[The following is a manuscript of the meditation delivered Good Friday afternoon, the 19th of April, 2019 at Pilgrim Reformed Church. Look for the video of our services on our Vimeo channel: http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]
The Apostle Luke describes that dark day when man showed just how cruel he can be. Jesus came to earth to offer mankind the greatest gift of all: salvation from sin and life eternal with God in heaven. And in return, we taunted Him, we beat Him, we tortured Him, and we nailed Him to a rough cross, there to die a horrible death.
Not once did He ask for mercy. Not once did He call out to His Father God to send an army of angels to rescue Him. Not once did He cry out to His tormentors begging to be spared. Not once did He condemn any man for the terrible actions of that day. But there were two instances where the human side of Jesus showed through.
Listen to Luke’s Gospel account from chapter 23, verses 13 through 56, reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible...
Not once did He ask for mercy. Not once did He call out to His Father God to send an army of angels to rescue Him. Not once did He cry out to His tormentors begging to be spared. Not once did He condemn any man for the terrible actions of that day. But there were two instances where the human side of Jesus showed through.
Listen to Luke’s Gospel account from chapter 23, verses 13 through 56, reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible...
13 Then Pilate called together the leading priests and other religious leaders, along with the people, 14 and he announced his verdict. “You brought this Man to me, accusing Him of leading a revolt. I have examined Him thoroughly on this point in your presence and find Him innocent. 15 Herod came to the same conclusion and sent Him back to us. Nothing this Man has done calls for the death penalty. 16 So I will have Him flogged, and then I will release Him.” 17 Now it was necessary for him to release one prisoner to them during the Passover celebration.
18 Then a mighty roar rose from the crowd, and with one voice they shouted, “Kill Him, and release Barabbas to us!” 19 (Barabbas was in prison for taking part in an insurrection in Jerusalem against the government, and for murder.) 20 Pilate argued with them, because he wanted to release Jesus. 21 But they kept shouting, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”
22 For the third time he 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.”
23 But the mob shouted louder and louder, demanding that Jesus be crucified, and their voices prevailed. 24 So Pilate sentenced Jesus to die as they demanded. 25 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.
26 As they led Jesus away, a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, happened to be coming in from the countryside. The soldiers seized him and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A large crowd trailed behind, including many grief-stricken women. 28 But Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the days are coming when they will say, ‘Fortunate indeed are the women who are childless, the wombs that have not borne a child and the breasts that have never nursed.’ 30 People will beg the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and plead with the hills, ‘Bury us.’ 31 For if these things are done when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
32 Two others, both criminals, were led out to be executed with Him. 33 When they came to a place called The Skull, they nailed Him to the cross. And the criminals were also crucified — one on His right and one on His left.
34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” And the soldiers gambled for His clothes by casting lots.
35 The crowd watched and the leaders scoffed. “He saved others,” they said, “let Him save Himself if He is really God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” 36 The soldiers mocked Him, too, by offering Him a drink of sour wine. 37 They called out to Him, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!” 38 A sign was fastened above Him with these words: “This is the King of the Jews.”
39 One of the criminals hanging beside Him scoffed, “So You’re the Messiah, are You? Prove it by saving Yourself — and us, too, while You’re at it!”
40 But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? 41 We deserve to die for our crimes, but this Man hasn’t done anything wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom.”
43 And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with Me in paradise.”
44 By this time it was about noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. 45 The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle. 46 Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust My spirit into Your hands!” And with those words He breathed His last.
47 When the Roman officer overseeing the execution saw what had happened, he worshiped God and said, “Surely this Man was righteous.” 48 And when all the crowd that came to see the crucifixion saw what had happened, they went home in deep sorrow. 49 But Jesus’ friends, including the women who had followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching.
50 Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph. He was a member of the Jewish high council, 51 but he had not agreed with the decision and actions of the other religious leaders. He was from the town of Arimathea in Judea, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come. 52 He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. 53 Then he took the body down from the cross and wrapped it in a long sheet of linen cloth and laid it in a new tomb that had been carved out of rock. 54 This was done late on Friday afternoon, the day of preparation, as the Sabbath was about to begin.
55 As His body was taken away, the women from Galilee followed and saw the tomb where His body was placed. 56 Then they went home and prepared spices and ointments to anoint His body. But by the time they were finished the Sabbath had begun, so they rested as required by the law.
