Holy Week Series - Pt. 4: Good Friday

As we went over in yesterday's Maundy Thursday article, Judas brought an angry mob with guards to arrest Jesus. Jesus' arrest led to his trial before the Sanhedrin, where they sentenced Him to death and brought Him before Pontius Pilate the next morning. When Pilate saw Him, He found no reason to charge Him of any crime, but the people were not satisfied with this answer.

Luke 23:4-5 says, "Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, 'I find no basis for a charge against this man.' But they insisted, 'He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.'"

Luke 23:20-22 says, "Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. But they kept shouting, 'Crucify him! Crucify him!' For the third time he spoke to them: 'Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.'"

Not only did Jesus do nothing wrong, Pilate and Herod were also insistent on sparing Him. But in the end, Jesus, as we all know, was killed unjustly.

Luke 23:26 says, "As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus."

Luke 23:32 says, "Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.' And they divided up his clothes by casting lots."

Even as Jesus was being executed, He asked God to forgive His murderers, everything He did was for the good of others.

Luke 23:44-49 says, "It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, 'Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.' When he had said this, he breathed his last. The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” 48 When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

In this moment, Jesus proves that He was the Son of God, and that killing Him was a mistake. But as we all know, Jesus had to die, if He didn't we wouldn't be able to have eternal rest in heaven. Jesus was a sinless man, His death restored our broken relationship with God. So thank Him for what He did, because without His sacrifice, our relationship with God would still be broken.

We'll see you on Easter everyone!