“What’s Good About Good Friday?”
John 12:12-19
John 19:16-22
This Sunday represents the beginning of Holy Week. Palm Sunday to Good Friday is 5 days. One Third of the combined narratives of the four Gospels describes the last week of Christ’s life, His death, and resurrection.
John 12:12-19 tells about the Triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
“The next day the huge crowd that had arrived for the Feast heard that Jesus was entering Jerusalem. They broke off palm branches and went out to meet him. And they cheered:
Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes in God’s name!
Yes! The King of Israel!
Jesus tll, a young donkey and rode it, just as the Scripture has it:
No fear, Daughter Zion:
See how your king comes,
riding a donkey’s colt.
The disciples didn’t notice the fulfillment of many Scriptures at the time, but after Jesus was glorified, they remembered that what was written about him matched what was done to him.
The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, was there giving eyewitness accounts. It was because they had spread the word of this latest God-sign that the crowd swelled to a welcoming parade. The Pharisees took one look and threw up their hands: ‘It’s out of control. The world’s in a stampede after him.’”
On Saturday, the day before Palm Sunday, Jesus was in the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Jesus was their honored guest. The family had prepared a feast in his honor. During the feast Mary anointed Jesus with a jar of perfume worth a small fortune – 300 days worth of wages.
The raising of Lazarus made a great impact on the city of Bethany and surrounding area. Eye witnesses of the raising of Lazarus spread the word about Jesus and the crowd gathered to lead him to Jerusalem to set up his kingly reign.
I. Jesus Came to Establish a Spiritual Kingdom
As the crowd paraded into Jerusalem they were ready to crown Jesus as their King. They were looking for an earthly King but Jesus did not turn out to be the King they were expecting. Jesus was not about an earthly kingdom. He was all about a heavenly kingdom.
The crowd was looking for a super hero and super star. Surely Jesus would set up an earthly reign and bring peace on earth at last.
As they entered Jerusalem the large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted: “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” Matthew 21:8-9
Many people view Jesus like that crowd on Palm Sunday. They see Jesus as a super star facing the Devil. Jesus picks up the Devil like Superman and flings him out into outer space never to cause trouble again.
Others see Jesus coming into Jerusalem on a blazing white stallion and kicking up a cloud of dust along the road. As Jesus passed by, you could hear people say, “Who was that masked man?”
There were bad guys on the loose and Jesus had a job to do. Jesus rode into Jerusalem, quickly sized up the situation and captured the ring-leader Diablo, Satan, and threw him in jail.
The fact is, Jesus did not come as a superstar. Jesus did not ride into Jerusalem on a white stallion, an elegant horse fit for a king. He rode on a lowly donkey. The donkey was the least admired animal.
Jesus did not set up an earthly kingdom. Jesus said his kingship was not of this world. John 18:36 Jesus came as a humble servant on a mission of mercy to take on Himself the sins of the world and provide a way of salvation.
The acts of Jesus following the Triumphal entry into Jerusalem I’m sure surprised the people. On Monday, Jesus cleansed the temple. On Tuesday, Jesus gave teachings and parables describing the Kingdom of God. On Wednesday, Jesus spent a quiet day in Bethany. On Thursday, preparation was made for the Passover and the Lord’s Supper in the upper room. On Friday, Jesus stood trial before the Sanhedrin and then before Pilate in a Roman trial.
How do you view Jesus? Do you see Jesus as one who is so high and lifted up that he is beyond your reach? Do you see Jesus as one who owes you a favor? Do you see Jesus as a magical supernatural being? Do you believe when you are in pain or in need you wave your magic wand of prayer and Jesus, your personal genie, will make all your wishes come true.
When Jesus didn’t fulfill the expectations of the crowd many forsook him and fled.
What are your expectations of Jesus? When you see Jesus as King and conqueror are you ready to follow, but not someone who rides into town on a lowly donkey and tells you the way to greatness is by becoming a servant. Jesus came as a servant and slave and didn’t seek popularity.
Jesus wants you to follow him out of a heart of love. Jesus wants you to willingly obey his teachings and commandments. When you become a Christ-follower you become part of God’s Spiritual Kingdom.
II. Jesus Came on a Mission of Mercy
Good Friday is good because it is all about Jesus completing his earthly mission of mercy. On Good Friday Jesus is condemned and crucified. John 19:16-22, “They took Jesus away. Carrying the cross, Jesus went out to the place call Skull Hill (the name in Hebrew is Golgotha), where they crucified him, and with him two others, one on each side, Jesus in the middle. Pilate wrote a sign and had it placed on the cross. It read:
JESUS THE NAZARENE
THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Many of the Jews read the sign because the place where Jesus was crucified was right next to the city. It was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. Hebrew was the language of Israel, Latin the language of the Romans in law and government, and Greek the language of Greece, the language of culture. The Jewish high priests objected. “Don’t write,” they said to Pilate, “The King of the Jews.” Make it, ‘This man said, “I am the King of the Jews.” Pilate said, “What I have written, I’ve written.” (Message)
Jesus told his disciples several times that his mission was to suffer and die for the sins of the world. Philippians 2:8, “Jesus humbled himself (gave up his place of sovereignty in heaven) and became obedient to death, even death on a cross.”
Jesus came in obedience to the plan of God. Jesus prayed, “Not my will but Thy will be done.” Jesus came to provide salvation for all who will believe.