--Luke 23:13-56 (NLT)
Let us pray… Father God, we’ve come together this afternoon to remember the darkest day in all of Your creation – the day we tortured and executed Your Son, nailing Him to a cruel cross. Jesus came to offer us salvation, but the world refused Him. We drove nails into the hands He stretched out to save us. We cursed Him, spat on Him, beat Him, killed Him. But You knew all this had to happen. You knew that only the blood of the one true Spotless Lamb could wash us clean and atone for our sin. Thank You, Father, for Your great love and mercy. Thank You, Jesus, for Your sacrifice. Imprint this day on our hearts so that we might understand just how important this is to us and to others, how critical it is for our eternal life. This we pray in the name of the Lamb, Your Son Jesus. Amen.
You know, I almost feel sorry for Pilate. He thought he was in charge, but really he was just a pawn, a tool in God’s master plan. He tried to let Jesus go, after roughing Him up a bit, but the religious leaders of the Jews would have none of that.
And actually, Jesus wouldn’t have allowed it anyway, because He knew what had to be done. Jesus was fully God, the true Son of God. He knew everything that would happen, all that He would endure. He was in on the plan from the very start. But Jesus was also fully man, completely human, capable of suffering just like the rest of us. And I think this passage clearly shows the human side, as well as the divine.
Jesus as God is quite evident: when He warned the people of what is to come, when He asked God to forgive them, when He promised the one criminal who believed a place in paradise. But the human side of Jesus can also be seen. After the beatings, He was too weak to carry His cross all the way to the place called the Skull, stumbling under the burden, so the Roman soldiers grabbed a man and forced him to carry it.
In the Apostle John’s account of this day, Jesus gasps, “I thirst”, prompting the soldiers to offer Him sour wine, as Luke noted. “I thirst” is Jesus’ human expression of His physical suffering. In shock from blood loss and all He has gone through to this point, He now suffers physical thirst.
But it also alludes to a spiritual thirst, a thirst for love, especially for the love of His Father who He feels may have abandoned Him there on the cross. That feeling of abandonment can be more easily seen in the accounts of the Apostles Matthew and Mark. Luke records Jesus saying “Father, I entrust My spirit into Your hands!”, as His final statement. But just before that, Matthew and Mark share that Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Could there ever be a more human expression of anguish and pain? How many of us have cried in our torment, “O God, where are You? Why have You left me to face this alone?”
“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Forsaken, abandoned, left to one’s own defenses. Alone, unloved, unwanted. Jesus actually quotes King David here, in Psalm 22 verse 1…
Jesus, the man, the Son of Man, felt like God, His own Father, had turned His back on Him. He felt alone, all alone. And He was! This marked the one and only instance when Jesus was separated from God and His Holy Spirit! For you see, this is when Jesus was no longer righteous in God’s sight. Jesus was no longer sinless. Just as Adam and Eve and all mankind since could no longer be in the presence of God Almighty because of our sin, neither could Jesus! Jesus was no longer sinless because He had taken all our sin upon Himself!
So yes, He felt abandoned because He could no longer be in God’s presence. Of course, we know that all this changes shortly, for Jesus takes our sins to the grave and leaves them there, returning to life sinless again. But for this brief span, Jesus was all alone, hanging there on the cross.
My God, my God… Jesus wants us to remember this day. He wants us to see Him as a man, hurting physically because of His mistreatment, but hurting even more, spiritually, because of His separation from God. And He wants us to remember that all that – all the hurting and suffering and pain and even the separation – all of that ended when He was raised from the dead and given new life!
We need to remember this because some day, some sweet, beautiful day, all our suffering and pain will cease. Our lifelong separation from God will come to an end and we will be reunited with Him for all eternity. But only if we believe in His Son Jesus, and accept Him not only as our personal Savior and Friend but also as our true Lord and Master, whose word and command we strive to obey.
We who believe can look forward to that day, but for too many, the separation will never end. Too many will continue to shout “My God, my God” and plaintively cry out “Lord, Lord” as eternity rolls, and Jesus will simply respond, “I never knew you.” Let’s do our best to help others not be in that crowd. In the blessed name of Him who died so that we might live, the name of Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray… Lord Jesus, we cannot even imagine what You went through that last day of Your mortal life, that fateful Friday so long ago. None of Your life here came easy. Like the prophet Isaiah foretold, the very people You came to save hated and despised You. They plotted Your death and betrayed You. They even denied You. Forgive us, Lord, because sometimes we still don’t know what we are doing.
