The Cross (Good Friday 2026)
Notes
Transcript
Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
Introduction
Introduction
Tonight
Tonight
Good Friday
we remember the sacrifice that was made for us a believers
As children of God…
We remember The life that was given for us..
The torture, pain and sorrow that was endured for us..
Tonight we remember Jesus
and we are reminded that JESUS willingly went to the CROSS for us..
He took our place
so we could be free.
Not easy
Many times as christians.
We see the cross and forget the cost that was associated with it.
We come to church, and get comfortable and complacent
We act entitled and complain about petty issues..
We forget..
We forget the true price that was paid for us to be birth into the Kingdom.
that gave us the ability to sit here in the peace of God..
We forget the pain, the torture, the cost of the blood that was shed for our sins
And the cost was great..
Jesus endured a difficult road for us..
The table
The table
The bible tells us that this night began at the table..
as he sat with his own disciples and enjoyed a meal.
He served them..
and passed around the bread and cup..
For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table.
He instructed the disciples to regularly do this in rememberence of the night that would come before them..
but one of them was not right..
Judas..
it was here that the betrayal would begin..
as Judas would leave and put the plan into motion for Jesus capture..
And Jesus knew this..
The Garden
The Garden
After dinner
they went to the place he loved to pray..
the garden of gethsiminee..
It would be here that his disciples would fall asleep while he prayed..
And he would pray with intensity..
And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
Jesus knew the road before him..
but yet he submitted himself to the will of the father..
The Arrest
The Arrest
It would be here..
in the garden..
his place of solitude..
the guards would come..
And he would he would be betrayed..
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.” Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him.
Judas, one of his own..
would sell him out for money..
and Jesus would be arrested..
The Trial
The Trial
Scripture records they took him to the house of the high Preist..
and brought to trial on false accusations and charges..
The Jews turned him over to pilot..
But Pilot found no fault in him..
Pilot left the decision to the people..
but the people turned on him.
They cried out again, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.
Pilate asked what should be done with JEsus..
Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!”
Jesus… had been convicted by his own people..
sentenced to death by his own creation..
Though innocent of any crime..
but Gods plan was unfolding..
And Jesus was willing..
The scourge
The scourge
Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him.
bible tells us that beat him with a cat of nine takes….
Or leather.. and rock.. and glass.
His back was flayed open..
he took 39 lashes and was left utterly disfigured..
No mercy was shown him..
no compassion was found in the tortorers
Jesus suffered..
and the bible tells us that
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
Jesus took him punishment..
without complaint..
This was already a brutal torture..
Isaiah
Isaiah, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit foretold..
As many were astonished at you—
his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
Yet this was only the beginning..
The Crown
The Crown
After the beating..
And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands.
when they had beaten him..
and now they mocked him..
they made a crown with thorns..
and sunk it into his scull..
They mocked him..
and insulted him..
and abused him..
but again more would come..
Carry the cross
Carry the cross
John tells us that
he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.
He was paraded through the crowd..
He walk before them with the beam..
step but step..
getting closer to his death..
The Cross
The Cross
When they arrived at the hill..
And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.
They laid him on the cross..
they drove the nails into his hands..
and his feet..
and set it into place amoung two other criminals..
Brutal
The cross itself was not an easy thing for Jesus to endure.
We sing of its beauty.
We talk of its wonder.
We look on it with joy..
And for us it reflect those things..
but for Jesus, who hung upon it, it was anything but those things..
Difficult
The cross was reserved by the romans for the worst criminals that they could find..
These were typically murderers, enemies of the state, and the worst of the empire.
As such, it was engineered to produce a long and difficult death for those that were hung upon.
At times People would hang suspended by the nails in their hands and feet, at times for days..
They would hang in the hot sun, without shade, without water, without care
Exposed to the elements and those who dared to look upon them.
It forced them to constantly push themselves up to breath..
and its goal was to rob the person of their strength and eventually take their breath.
It was a difficult death..
So much so that romans themselves were forbidden to be executed upon it..
On the cross
On the cross they continued to mock jesus..
They put a sign above his head saying King of the jews..
they cast lots for his clothing..
and insulted him..
They offered him sour wine..
and despised him in his sorrows..
The punishment was so great..
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
the pain of torture has threaten to break him…
but in the end he was not broken..
but through it all Jesus was not broken..
In fact..
Though the he endured a great torture..
Still he uttered the words of luke 23:34
And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”…
Of his punishers he held no ill will..
The final breath
The final breath
When all that was spoken of had been fulfilled..
Luke records in Luke 23..
It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.
Jesus.. the son of God..
The lamb of God..
had died..
BUt
this death though..
was not a tragity..
rather it was life..
plan
we know it was the plan of God.
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
And we know it was Jesus choices to fulfil the will of the father..
For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
US
US
THIS IS WHAT JESUS WILLINGLY DID FOR US..
THIS WAS GODS DEVINE PLAN FOR US..
ENDURED FOR US..
IN OUR PLACE..
For the wages of sin is death…
Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
BECAUSE OF OUR SIN.. WE SHOULD HAVE DIED..
BUT JESUS CHOSE INSTEAD TO SHED HIS BLOOD FOR US..
For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh,
And the second part of Romans 6:23 says
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
JESUS DIED WILLINGLY FOR US..
HE SHED HIS BLOOD WILLINGLY FOR US..
THATS WHAT HE REMIND THIS SAY..
The cross
when we see the cross..
we dont just a see a beautiful piece of furinture..
its not just some pretty wood we hand on the wall..
it is the constant reminder of the horrible price Jesus paid for us..
and the freedom we have in him!
WHY
WHY
Buy would god send Jesus to endure so much..
why would Jesus choose to endure so much
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Love..
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.
It was love that sent Jesus to the cross..
love for you and I..
thats what we remember today..
Communion.
