Good Friday (dramatic presentation)

0:00:05 Speaker 1: On Friday, wow, it all looks so good. Things finally seemed to be as they should. But just like that in the blink of an eye they went from sky high to wandering. Why? The leader who led was under arrest, the followers fled, now under distress, a message relayed, a teacher betrayed. The masses were swayed and still a price to be paid. A supper, a guardian, a trial, a death. Dreams of the kingdom all crushed, and a breath, a movement and empire, a verdict. A man left on his own to execute this plan, a judge, a crowd. This was a complex decision, a pitiless punishment with Roman precision. A brother spied, a rebel tried, a savior died. His mother cried. The sin of mankind made Good Friday awful. The light of perfection now labeled unlawful. The best of times became the worst of crimes. These easily transformed minds, ungodly shrines. And all of a sudden this king was a pretender, now nailed to a plank without a defender. See this, this was the day, Good Friday became bad because all who love Jesus lost all that they had.

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0:07:49 S1: If we were able to go back in time and that Friday night and have a conversation with Jesus's mother, Mary, at the end of the day and if we were able to do that and in that moment we were able to explain to her what was going to happen over the next several hundred years, that here, we would sit in 2018 honoring, commemorating, memorializing, and celebrating this day, and then if we were to be able to explain to her that we had actually titled this day, Good Friday, I would imagine for her in that moment, it would have made zero sense. In fact, to any one of Jesus's closest followers: Peter, James, John, Mary Magdalene, and any of the other ones that were close to him that were there at the last hours, that were even there with him praying in the garden, I would imagine to try to explain to them why we would call this day Good Friday, they would say that that just can't be.

0:09:07 S1: See, Good Friday is, in a way it's like an oxymoron. You know what an oxymoron is? It's like jumbo shrimp. You put two words right next to each other that in and of themselves, the one makes sense but when you slam it next to the other one, it just doesn't. And that really is what tonight is all about, that tonight is all about sorrow. But just as we just heard Cody sing that in our great sorrow, we learn what joy really means. That in order for us to understand joy, the way we were meant to understand it, we have to understand the full weight of sorrow. That in order for us to understand what forgiveness means... On Sunday, we're gonna celebrate the beauty of life and in order for us to understand forgiveness, we have to understand guilt. In order for us to understand life, we have to understand the significance and the weight of death. And so in a way, tonight is going to feel sad as it should because we can't explain, we can't enter into joy until we understand and explain sorrow, we can't understand forgiveness until we deal with our guilt, we can't understand life until we deal with death. And so tonight, we're going to walk through the last week of Jesus's life.

0:10:34 S1: You're going to hear from different characters in the story, you're going to hear different sections of Scripture, and my hope for you is that you would find yourself in the middle of the story, that you would find yourself wrapped up in the narrative of the story, maybe even put yourself right there in the middle of it and understand how amazing it is that Jesus went through what he went through. But before we get to the end, which is really the beginning, our story begins right there at the Last Supper, that magnificent Last Supper where even the one who would eventually betray Jesus was welcomed at the table.

0:11:31 Speaker 2: The Festival of unleavened bread, which is also called Passover was approaching. The leading priests and teachers of religious law were plotting how to kill Jesus, but they were afraid of the people's reaction. Then Judas, who was one of the 12 disciples went to the leading priests and captains of the temple guard to discuss how to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted. And they offered to pay him money. So he agreed and began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus so they could arrest him when the crowds weren't around. The day of unleavened bread came, the day the Passover Lamb was butchered and Jesus sent Peter and John off saying, "Go prepare the Passover for us so we can eat it together." They left, did as he asked, and prepared the Passover meal. And when it was time, he sat down, all of the disciples with Him, and said, "You have no idea how much I have looked forward to eating this Passover meal with you before I enter my time of suffering. It's the last one I'll eat until we all eat it together in the kingdom of God." Taking the cup, he blessed it, and then he said, "Take this, pass it among you. As for me, I will not drink wine again until the kingdom of God arrives."

