What Makes Good Friday Good?

Song:

Good evening.

Tonight, we come to commemorate Christ’s death on our behalf.

As a child, I always wondered why we called this day “Good Friday”.

“Good” isn’t the word we typically use when someone we love dies.

It isn’t the word we use when we watch an innocent person be convicted wrongly and sentenced to death.

Yet, for us, this day is one of the greatest days in history.

What makes Good Friday good?

As we look at what John teaches us about Jesus’s crucifixion, we can find at least three different points that make this day good.

In fact, it is one of the greatest days in history.

We are going to be in John 19:16-42 this evening.

While the other gospel writers focus on some of the big moments of the crucifixion, John focuses on some intimate details the others didn’t include.

Some of that is because of John’s purpose in writing. However, as we see in verse 35, John was also an eyewitness to these events, which allowed him to see first-hand what took place.

As we turn to the text, let’s remember what has taken place up until now.

Jesus had already been arrested, tried at least three times, beaten repeatedly, and now, he has been condemned to die by crucifixion.

This particularly awful form of execution was preceded by a whipping that would have left Jesus’s back torn open and bleeding.

That’s where we pick up in verse 16-17...

The condemned were required to carry at least a portion of their cross with them, and we know from the other gospels that Jesus staggered under the weight of it and had to be helped.

However, John focuses on the fact that Jesus was required to carry it himself. Perhaps this points us to the fact that Jesus would be bearing the weight of our sin alone in the next few hours.

When they reached their destination, Jesus was nailed to the cross with spikes driven through his feet and wrists.

Continue reading in verse 19-22...

Pilate wanted to make it clear that he was condemning Jesus because he had been accused of being an enemy of Rome, claiming to be king.

However, he was unaware of the fact that Jesus was truly the King that day.

In the next few verses, we find the first clue that this death is actually good.

As we watch the king die, we see that...

1) Jesus’s death fulfilled pictures & promises.

Read verses 23-24...

As we have talked about Jesus’s arrest, trial, and crucifixion over the last few weeks at church, we have again and again reminded you that God was in control the entire time.

Here, we see that again displayed in one of the tiniest details.

When dividing up Jesus’s clothes, they each took a portion, but they also cast lots for the tunic. By the way, casting lots is almost like rolling dice or drawing straws.

It seems like such an odd detail to highlight, out of all the things one could say about Jesus’s death.

Why is it important?

Because this fulfills a picture God had given through David about 1000 years before Jesus died.

These words were written in what we call Psalm 22, which is a psalm where David talks about the way his enemies have treated him.

What he didn’t realize was that one day, Jesus, the Messiah, the King sent from God to save the world, would endure even greater suffering than David himself, and that psalm would capture the detail of his suffering, down to the smallest degree.

Nothing that happened that terrible day was out of God’s hands. In fact, it was God’s design from the beginning of time.

We will see pieces of these pictures and promises unfolding in verse 28 and again in verses 36 & 37.

This makes Good Friday good—that God knew all along that this is how he was going to rescue us from our sin.

He knew that Jesus would come, as God in the flesh, and take the beatings, the humiliation, and the pain to die in our place.

He even knew they would cast lots for his clothes.

Today, Good Friday is good because Jesus’s death fulfilled the pictures and promises God had made centuries before.

Song:

Not only does his death make Good Friday good, we also see that, as he was dying...

2) Jesus was faithful to his mission.

John records this beautiful, tender moment in the middle of all the chaos and pain.

There is a special bond between a mother and her son. That bond is especially strong when the dad isn’t around.

We don’t know what happened, but Joseph died sometime before Jesus began his ministry. He is never mentioned after they are visited by the wise men when Jesus is about two years old.

That meant that Jesus, as the oldest son, would be responsible for making sure his mother was cared for.

Now, she is watching him die.

Read verses 25-27...

I can’t imagine Mary’s pain that day.

Before Jesus was born, she was given promises that he would one day save the world.

Now, she is watching him writhe in excruciating pain, likely not knowing that this was exactly what it would take to fulfill those promises.

In the middle of the pain of the cross, notice that Jesus takes time to show compassion to his mother.

Think about that! Jesus is exhausted, in pain that I can’t wrap my mind around, and bearing the wrath of God for the sins of the world.

And yet, he is faithful to care for his mother.

He is fulfilling what he came here to do:

Early in his ministry, he read these words from Isaiah to the crowd:

Luke 4:18 NASB95PARA

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed,

While he is securing our ultimate comfort through his death in our place, he is caring for his own mother.

Remember, “the disciple whom Jesus loved” is John’s way of humbly referring to himself.

Although Jesus had other siblings, they had rejected him. John, the youngest disciple, is given the task, then, of taking Mary into his home and caring for her after Jesus is gone.

This makes Good Friday good, doesn’t it? Because even as he was dying for sin, Jesus was still actively seeking to care for and comfort others.

His compassion spilled over, even in the most difficult moments imaginable.

Reflect on that as we sing.

Song:

Good Friday is good, because these terrible acts were all a part of God’s plan. He showed that as Jesus fulfilled pictures and promises that God made centuries before.

Good Friday is good, because we see the tender compassion of Jesus displayed on the cross, even as he made sure his mom was cared for after he was gone.

However, the most important reason that we know Good Friday is good is because...

3) Jesus finished his work.

Pick up in verse 28-30...

Look at those first words in verse 28 again — “when Jesus knew that everything was now finished”.

Throughout John, we have heard that his hour had not yet come.

Then, in the last night of his life, Jesus said that the hour had now come—this was it. This was what he came to accomplish.

Now, as he hangs dying on the cross, he knows that everything is completed that needs to be done.

He has done everything the Father called him to do, down to the very final moments of his life.

Out of all the things he finished that day, the most important for us is that he finished the work it took for us to be saved.

On the cross that day, Jesus took all of the death I deserve for my sin, and all the death you deserve for your sin, and he put it on himself to pay the price.

When he declared, “It is finished,” he was declaring that the debt you and I owed for our sin had been paid in full.

Now, you and I can be right with God, saved from our sin, and given eternal life because he has finished the work.

You and I cannot be good enough, we cannot try hard enough; only Jesus’s death is sufficient to save us.

Did you catch that?

His death is sufficient to save us. It is enough. You and I don’t add anything to what Jesus has done—it is finished!

We aren’t saved by Jesus’s death and then the good things we do; no! We are saved because Jesus finished paying for our debt on the cross, so now, there is no sin left for us to pay for!

In just a moment, we are going to sing these words: Jesus paid it all! All to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.

That’s the essence of Christianity—the one who was beaten, who experienced the searing pain in his hands, feet, back, head, lungs, and throughout his entire body, was doing that for you and for me!

Tonight, we want to take communion together.

The small piece of bread reminds us of Jesus’s body, which was broken for us.

The cup of juice reminds us of his blood that was shed.

There is nothing magical about these elements. However, as we take them together, we are looking back to the cross and reminding ourselves of the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf.

The pain he endured, the suffering, the shame; he took all of that for me.

In teaching the church about this observance, Paul said this:

1 Corinthians 11:27–28 CSB

So, then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself; in this way let him eat the bread and drink from the cup.

As we sing the next song, I would invite you to take some time to reflect back on today, on the last week, or the last month, and see if there is anything in your heart you need to confess, you need to turn from, you need to make right as we prepare to take the supper together.

Sing: Jesus Paid It All