Good Friday 2026

Opening Scripture Reading:

Isaiah 53 NKJV

1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. 3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. 6 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. 7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. 9 And they made His grave with the wicked— But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth. 10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. 11 He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.

Song #1: It was Finished Upon that Cross

Part 1—The Weight of Sin:

Luke 22:39–46 NKJV

39 Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. 40 When He came to the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” 41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” 43 Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. 44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 45 When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow. 46 Then He said to them, “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.”

Jesus didn’t shrink from the nails—He trembled before the cup. The cup was the wrath of God for our sins.

The cup = wrath

Isaiah 51:17 and Jeremiah 25:15— “the cup of His fury”

On the cross, Jesus would drink the judgement for sin.

[Propitiation]

The greatest suffering of the cross was spiritual, not just physical.

Jesus faced the cross fully aware

He knew what was coming.

He still said, “Not My will, but Yours be done.

He would drink the cup so you and I wouldn’t have to.

He was alone so we would never have to be eternally separated from God.

The disciples slept

Soon the Father would pour out His full and righteous wrath upon Jesus.

Jesus experienced isolation of such depth and severity so we could be brought near to the father.

Jesus while in the Garden of Gethsemane, he saw the cross clearly—and He willing went anyway.

When we see Jesus in the garden, sweating drops of blood, we are seeing the weight of our sin being placed upon Him. Which leads us to the only right response: “Lord, I need You!”

Song #2: Lord I Need You

Part 2—Barabbas: The Substitute

Luke 23:13–25 NKJV

13 Then Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, 14 said to them, “You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people. And indeed, having examined Him in your presence, I have found no fault in this Man concerning those things of which you accuse Him; 15 no, neither did Herod, for I sent you back to him; and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by Him. 16 I will therefore chastise Him and release Him” 17 (for it was necessary for him to release one to them at the feast). 18 And they all cried out at once, saying, “Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas”—19 who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder. 20 Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them. 21 But they shouted, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” 22 Then he said to them the third time, “Why, what evil has He done? I have found no reason for death in Him. I will therefore chastise Him and let Him go.” 23 But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that He be crucified. And the voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed. 24 So Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they requested. 25 And he released to them the one they requested, who for rebellion and murder had been thrown into prison; but he delivered Jesus to their will.

Barabbas is one of the clearest pictures of the gospel in the crucifixion story—the guilty goes free, the innocent is condemned.

We are Barabbas// we are the guilty party.

Guilty of:

Rebellion

Isaiah 53:6 NKJV

6 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.

Jesus said hatred in the heart is murder in the heart. We may not have committed the act—but we have the same sinful heart.

Murder//in the heart

1 John 3:15 NKJV

15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

Lying

Proverbs 12:22 NKJV

22 Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, But those who deal truthfully are His delight.

Every lie is a rejection of truth—and God is a God of truth.

Idolatry

Exodus 20:7 NKJV

7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

Idolatry is not just statues—it is anything we love more than God: money, comfort, self, relationships, success, control.

There are so many more too: adultery, taking the Lord’s name in vain, pride, not loving God, not loving others…

Barabbas and us deserved the cross, deserve punishment for our sins.

Jesus was innocent

Pilate says repeatedly: “I find no fault in Him.”

Family, Jesus took our place.

The great exchange

Barabbas goes free

Jesus takes his cross

This is substitution

Substitution is the heart of the Gospel.

Barabbas walked free because Jesus took his place—and so do we. Our Sin placed Him there. Our debt held Him there. And this is why we sing—Jesus paid it all.

Song #3: Jesus Paid it All

Part 3—The Cross: Where Justice and Mercy Meet

Luke 23:32–43 NKJV

32 There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. 33 And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. 34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots. 35 And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.” 36 The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, 37 and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.” 38 And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS 39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” 40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” 43 And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

Both were guilty

Both were dying

Both were close to Jesus

But only one was saved

This shows:

Proximity to Jesus doesn’t save you.

Religion doesn’t save you.

One thing saves: faith in the Chirst

The cross forces a decision—like the two criminals, one rejected Jesus, one believed.

The cross reveals the seriousness of sin.

The cross reveals the depth of God’s love

Salvation even at the last moment is possible.

The cross is where the worst of sinners can find the greatest mercy!

Family, at the cross, the power of sin was broken, the power of death was broken, and the power of hell was broken. There is power in the cross of Christ.

Song #4: The Power of the Cross

Part 4—It Is Finished

John 19:28–30 NKJV

28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” 29 Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. 30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

Jesus did not say “I am finished,” but “It is finished.” Tetelestai = Paid in full

The debt of sin—finished

Colossians 2:14 NKJV

14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

The wrath of God—Finished

Romans 5:9 NKJV

9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

The debt of sin was fully paid for.

The veil torn = Access to God = Finished

Jesus didn’t make salvation possible—He accomplished it.

And if that is true—that the Son of God would die in our place—then the only response left is worship. How deep the Father’s love for us.

Song #5: How Deep the Fathers Love for Us

Communion:

Tonight we do not just remember that Jesus died—we remember why he died. He died for our sin, in our place, so we could be forgiven.

The Cross was not just something Jesus endured—it was something He chose.

He chose the nails. He chose the cross. He chose to take our place. And tonight as we take communion, we remember not just that He died—but why He died. He died for us.

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 NKJV

23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

Communion Song #6: I Surrender All

[Pray for the bread]

[Pray for the cup]

Closing Scripture:

Luke 23:44–46 NKJV

44 Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 45 Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. 46 And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ ” Having said this, He breathed His last.