and teachers of religious law were plotting how to kill Jesus, but they were afraid of the people's reaction. Then Judas, who was one of the 12 disciples went to the leading priests and captains of the temple guard to discuss how to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted. And they offered to pay him money. So he agreed and began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus so they could arrest him when the crowds weren't around. The day of unleavened bread came, the day the Passover Lamb was butchered and Jesus sent Peter and John off saying, "Go prepare the Passover for us so we can eat it together." They left, did as he asked, and prepared the Passover meal. And when it was time, he sat down, all of the disciples with Him, and said, "You have no idea how much I have looked forward to eating this Passover meal with you before I enter my time of suffering. It's the last one I'll eat until we all eat it together in the kingdom of God." Taking the cup, he blessed it, and then he said, "Take this, pass it among you. As for me, I will not drink wine again until the kingdom of God arrives."

and teachers of religious law were plotting how to kill Jesus, but they were afraid of the people's reaction. Then Judas, who was one of the 12 disciples went to the leading priests and captains of the temple guard to discuss how to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted. And they offered to pay him money. So he agreed and began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus so they could arrest him when the crowds weren't around. The day of unleavened bread came, the day the Passover Lamb was butchered and Jesus sent Peter and John off saying, "Go prepare the Passover for us so we can eat it together." They left, did as he asked, and prepared the Passover meal. And when it was time, he sat down, all of the disciples with Him, and said, "You have no idea how much I have looked forward to eating this Passover meal with you before I enter my time of suffering. It's the last one I'll eat until we all eat it together in the kingdom of God." Taking the cup, he blessed it, and then he said, "Take this, pass it among you. As for me, I will not drink wine again until the kingdom of God arrives."

0:13:13 S2: Taking bread, he blessed it, broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you, eat it in my memory." He did the same with the cup after supper saying, "This cup is the new covenant written in my blood. Blood poured out for you. But here at this table sitting among us as a friend, is the man who will betray me, for it has been determined that the Son of Man must die, but what sorrow awaits the one who betrays him." The disciples begin to ask each other, "Which one would ever do such a thing?" And then accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives. There he told them, "Pray that you will not give in to temptation." And then he walked away about a stone's distance, and he knelt down and he prayed, "Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me, yet I want your will to be done, not mine." And then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. He prayed more fervently and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood. At last, he stood up again and returned to the disciples only to find them asleep, exhausted from grief. "Why are you sleeping?" he asked them, "Get up and pray so that you will not give in to temptation."

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0:16:19 S2: But even as Jesus said this, a crowd approached led by Judas, one of the 12 disciples. Judas walked over to Jesus to greet him with a kiss, but Jesus said, "Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?" When the other disciples saw what was about to happen they exclaimed, "Lord, should we fight? We brought the swords." And one of them struck at the high priest's slave cutting off his right ear but Jesus said, "No more of this." And he healed the man's ear by touching him. Then Jesus spoke to the leading priests, the captains of the temple guard and he asked them, "Am I some dangerous revolutionary that you would come with swords and clubs to meet me? Why didn't you arrest me in the temple? I was there everyday. But this is your moment, the time when the power of darkness reigns."

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0:19:22 S2: So, they arrested him and led him to the high priest's home and Peter followed at a distance. The guards had lit a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat around it and Peter joined them there. A servant girl noticed him and she begin staring at him, and then finally she said, "This man was one of the Jesus's followers!" But Peter denied it. "Woman," he said, "I don't even know him." And then after a while, someone else looked at him and said, "You must be one of them." "No man, I am not," Peter retorted. But an hour later someone else insisted this must be one of them because he is a Galilean, too, but Peter said, "Man, I don't know what you're talking about." And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And at that moment the Lord turned over and looked at Peter. Suddenly the Lord's words flashed in Peter's mind, "Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny that you even know me three times." And Peter left the courtyard weeping bitterly.

0:20:54 S2: And then the guards in charge of Jesus begin mocking and beating him, they blindfolded him and said, "Prophesy to us. Who hit you that time?" And they hurled all sorts of terrible slurs at him. And at day break, all the elders of the people assembled including the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. And Jesus was led before this high council, and they said, "Tell us, are you the Messiah?" But he replied, "If I tell you, you won't believe me and if I ask you questions, you won't answer. But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated in the place of power at God's right hand." Then they all shouted, "So are you claiming to be the Son of God?" And he replied, "You say that I am. Why do we need

other witnesses?" They said, "We ourselves have heard him say it." [music]

0:23:28 S2: Then the entire council took Jesus to Pilate, the Roman governor. They began to state their case. "This man has been leading our people astray by telling them not to pay their taxes to the Roman government and by claiming he is the Messiah, a king." And so Pilate asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" And Jesus replied, "You have said it." Pilate turned to the leading priests and to the crowd and said, "I find nothing wrong with this man." But then they became insistent. "But he is causing riots by his teaching wherever he goes, all over Judea from Galilee to Jerusalem." And then Pilate called together the leading priests and the other religious leaders along with the people, and he announced his verdict, "You brought to me a man, accusing him of leading a revolt. I've examined him thoroughly on this point in your presence and find him innocent. I mean, Herod came to the same conclusion and sent him back to us. Nothing this man has done calls for the death penalty so I will have him flogged and I will release him."

0:24:52 S2: And then a mighty roar rose from the crowd and with one voice, they shouted, "Kill him!" And Pilate argued with them because he wanted to release Jesus, but they kept shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify him! Crucify him!" For the third time, Pilate demanded, "Why? What crime has he committed? I have found no reason to sentence him to death. So I will have him flogged and then I will release him." But the mob shouted louder and louder, demanding that Jesus be crucified, and their voices prevailed. So, Pilate sentenced Jesus to die as they demanded. And as they had requested, he released Barabbas, the man in prison for insurrection and murder, but he turned Jesus over to them to do as they wished.

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0:27:27 Speaker 3: Judas loved Jesus and not just a little bit, he loved him with his whole heart. He loved the other disciples too, they were literally like his family. But yes, Judas did hand Jesus over to the temple priests. But before you boo him or go calling him a sell-out, make sure you understand his side of the story. See, Judas had seen Jesus feed thousands, not hundreds but thousands from a little guy's lunch box. He'd seen Jesus heal people in an instant who had diseases for decades. So Judas was 1000% confident that if Jesus didn't want to be put in shackles or in jail, that he could get himself out of it and make whoever step to him look silly in the process.

0:28:28 S3: And there's more. I mean, Judas knew that Jesus was an absolute fan favorite, the people loved him. I mean, what's not to love? And so he just assumed that there was no way that anybody would do anything to hurt him. I mean, the last thing that the temple priests of the Roman rulers wanted was riots in the streets. So he just figured that no one would even lay a hand on him. And if they did, surely Jesus had a miracle or 10 up his sleeve to get himself out of it. There's actually more. Jesus tipped his hand at dinner time, that he knew that Judas would betray him so it's not like... So he caught him off guard. And if Jesus was good on the fly, one could only imagine just how good he was, if he had a little time to prepare.

0:29:21 S3: And I know what you're thinking. If you're like me, you're thinking, "Well, Judas, just don't do it because that's not what friends do and that's legitimate." I couldn't agree more. It was a sleaze ball move, one that friends simply don't make. But think about this for a second, Jesus had claimed to be the Messiah. In that day and age, that would be the same thing as saying that he was going to overthrow the oppression of Roman rule and establish new Jewish political leadership. In fact, Jesus did talk about a new kingdom quite often and when he did, everybody paid close attention. But in the end, his walk didn't match his talk, he never challenged Roman rule, he never rallied the energy of his crowds even when they were fanatically pro Jesus, and whenever somebody asked him anything about taking down the Roman Empire, he would tell weird stories and ask strange questions that nobody could understand.

0:30:26 S3: And so, one day Judas saw the light, he thought to himself, "Jesus is the best. I love him so much, but he's about as likely to overthrow Rome as I am." It's true, Jesus is a rebel, but not the kind of rebel that you need to overthrow an empire. He was a teacher and a healer, but definitely not a political leader. So Judas had to pivot and create a new plan for his future. I mean, what's so wrong with that? He figured the temple idiots would give him some money for handing over

Jesus, he'd have some cash in his pocket to put down on a piece of land for himself, and Jesus would probably do a miracle or two and turn them all into pigs.

