Good Friday 2026

Seeing the King in His Beauty

The beauty of the cross is that in the seemingly lowest point in human history the Triune God was revealing Himself most brightly into a dark and dying world.

By uttering the words “It is finished” the unique beauty of our Triune God is displayed into the world on behalf of His people.

The question we are called to consider is: will we have the Spiritual eyes to see this beauty and claim the King as our own?

Outline

Introduction - Spiritual Eyes to See True Beauty

Why is this night beautiful?

Despite the apparent ugliness of the moment our Triune God has ordained and ushered history towards this moment.

The incarnate Christ — Light of Light, God of God — has come to hang on a cross. The word became silent before Pilate. The Wisdom of God has been mocked by passers by. The King was played with by Roman guards. The one who walked on water is thirsty. The perfector and finisher of our faith has been deserted by the faithless. The Covenant-Keeper is cursed as he hangs on a tree.

To see this beauty we need Spiritual eyes. (1 Corinthians 2:6-14) We are blind beggars needs for His grace to even see the great gift of our King, His beauty, and His finished work.

Transition: As we ask God to give us eyes to see the King in His beauty lets consider what our King meant when he said “It is finished.”

Beholding the Beauty of the Messianic Suffering Servant

Read Text: John 19:30 “When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

Why does Jesus say it? What is being finished?

We know that in one sense gospel was not completed. We need Sunday. Without Sunday nothing else matters. So why is it finished now? What has Jesus finished?

TRANSITION: Two roles stand out among the many that find their completion in this moment.

The Faithful Obedience of the True Son to His Father

Philippians 2:5-11 (obedience to the point of death)

John 4:34 Jesus said it is his “food to do the will of the one who sent me”

John 6:38 “do the will of Him who sent me.”

John 10:25-30 “I am the Father are one.”

The Faithful Office & Role of the Messianic Suffering Servant

Who is this “Suffering Servant”?

I quoted Isaiah for a reason. The faithful of Israel were awaiting a day when the Lord would restore Israel and all of Creation. That God’s promises from Abraham to David would be fulfilled.

God through Isaiah fills out much of what we see begun to come to completion in the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

God’s Israel, His people, would need a faithful representative who would suffer and die in the place of the people. This Suffering Servant is the Davidic King and here in this moment — the Suffering Servant role comes to completion. The marks of the servant will be present into eternity.

Isaiah 52–53:12

The beauty is seen in the nature of the person, what was accomplished, and how it was accomplished. Let’s explore these two roles and why they are beautiful.

The Faithful Son demonstrates his righteousness in our place. Faithless, unrighteous sons and daughters of God need a righteous Son to be seen in. By faith we can be united to the one who was faithful to all that our Father has commanded.

1 John 3:1 “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”

We are children because we by faith share in the wealth, inheritance, and position of the Son of the King.

Abraham and Isaac gives us great picture of this: We have a good Father who chose to send His faithful Son to us.

The Suffering Servant demonstrates that the people needed a righteous representative who would go forward for the people and suffer on behalf of the people.

Hebrews 9:22 “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”

The imagery of Abraham and Isaac is beautiful and helpful here. We needed a Father who would offer His Son. We needed a Faithful Son who would obey and submit to His Father. But we also needed a perfect substitute. God provided a substitute for Isaac because no mere human can accomplish redemption. The Suffering Servant is necessary because God in His wisdom and justice requires a payment for the sins of His people. The Suffering Servant dies in our place.