2024 Good Friday

Future: Build service on the Seven sayings from the Cross

Song: At Calvary C *217

Opening Prayer

A. W. Tozer said:

The cross is a symbol of death.

It stands for the abrupt, violent death of a human being.

The man in Roman times who took up his cross and started down the road, had already said good-by to his friends. He was not coming back. He was going out to have it ended.

The cross made no compromise, modified nothing, spared nothing; it slew all of the man, completely and for good.

It did not try to keep on good terms with its victim. It struck cruel and hard, and when it had finished its work, the man was no more.

Such is what Jesus faced on Good Friday, almost 2000 years ago.

Such is what Jesus calls us to face now.

Jesus said in Luke 9:22–23 (NLT): “The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things,” He said. “He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day He will be raised from the dead.” 23 Then Jesus said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.

Isaiah 53:3–6 (NASB95) prophesied 700 years before it happened: He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging [by His stripes] we are healed. 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.

Song: He Was Wounded (The Healer) C 8

Prayer for Needs!

This evening I am reading scriptures from a Diatesseron, a blending together of the 4 Gospel accounts.

Our recounting of Good Friday begins as the sun began to come up...

Jesus Brought Before Pilate

Matthew 27:1–2; John 18:28–38; Mark 15:3–5; Luke 23:2, 5–7

And when it was morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people consulted together against Jesus to put him to death. And they bound him and led him away and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.

It was early in the morning, and the chief priests and elders did not enter the Praetorium, so that they might not be defiled, but might eat the Passover. Pilate therefore went out to them and said, “What charge do you bring against this man?”

“If he were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed him over to you.”

“You take him and judge him according to your law,” said Pilate.

“We are not allowed to put anyone to death,” said the Jews. Thus the word of Jesus was to be fulfilled which he spoke concerning the manner of death he was to die.

Then they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man perverting our nation and forbidding people to pay taxes to Caesar, saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king.”

Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”

“Are you saying this of your own accord,” replied Jesus, “or did others say this to you about me?”

“Am I a Jew?” answered Pilate. “Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?”

“My kingdom is not of this world,” replied Jesus. “If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have fought to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But my authority as king is not of earthly origin.”

“Are you indeed a king?” said Pilate.

“You are right in saying that I am a king,” replied Jesus. “For this purpose I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who loves the truth listens to my voice.”

“What is ‘truth’?” said Pilate. And having said this, he went out again to the Jews and said, “I do not find this man guilty of any crime.”

Song: You Are My King D 121

... the chief priests began to accuse Jesus of many things.

“Have you no answer to offer?” Pilate asked Jesus. “See how many charges they are bringing against you!”

But, to Pilate’s astonishment, Jesus made no reply. Then the chief priests grew more insistent, saying, “He is stirring up the people, teaching throughout all Judea—all the way from Galilee, where he started, even to here.”

When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean; and when he learned that he belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who happened to be in Jerusalem at that time.

Jesus Appears Before Herod

Luke 23:8–12

When Herod saw Jesus, he was delighted; for he had long wanted to see him, because he had heard about him and hoped to see him perform some miracle. And he questioned him at length, but Jesus gave him no reply. Then the chief priests and scribes, who had been standing by, began shouting accusations at Jesus. And after Herod, along with his soldiers, had mocked Jesus and shown his contempt for him, he dressed him in a gorgeous cloak and sent him back to Pilate. And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that same day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other.

Before Pilate Again

Matthew 23:13–16; Mark 15:6–7; Matthew 27:17–26

Then Pilate called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people and said to them,

“You brought this man to me as one who is misleading the people. After examining him before you, I have not found this man guilty of your charges against him. Nor did Herod, for he sent him back to us. He has done nothing deserving of death. I will therefore give him a flogging and release him.”

Now it was the custom of Pilate at the time of the festival to release to them one prisoner, whomever they asked.

And there was a man named Barabbas in custody along with some others who had taken part in a riot, and who had committed murder during their insurrection. Pilate therefore said to the crowd, “Whom do you want me to release to you—Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Messiah?”

For Pilate knew that it was because of envy that they had delivered up Jesus.

Besides, while he was conducting the hearing, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much today in a dream about him.”

But the chief priests and elders persuaded the mob to ask for Barabbas and to demand the death of Jesus.

But the governor responded by saying to them again, “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?”

“Barabbas!” they said.

Song: O The Blood G 293

“… what shall I do with Jesus, who is called Messiah?” asked Pilate.

“Let him be crucified!” they all shouted.

“Just what has he done that is wrong?” asked Pilate.

But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”

When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but a riot was developing instead, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this man. The responsibility is yours.”

“His blood be on us and on our children!” all the people answered.

Then Pilate released Barabbas to them, and after flogging Jesus, handed him over to be crucified.

Song: The Cross of Calvary D 278

Jesus Mocked

Matthew 27:27–30

The governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and assembled the whole regiment before him. And they stripped off his garments and put a scarlet robe on him, and braided a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, shouting, “Hail, King of the Jews!” Then they spat on him and took the reed and hit him on the head.

Jesus Led to Calvary

Matthew 27:31–32; John 19:17; Luke 23:27–32

And after they had mocked Jesus, the soldiers stripped the robe from him and put his own garments on him, and led him away to crucify him. And he went out bearing his cross. And as they went their way, they came upon a man of Cyrene named Simon, and they compelled him to carry Jesus’ cross.

And there followed him a great crowd of people, and of women who bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the childless, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed.’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ For if this is what they do when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

Two others also, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him.

Vanessa: (Sign) Via Dolorosa

The Crucifixion

Matthew 27:39–54; Mark 15:22–37; Luke 23:34–49; John 19:19–37

And they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull).

And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he refused it.