0:31:13 S3: You know, one last thing to consider. Jesus had been around these temple priests before on numerous occasions. I mean, Judas knew. Judas knew that the Jewish people were not going to overcome Roman oppression. Anyone who still believed that was hanging on to an ignorant fairy tale. And so, while Jesus's followers hung on to this ridiculous dream of overthrowing Rome, he just wanted to move on with his life, he just wanted to start a family and make the most of his new reality. It's not like he gave away some incredible intel or something like that, they could have found him themself if they wanted to, it would have been easy. He knew there'd be some hurt feelings because he got some money out of the deal. But in the end, everybody will be fine. He just wanted to move on to the next chapter of his life, a chapter that would be full of a lot more reality and a lot less chasing of lofty impossible dreams.

0:32:27 Speaker 4: It's not like Peter was particularly afraid of tween girls, they can be terrifying. But Peter had been around people who wanted to kill him and wanted to see him dead. So why is all of a sudden Peter, this fiery hot-tempered, passionate guy, why is he now rolling over and denying his leader over a couple random people around a fire pit? Well, there's a couple theories and the first one is very simple, it's called cat of nine tails. The idea of being flogged by one of these objects to where your muscles and your organs are showing openly. Yeah, that's enough to mellow even a rebel like Peter. See, the Roman government love to put on these spectacles using torture devices like the cat of nine tails to show people like Peter what would happen to him if he ever crossed the line. So we probably shouldn't underestimate the power of avoiding pain. When it came to Peter, denying Jesus especially in light of the second theory, which is that Peter is now leaderless. Leaderless. I can only imagine the panic Peter is feeling. See, Jesus has been arrested, he's been put on trial and now he's in front of some really powerful people and things are not going well for him. So Peter knows this is probably not going well for him either.

0:33:55 S4: And Peter had left everything to follow Jesus: His home, his occupation, his family. All because he believed that Jesus was gonna lift the hand of this oppressive Roman rule for his people, so he was all in. But now, Jesus is on trial inside this illogical Roman judicial system. That's about the time that Peter starts questioning things. Like, his life choices and who he's been following, and everything. But if just for a moment, we could take a little bit of the hype out of this situation and pull back, theory number three, even though it's very simple as perhaps the strongest of all, and that is that Peter probably wanted to quiet the drama and have a little bit of space just to think and figure out his next move. See, everything had happened so fast. One minute, he's eating dinner with the disciples and Jesus and then the next, he's being nagged to death by some girl around a fire pit and Jesus is on trial.

0:35:01 S4: What is going on? And at this point, Peter, he's smart, he likely sees that these Jesus's followers, the masses, it could be dangerous 'cause they could see Jesus's arrest as a reason to have a full-blown revolution against Rome. It's hard to imagine that Peter would actually do anything different than what he did. He's not gonna respond logically, he's not gonna be strategic, he's not gonna be Jesus-loving, he's in the middle of the situation he could have never imagined that he could have never prepared himself for. And to top it all off, earlier in the night he cut off some guy's ear trying to protect Jesus, that's not gonna look good on him either. He probably figured his only way to survive and to figure out what to do next was just to lay low. But then he realized what he had done, he realized that he had denied his leader, a man who he loved, a man who loved him and believed in him. And immediately, Peter regretted it and he wept. But in that moment of that panic, and anxiety, and fear, and surprise, it's hard to imagine that Peter would have wanted to do anything else than just to get alone, to be alone to think, to get some time and space. I mean, shoot, maybe even to pray. This guy is in the middle of his worst nightmare, a tragedy. He did what you or I would have done so let's cut him some slack.

0:36:41 Speaker 5: When we go to work, we all have to make decisions. That's not out of the ordinary to make decisions on a daily basis. But Pilate, he had to make different decisions, different types of decisions. He actually decided whether someone would get the death penalty or not. To take things a step further, he actually had options at his disposal. He would literally choose if someone would die a death that was quick and painless or shameful and horrifying. You can only imagine how hard it was for this man to sleep at night with all of the death that he's seen on a daily basis. His job was similar to that of a tax collector. He was smack dab in the middle between Jewish oppression and Roman leadership. He's what I would

call the middleman between the nerd and the bully. But unlike tax collectors, he didn't get rich. And unlike most tax collectors, he didn't make Rome happy ever. Every decision he made, he got criticized for. If he was too lenient, he got criticized for it, and if he was too harsh, he got criticized for it. If he was punishing someone and there wasn't enough blood, he got labeled as soft. If he was punishing someone and he used too much brute force, he got labeled as a bad guy. He could not win and was always criticized because of it.