Jesus came in self-renunciation. Jesus did not come to exalt himself; he came as a suffering servant. The prophet Isaiah described the mission of Jesus, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrow, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hid their faces he was despised and we esteemed him not.” Isaiah 53:2-3
Every agonizing step that Jesus took carrying the cross from the Praetorian to Golgotha on the “Road of Sorrows”, the “Via Delarosa” was for you and for me. “Even while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
We can call this dark day in human history “Good” because we know the significance and meaning of the Cross. We also now know what happened two days later on the first day of the week, resurrection Sunday.
Jesus started His public ministry with the introduction by John the Baptizer, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” John 1:29
The Apostle Peter tells of the significance of Christ is death. I Peter 1:18-20 MESSAGE, Reads: “Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately – the end of the ages – become public knowledge, God always knew He was going to do this for you. It‘s because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God.”
Good Friday and the Cross of Jesus are all about “Forgiveness.”
# The daughter and son-in-law of Doug Sparks were killed by a drunk driver, and their little boy was injured so badly that his brain would never function normally. A friend said to Doug Sparks after the accident, “Doug, it’s going to work out for good for you and your family.”
Sparks answered with anger, “Yes, but at what price?” Sparks said that for several days he wrestled with the price. He was angry. He tried to stay in touch with God and deal with his anger.
In a time of prayer he sensed God speaking to him saying, “Doug, I know how much this is costing you. I know the price you’re paying. But I also know the price I paid.”
Sparks said that in times of tragedy we must always look to the Cross, the price God paid for a suffering and dying world. In his time of prayer Sparks knew what God wanted him to do. He needed to go the driver that caused the tragedy and forgive him.
Sparks visited the man in the hospital, an illegal immigrant who was lying flat on his back with a broken neck. Sparks shared the Gospel with him and told him that because Christ loved and forgave him “I also love and forgive you.” Sparks said that at that moment he experienced the love of Christ for the man. Human love could not bring about that kind of forgiveness for a man who had killed your loved ones, only the prayer of forgiveness could accomplish that miracle.
The first words Jesus uttered from the cross were: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” Luke 23:34.
Before Jesus, forgiveness was only possible though the sacrifice of a lamb without blemish. The person confessing sin would put their hands on the head of the lamb and the shedding of the blood of the lamb gave forgiveness of sins. Hebrews 9:22, “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.”
Jesus, on the Cross, became the Lamb of God a sacrifice for our sins. When you put your faith in Jesus and confess your sins, the cross of Jesus and His shed blood brings forgiveness and a new life in Christ.
Jesus hung on the cross between two criminals and paid their debt for sin. The innocent One suffered for the guilty so He might bring us to God.
The death of Christ declares what God thinks of sin. God has judged sin with his uttermost judgment.
Everything has been different since the Son of God climbed Calvary’s hill. Life has been different. Faith, hope, and love have been different. From the very beginning the church has had the message of the cross. “Christ died for our sins.”
We sing the hymn, “Nearer my God to Thee” showing that our own cross and trials bring us nearer to God. We also sing “In the Cross of Christ I Glory” which depicts the cross of Christ being celebrated. But the true message of the cross is revealed when we sing, “When I survey the Wondrous Cross, on which the Prince of Glory died. My richest gains I count but loss and pour contempt o all my pride.”
In the hymn “When I survey the Wondrous Cross” we realize that it was no mere man who died on Calvary, but it was the Lord of Glory. The message of the cross reveals that one drop of Christ’s blood is more precious for the salvation of men’s souls than all the blood shed in human history.
Paul declared in I Corinthians 1:18, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are saved it is the power of God.”
During this Holy week, daily kneel at the foot of the cross and thank Jesus for His love that was demonstrated when Jesus died in your place. The soldiers and the nails did not keep Jesus on the cross. It was his love for you that kept Jesus on the cross until he suffered and died so you can have your sins forgiven.
On Palm Sunday, Jesus came to establish a Spiritual Kingdom – the Kingdom of God.
On Good Friday Jesus came to fulfill His Mission of Mercy – He died in your place. Three days later ….
On Easter Sunday, Jesus celebrated His Victory over Sin and Death.
III. Jesus Provided Victory Over Sin and Death
There are many Faiths that teach Jesus as a good person who lived and died and was buried. They forget about the rest of the story. The story of Jesus doesn’t end in a tomb.
Mark 16:1-6 “When the Sabbath (Saturday) was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought spices so that they might go anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, ‘Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?’”
But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. Don’t be alarmed, he said, ‘You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.”
The ending song the choir sings in the Easter Musical, “Bow the Knee” is titled “Celebrate the Victory.” “Celebrate the victory, Jesus is alive! Conquering the enemy, Jesus is alive. He is the risen Lord who reigns for ever more.
As Christ followers we appreciate what Jesus did on Good Friday dying on the cross, but with great joy and hope we celebrate the fact that Jesus is alive.
Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, the woman he delivered from evil spirits. Then Jesus appeared to two disciples on the way to Emmaus and then to 10 disciples behind locked doors, with Thomas being absent. Later He appeared to 11 disciples with Thomas present. Jesus appeared to 500 believers at one time. Jesus confronted Saul who became known as the Apostle Paul on the Damascus road.
All of us need to take the journey of Holy week – From the triumphal entry to Good Friday to Easter Sunday.
Jesus Came to Establish a Spiritual Kingdom – This week follow Jesus for Who He Is and not for what you want Him to do for you.
Jesus Came on a Mission of Mercy – Jesus died for you – are you willing to die to self and sin and look to Jesus for His forgiveness and have a forgiving spirit toward others.
Jesus Provided Victory Over Sin and Death – ask Jesus to help you live in the power of the resurrection – Celebrate the victory, Jesus is alive.
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