And it was the third hour when they nailed him to his cross.

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

And they crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left.

And Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”

Many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. It was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek.

Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews’; instead, write ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’ ”

“What I have written, I have written,” answered Pilate.

When the soldiers had nailed Jesus to the cross, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, a part for each soldier. But his tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. Therefore they said one to another, “Let us not tear it, but let us draw lots for it to see whose it shall be.”

This was in fulfillment of the scripture,

They parted my garments among them, and cast lots for my raiment.

Song: Lamb of God G 284

And those who passed by reviled him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and build it again in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”

In the same manner the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others, but he cannot save himself! He is the King of Israel! Let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusts in God; let God now deliver him, if he cares for him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God!’ ”

The soldiers also mocked him, coming up to him and offering him vinegar, and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”

One of the criminals hanging there reviled him, saying, “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

But the other, rebuking him, said, “Don’t you even fear God—you who are receiving the same punishment? And we rightly so, for we are receiving a proper reward for what we did; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

“I tell you truly,” said Jesus, “today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Now standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing close by, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” (that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”)

Some of the bystanders, hearing this, said, “This fellow is calling Elijah.”

Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said, “I thirst!”

Then one of them ran and got a sponge and filled it with vinegar, and stuck it on a reed and held it up to him to drink. But the rest said, “Wait! Let us see whether Elijah will come to save him!”

When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, “It is finished! Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” And he bowed his head and died.

And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, rocks split asunder, and tombs were opened; and after the resurrection of Jesus, many saints who had fallen asleep in death rose and came forth from the tombs and went into the holy city and appeared to many.

When the centurion and those with him keeping guard over Jesus saw the earthquake and all that took place, they were filled with fear and exclaimed, “This man really was God’s Son!”

And all the crowd who had gathered to see the spectacle, when they saw what happened, returned home beating their breasts. And Jesus’ friends, and the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance and saw these things.

Now because it was the Preparation Day, in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate to have their legs broken and have them taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man, and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out. These things took place in fulfillment of the scripture, Not a bone of him shall be broken. And again another scripture says, They shall look on him whom they pierced.

Song: At The Cross (Love Ran Red) D 283

The Burial of Jesus

Matthew 27:57, 60; Mark 15:42–47; Luke 23:50; John 19:38–41

Now when it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who was a disciple of Jesus and was looking for the coming of the kingdom of God. He was a member of the Council, a good and righteous man, and had not consented to their decision and action. He gathered courage and went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate wondered whether Jesus were already dead, and called the centurion and asked him how long he had been dead. After learning from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the body to Joseph.

Joseph then came and took away his body. Nicodemus, who at first had come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes—about a hundred pounds’ weight. And they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen winding cloths with the spices, according to the burial custom of the Jews, and laid it in Joseph’s own new tomb which he had cut in the rock, in which no one had as yet been laid, and rolled a great stone against the door of the tomb and departed.

And Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Joses, saw where he was laid.

Guards Stationed at the Tomb

Matthew 27:62–66

Now on the next day, following the Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember that while he was still alive, that impostor said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ Therefore, command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples come and steal him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.”

“You shall have a guard,” said Pilate. “Go make it as secure as you can.”

And they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and stationing a guard of soldiers.

And so on this Good Friday, we leave Jesus in the tomb.

We leave somber, thinking about the death of Jesus.

A death that He told His disciples was coming as He shared a last meal with them.

Let us also share a meal of remembrance, the meal Jesus told us to do often in remembrance of Him and the sacrifice He gave for us.

The Lord’s Supper

1 Corinthians 10:16–17 (NASB95) Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? 17 Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.

Self examination:

Before we partake of this last Supper together, let us prepare ourselves spiritually.

1 Corinthians 10:21 (NASB95) You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.

To make sure we are NOT trying to serve 2 masters let us lay our lives before the Lord.

1 Corinthians 11:26–28 (NASB95) For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. 27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

If you have never repented of your sins or surrendered your life to Jesus, I urge you to do so tonight.

Pray a prayer of repentance.

Pray a prayer of surrender.

If you have repented of sin and surrendered your life to Jesus, yet I would urge us to confess our sins before we partake of The Lord’s Supper tonight.

1 John 1:8–10 (NASB95) If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

Prayer

For salvation

For cleansing from sin

In thinking

In words

In deeds done

In deeds NOT done

Receive the Elements:

You don’t have to be member.

I just encourage you to have SINCERELY prayed before you partake.

Worship team come and receive the elements of the Supper.

Please stand.

Please come and receive the elements of the supper.

Please sit or stand here at the front and then we will all partake together.

Song: Nothing But the Blood G *298

Bread

Matthew 26:26 (NASB95) While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”

Prayer:

End prayer with prayer from Seder:

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, who brings forth bread from the earth.

Partake

Cup:

Matthew 26:27–30 (NASB95) And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; 28 for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. 29 “But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” 30 After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Pray over cup:

End prayer with prayer from Seder:

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.

Partake

Through the remembrance of the Lord’s Supper we declare that we believe in the salvation that comes through the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross.

Acts 4:12 (The Message) Salvation comes no other way; no other name has been or will be given to us by which we can be saved, only this one.”

Song: No Other Name

No Benediction Prayer

As I said, we leave this service on Good Friday remembering Jesus in the grave guarded by Roman soldiers.

Let us go thinking about the price Jesus paid of our salvation.

Let us invite others to join us Sunday morning at 10 am to celebrate the fact that Jesus is not dead, He is alive!

Invite others to hear the ministry of the Choir as the sing the cantata Risen Savior, Conquering King

Amen!

May the Lord go with you and protect you in your travels and give you boldness to invite others to celebrate the Resurrection along with you on Sunday morning.