0:38:16 S5: The case of Jesus was a complex legal one, but Pilate, he was smooth, he knew how to remain objective the best way that he could. He tried to keep emotions and feelings out of it so much so that when he looked at the case of Jesus, he saw an innocent man. He saw a man that was not guilty, he could not find any guilt within Jesus's case. As a matter of fact, he was ready to release Jesus but the crowd wasn't having it. The crowd started shouting at Pilate and they almost went off into a complete disapproval and upheaval of craziness because they were so angry with him, they started shouting at Pilate to kill Jesus. And Pilate found himself in that place that we all find ourselves in, that place where we know what our judgment is telling us but also our feelings, and our emotions, and our opinions are starting to get the best of our judgment. And man, this guy named Pilate, he gets painted as a bad guy and we sort of demonized him but the truth is, the truth is he thought to himself, "Yes, I will scourge Jesus. Yes, he will be beaten and whipped but at least the crowd will be appeased in this innocent man, this innocent man gets to go home alive."

0:39:46 S5: But the crowd, again, they weren't having it. He said one word that sort of just tipped them off and they started to go crazy even more. He said the word king and they started shouting all the more, they were completely unhinged and they started to shout, "We have no other king besides Caesar!" And in that moment, in that moment Pilate knew he had one choice, he had to do the thing that he did not want to do, he had to condemn Jesus. He had to condemn and crush the peacemaker even though that's not what he wanted to do. But as we look at the perspective of Pilate, we have to ask ourselves, I have to ask myself, "If I was there, what would I have done?" And what would you have done if you were there as well?

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0:42:00 Speaker 6: They brought Jesus to the place name Golgotha. Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh but he did not take it. Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the skull, there they crucified him along with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Jesus said, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing." And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice, the crowd watched and the leader scoffed, "He saved others," they said, "Let him save himself if he is really the Messiah, the chosen one." And the soldiers mocked him too by offering him a drink of sour wine, and a sign was fastened above him with these words, "This is the King of the Jews." One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, "So, you're the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself and save us while you're at it." The other criminal protested, "Don't you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man, this man is innocent." And then he said to Jesus, "Remember me. Remember me when you have come into your kingdom." And Jesus said, "I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise."

0:44:16 S6: By this time it was about noon and darkness fell across the whole land until 3 o'clock. The light from the sun was gone and suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the temple was torn down the middle, then Jesus shouted, "Father! I entrust my spirit in your hands." And with those words, he breathed his last breath. When the Roman officers overseeing the execution saw what had happened, he worshipped God and said, "Surely, this man was innocent." And when the entire crowd that came to see the crucifixion saw what had happened, they left and went home in deep sorrow. But Jesus's friends including the women who had followed him from Galilee stood in the distance watching.

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0:51:06 Speaker 7--Clay Scroggins: You know the part of the story that I always have the hardest time with is this moment when Barabbas shows up. This story is a story about Jesus going to the cross, but then, all of a sudden, this character appears that we really know nothing about. All we know is that he had committed a pretty heinous crime. He was labeled as

a murderer, he was a thug. Who knows what he had done before this? And we really don't know what happens to him after this, but there's this interesting scene in the middle of this narrative, where Pilate, in honor of Holy Week, is going to perform this tradition that they had, where he was going to release a prisoner on their behalf, whoever they chose. And so, in this amazing moment, this ridiculous match-up, Pilate presents to them Barabbas, the murderer, the thug. Or Jesus, the spotless Son of God, who had committed no wrong, who had lived his whole life serving other people, giving himself on behalf of other people, helping the lowest, the outcast, the ones who had no worth. And the people chose. They just continuously chanted the name Barabbas. "We want Barabbas. We want Barabbas. Crucify Jesus. Give us Barabbas."

