalm 100 would be “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.”

Psalm 22 would be “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

It just so happens that Psalm 22 is a prophecy about the coming Messiah. At the end of the Psalm, the psalmist declares:

Psalm 22:29–31 NIV

All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him— those who cannot keep themselves alive. Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!

As Jesus is hanging on the cross, while so many people think is is crying out in agony, he is saying, as he can barely form words from the pain: I have fulfilled the prophecy. I am the Messiah, come to bring life to those who cannot, righteousness to those who have not.

He has done it.

The centurion saw.

3A. A death reacted against by nature

The centurion also saw what happened around him.

He saw the darkness from noon to 3pm. Three hours of darkness when the sun is normally straight overhead.

That didn’t happen with any other criminal who had been crucified throughout the Roman empire.

Incidentally, the prophet Amos said that would happen.

The centurion felt the earthquake that shook the earth. He saw the rocks splitting around him. He heard the news about tombs being opened.

Again, this isn’t usual.

Perhaps he heard about the curtain of the temple being torn in two, from top to bottom, which isn’t humanly possible.

At the time that all this was happening, Jesus died, hours before someone normally died from crucifixion. As some have described it, it was as if Jesus’ willingly gave up his life. He chose when to die.

That is not usual.

The centurion looked at all these physical signs and came up with only one possible, logical solution. Jesus, the man who died on the cross 2000 years ago was the Son of God.

4A. Application

What do we think?

It is easy for us to go to church our entire life, hear the stories, become calloused to the miracles around us.

It is easy for us to go through the motions, do the religious thing, because it is the thing to do.

But, the question always stands for us:

Do we believe that Jesus is the Son of God?

If we do, our lives will change.

If we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that means that his death has significance for us. It means that he died for something, our salvation. He hung on the cross, taking the penalty for our sins, and earning us forgiveness, reconciliation with God, and an assurance of eternity.

If we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that means we must make a choice. This salvation is not something that we are born into. Scripture tells us that everyone who believes will be saved. Everyone has to make a decision whether to trust Jesus for salvation or not. If we have not made that decision, the salvation is not ours. If we are trusting in anything other than Jesus for salvation, whether it is good works, or church attendance, or different religious rituals, or our family’s faith, the salvation is not ours.

If Jesus is the Son of God, we must make the choice to trust him alone for our salvation.

If we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and we have trusted him for our salvation, we better be following him with our lives. He died that we might have a relationship with him and that we might show others who he is. He is God and he demands that we show that through our lives. Are we? Or by our lives, are we saying that death of the Son of God was worthless?

The centurion said: Surely this man was the Son of God. What say we?

Closing Song

#177 “What Wondrous Love Is This”

Prayer