But You knew, Lord. Every step of the way, You knew what was coming. You knew how the events of every single day would play out, including Your last day lived as a mortal man. You knew exactly how God’s plan must be accomplished, and that it was not quite finished before You left. So You instructed us on what to do until You return to wrap up the job. Help us, please Lord, to be faithful to the task You left us. Help us to be strong when the weight of our responsibility bears greatly on our shoulders. Help us do as You commanded even when we are afraid to stand up, to speak up, to show the world how much You mean to us. Forgive us when we hesitate to witness to You. Forgive us when we turn away from the needs of those around us, oblivious to their plight. Forgive us when we fail to love sacrificially, unconditionally, as You love us. Help us be worthy of Your great sacrifice. In Your precious name, Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen.
You know, I almost feel sorry for Pilate. He thought he was in charge, but really he was just a pawn, a tool in God’s master plan. He tried to let Jesus go, after roughing Him up a bit, but the religious leaders of the Jews would have none of that.
And actually, Jesus wouldn’t have allowed it anyway, because He knew what had to be done. Jesus was fully God, the true Son of God. He knew everything that would happen, all that He would endure. He was in on the plan from the very start. But Jesus was also fully man, completely human, capable of suffering just like the rest of us. And I think this passage clearly shows the human side, as well as the divine.
Jesus as God is quite evident: when He warned the people of what is to come, when He asked God to forgive them, when He promised the one criminal who believed a place in paradise. But the human side of Jesus can also be seen. After the beatings, He was too weak to carry His cross all the way to the place called the Skull, stumbling under the burden, so the Roman soldiers grabbed a man and forced him to carry it.
In the Apostle John’s account of this day, Jesus gasps, “I thirst”, prompting the soldiers to offer Him sour wine, as Luke noted. “I thirst” is Jesus’ human expression of His physical suffering. In shock from blood loss and all He has gone through to this point, He now suffers physical thirst.
But it also alludes to a spiritual thirst, a thirst for love, especially for the love of His Father who He feels may have abandoned Him there on the cross. That feeling of abandonment can be more easily seen in the accounts of the Apostles Matthew and Mark. Luke records Jesus saying “Father, I entrust My spirit into Your hands!”, as His final statement. But just before that, Matthew and Mark share that Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Could there ever be a more human expression of anguish and pain? How many of us have cried in our torment, “O God, where are You? Why have You left me to face this alone?”
“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Forsaken, abandoned, left to one’s own defenses. Alone, unloved, unwanted. Jesus actually quotes King David here, in Psalm 22 verse 1…
1 My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
Why are You so far from helping Me,
And from the words of My groaning?
--Psalm 22:1 (NKJV)
So yes, He felt abandoned because He could no longer be in God’s presence. Of course, we know that all this changes shortly, for Jesus takes our sins to the grave and leaves them there, returning to life sinless again. But for this brief span, Jesus was all alone, hanging there on the cross.
My God, my God… Jesus wants us to remember this day. He wants us to see Him as a man, hurting physically because of His mistreatment, but hurting even more, spiritually, because of His separation from God. And He wants us to remember that all that – all the hurting and suffering and pain and even the separation – all of that ended when He was raised from the dead and given new life!
We need to remember this because some day, some sweet, beautiful day, all our suffering and pain will cease. Our lifelong separation from God will come to an end and we will be reunited with Him for all eternity. But only if we believe in His Son Jesus, and accept Him not only as our personal Savior and Friend but also as our true Lord and Master, whose word and command we strive to obey.
We who believe can look forward to that day, but for too many, the separation will never end. Too many will continue to shout “My God, my God” and plaintively cry out “Lord, Lord” as eternity rolls, and Jesus will simply respond, “I never knew you.” Let’s do our best to help others not be in that crowd. In the blessed name of Him who died so that we might live, the name of Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray… Lord Jesus, we cannot even imagine what You went through that last day of Your mortal life, that fateful Friday so long ago. None of Your life here came easy. Like the prophet Isaiah foretold, the very people You came to save hated and despised You. They plotted Your death and betrayed You. They even denied You. Forgive us, Lord, because sometimes we still don’t know what we are doing.
But You knew, Lord. Every step of the way, You knew what was coming. You knew how the events of every single day would play out, including Your last day lived as a mortal man. You knew exactly how God’s plan must be accomplished, and that it was not quite finished before You left. So You instructed us on what to do until You return to wrap up the job. Help us, please Lord, to be faithful to the task You left us. Help us to be strong when the weight of our responsibility bears greatly on our shoulders. Help us do as You commanded even when we are afraid to stand up, to speak up, to show the world how much You mean to us. Forgive us when we hesitate to witness to You. Forgive us when we turn away from the needs of those around us, oblivious to their plight. Forgive us when we fail to love sacrificially, unconditionally, as You love us. Help us be worthy of Your great sacrifice. In Your precious name, Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen.
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