0:53:05 S7/CS: It's ridiculous. It's hard to even fathom. But the more I've thought about this story, the more I've thought about who Barabbas is, the more I've realized that, honestly, for all of us, there might not be anyone in the story that we have more in common with than Barabbas. See, the story of the gospel, the message of this gospel is that I am Barabbas. That you are Barabbas. And we find that hard to believe. We resist that because we think, "Well, I haven't committed murder." But our crimes are maybe just as severe. I've always heard that it would be like if we had a rock and yeah, maybe there's an Olympian who has been training to throw the javelin. Yeah, maybe he or she could throw the rock further toward the sun than we could but compared to how far the sun is, is there really different? Is there a huge difference between how high you could throw it and how far this trained, accomplished athlete could throw it? See, maybe that you and I have way more in common with Barabbas than we ever could realize.

0:54:26 S7/CS: I just imagine the way the story goes is that Barabbas was on this platform, the crowd is chanting his name and he's elated when he gets to walk off the platform and go and hug his friends and dap 'em up and give 'em high fives. He probably thought, "You know what? I work the system. I got off scot-free. Meanwhile, this innocent one is gonna pay the price for me." I would imagine if you were to ask Barabbas, "Barabbas, how did you get out of that?" He would have said, "Oh, it was because of the opinion of the people that I was allowed to be free." But it wasn't. No, Barabbas's freedom was bought for him because of the love of his Heavenly Father. This is what is amazing to me is that God loves Barabbas. The Father loves Barabbas, just like he loves you, just like he loves me. But somehow in his plan, the Father knew that he was going to have to treat Jesus like the criminal. In order for him to treat the criminal like his son or his daughter, he was going to have to give his perfect son what the criminal deserved so that he could give the criminal what in his love he wanted to provide for you and for me.

0:56:10 S7/CS: See, our freedom, the peace that we have, the joy that we have, the ability to have a relationship with our perfect Heavenly Father is only bought for us at a price paid for by the Perfect One. So tonight, we're going to get to experience something that Jesus intended for his disciples, his closest followers to experience the night where he sat there at the table and broke the bread and said, "This is my body broken for you." They had no clue what he meant. But we get the privilege of getting to experience this last supper together, knowing full well what it meant for the Son of God to have his body broken for us. As he sat there at the table and held up the glass told them about this new covenant that the blood represented. They had no clue what he meant. They couldn't even anticipate, they couldn't understand it. But we get the full knowledge of understanding what this new covenant buys for us, that his blood was what purchased our life, that this new covenant wasn't going to be a covenant where we had to mount up all of our goodness, but our goodness was provided to us by him.

0:57:34 S7/CS: And so tonight, we're gonna get to experience what for centuries after centuries, followers of Jesus have gotten together to experience what's known as communion. Our team is going to come and they're going to serve the elements to you. And if you're a follower of Jesus, if you've put your faith in Jesus, we would love to invite you to experience this together. To take the bread, to take the juice. And in the middle of it, to be reminded of his body that's broken for us and his blood that was poured out for us. I'm going to pray. After I pray, our team's gonna bring you these elements. And as you see fit in your own time, we would love to carve out some space for you to contemplate, What does it mean for you that Jesus gave up his life because he loves you? And what does it mean for you that Jesus would allow his blood to be poured out because he loves you."

0:58:44 S7/CS: Father, we could never even understand that we have all the knowledge that anyone could have in this world. But we couldn't still understand what would drive you to do that because we would never do something like that. But

God, you and your perfect love, gave yourself for us, paid the price for us, took on what our sin deserved, counted your son guilty, counted the innocent one guilty so that we could experience life to the full. We could never repay you so we just tell you thank you. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for the cross. Thank you for what it bought for us. And we pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.

1:08:36 S8: Oh, how He loves us. In fact, love is the theme of this story. Love. It's why Jesus washed his disciples' feet at the Last Supper. Love. It's why he said to the Father in the garden, "Your will be done." Love. It's why he paid it all on the cross. Love. It's the story of Good Friday. Oh, but then this story ended. Jesus was murdered. He was put in a grave and it was the end of the dream, the end of the movement, the end of all hope for the Messiah. Or was it? Is it possible that the final chapter wasn't over? That the dream wasn't dead? That the movement was actually just getting started? That hope could not be bound by a grave? You see, where most stories end, ours begins. Good Friday is the greatest because it led to another day, a day that no one saw coming, a day that brought hope and love together, a day that people could not deny.

You see, there was one more pivotal day in this love story. It was the day that turned the end of the story into the beginning. You see, on Good Friday, the message from the grave is to be continued.