Good Friday 2020

Intro:

Good afternoon! Thanks for joining us for Good Friday Online.

If we’ve never met, my name is George. I’m the Pastor here at TRC. I wanted to start by personally saying hello. Also, I want to encourage you to participate in the comments or chat (on FB or YouTube), if you find that helpful. There will be someone from our team moderating both.

Additionally, if you need prayer, would like to get connected, or want to know more about our church. Feel free to visit our website: riverchurchct.com. We have easy ways for you to do all of that on our front page. We’d love to hear from you!

Well, we’re going to start by singing a couple of songs, then I’m going to read the Good Friday story, and I’ll finish by quickly sharing some closing thoughts. So, let’s get started!

Worship - 2 Songs.

Reading & Devotional:

If you have your Bible/app, and would like to follow along with me, turn to . We’re going to pick up the story at the beginning of that first Good Friday.

At this point, Jesus has:

Ate a Passover meal with His disciples the night before.

Prayed passionately to the Father in the Garden, knowing what lies ahead of Him.

And, was betrayed by a follower, wrongly arrested, faced an illegal trial, and then denied by a beloved friend.

Now, He’s headed to Pilate’s - the governor - headquarters for further examination.

John 18:28–19:42 ESV

Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters. It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor’s headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover. So Pilate went outside to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” They answered him, “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.” This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death he was going to die. So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him. But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” They cried out again, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber. Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. 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. Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.” From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’ ” Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” So the soldiers did these things, but 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 nearby, 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 to his own home. After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, 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 at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.” After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

Read

Read

Jn 18:28-19:

And there it is. That’s what happened on the first Good Friday. And maybe you’re thinking, “How is that GOOD? I didn’t hear one GOOD thing!”

You’re right! I mean, basically we read about:

Jesus being wrongfully accused and condemned.

Jesus being wrongfully executed.

Even if you’re not a Christian, you get there’s nothing GOOD about that...

But… IT WAS GOOD! The Bible - which is God’s Word - says:

All of this was part of God’s good plan.

Also, that as hard as it was, Jesus willingly chose to do this!

Why? Because He knew it would result in something GOOD!

My brother and I were raised by a single mom. She was always gone. Not because she neglected us, but because she was working herself into the ground. Working multiple jobs, night and day.

As a kid, it was hard to be alone all the time. It didn’t feel good! But my Mom saw something I couldn’t. She had a plan. She was working towards something GOOD. A future and a hope for the children she loved. And her plan worked! Because of my mom’s sacrifice, both her sons were able to see GOOD things come to pass in our lives. That’s kinda like what happened on Good Friday.

Sometimes, my life didn’t feel good. It didn’t seem right for my mom to always be gone, and then when she was around to be so hard on us. But my Mom could see something I couldn’t. She had a better perspective! Her plan involved sacrificing and doing

Terrible things, hard things, happened. Nothing about it looked GOOD. Nothing about it felt GOOD. But it was all for a GOOD future. Let me read another passage that explains how GOOD thing God was doing...

Ephesians 2:1–9 ESV

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

You see, the truth is we (humanity) were all doomed because of sin. Sin we inherited. And sin we willingly participate in. And this sin (or terrible wrong-doing) is first and foremost against a holy God. A God of justice. A God who must punish sin.

Whether we know it or not, we understand this type of justice. Just look at how we react towards social distancing. We have “rules” in place for GOOD reasons. When people break those rules, we get upset. Why? Because of our internal sense of justice.

God is just. And He will judge sin (or the breaking of His GOOD rules). And the consequence of sin is death.

But remember verse 4...

Ephesians 2:4 ESV

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,

Eph 2:4-

This same holy and just God, also loves us with an everlasting love! He’s rich in mercy - meaning He’s wants to save us from the penalty of sin! And so He sent His Son Jesus to die on a cross - to die in our place. To take the judgment we deserved.

That’s good news for us! And that’s why we call it Good Friday.

And God’s GOOD plan didn’t end on Friday. There’s more good news to come. Something amazing happens the following Sunday. Therefore, let me take a moment to invite you back to join us this Easter Sunday, online, at 10am, when we will finish the story!

But I’ll end with this bit of good news. If you’ve been listening and are ready to make some changes in your life right now - to get right with God, you don’t have to wait till Sunday.

Romans 10:8–11 NLT

In fact, it says, “The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.” And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”

[spoiler alert - God raised him from the dead…]

If you’re ready for God to save you today, you can ask Him today. Tell Him your sorry. Tell Him your believe Jesus died on the Cross for your sin. And you’re ready to be made right with God. Ready to follow Jesus.

ANYONE - who trusts in Jesus, will never be disgrace. God will forgive you, accept you, and save you. That’s Good news on this Good Friday!

Let’s pray!

Read Jn 18: