Thinking Biblically About Good Friday

Reflect on the meaning of Good Friday through Scripture-based meditations focused on Christ’s suffering, sacrifice, and finished work on the cross.

There is much to be read about Good Friday, and there are many good resources available. And I pray that as you read all of them, may your heart and mind be convinced of the true reason why Christ had to suffer and die for the sins of man.

I pray that these simple reflections would provide as an additional means, according to the Lord’s will, to help us all draw nearer to Him and stand in even greater awe of His mercy and grace.

Reflection #1 – The Silence of Christ Before Pilate

Matthew 27:11-14 / Mark 15:1-5 / Luke 23:1-5

Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor questioned Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And Jesus said to him, “You yourself say it.” And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He did not answer. Then Pilate said to Him, “Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?” And He did not answer him with regard to even a single charge, so the governor marveled greatly. For many of us, we cannot help, resist, or restrain ourselves from addressing any charge brought against us, no matter how petty, even if they are true or partially true, so let alone any charge that is incorrect or misleading. We would likely respond with a forceful argument to ensure our name is cleared and perhaps get vengeance in the process. I guess the question here is, why did Jesus not say more? I mean, He was allowed to speak out, but His only answer was, “You yourself say it.” This is simply an expression at this time to mean something like an affirming response to Pilate’s leading question, but after that, Christ said nothing else. Which is why in Mark 15:5, it says, “Pilate marveled” at the silence of Christ. I believe Christ holds His tongue and keeps His silence at this moment because only one who is truly free from guilt will have no qualms with whatever is thrown or said His way. Christ Jesus came into the world so that He could die as the One and only pleasing sacrifice to God, to appease His wrath for the sins of man; to physically die was the very purpose for which He physically lived in the world. So, despite knowing the torture and suffering He would have to experience and endure, His perfect obedience and commitment to God the Father will not allow the non-fulfillment of the very purpose for which He entered into the world. This is a true source of comfort because we see here truly whatever the Lord says He would do, He will do and does, no matter how the world portrays it as impossible or false. The Old Testament prophet Isaiah says this in 53:5-6: But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our peace fell upon Him, And by His wounds we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; But Yahweh has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. This is what scripture says Christ will do for the sins of man. He did what He said He would do!

Reflection #2 – Barabbas or Christ? The World’s Daily Choice

Matthew 27:21-23 / Mark 15:9-14 / Luke 23:13-25

But the governor answered and said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” Pilate said to them, “Then, what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let Him be crucified!” And he said, “Why, what evil did He do?” But they were crying out all the more, saying, “Let Him be crucified!” Some historical books accord the name of Barabbas to be a contraction of the name Bar Abba, which means “the son of the father.” We still have names such as these today. Take for instance, the name Johnson; this historically is a contraction which meant, “the son of John.” Barabbas had a first name as well, and according to some historical documents, his first name is also Jesus. With this in mind, the question of the governor, in essence, to the people might as well have sounded like this: “Who do you want to be set free? Jesus the murderer or Jesus the messiah? Tragically, the people would choose Barabbas, the murderer, over Christ the Messiah. Since the fall and to this day, people are daily choosing the “Jesus” of the world over the Jesus of heaven. People today choose death over eternal life. People choose temporary pleasures over eternal joy. This is why people need Christ Jesus. Unless God spiritually intervenes and regenerates the heart and mind of man, he will always desire and choose ‘Barabbas’ over Christ Jesus. This is also why the gospel needs to be proclaimed. Nothing else in this world can change a sinner from being dead to sin to being alive in Christ apart from the gospel. The apostle says this about the gospel message in Romans 1:16: For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Reflection #3 – Fulfilled Prophecy at Golgotha

Matthew 27:33-35 / Mark 15:22-24

And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull, they gave Him wine to drink mixed with gall; and after tasting it, He did not want to drink. And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves by casting lots. An Old Testament book says this in Psalm 22:18: They divide my garments among them, And for my clothing they cast lots. The connection between this Psalm, written many years ago before Christ, is simply too present to not consider that this Psalm may be an allusion to what Christ is to experience. Nevertheless, the simple reflection here is that our God is truly sovereign over all things. Everything He says that will come to pass comes to pass. Nothing surprises Him, and He is not merely responding to things that happen in the world. He is truly sovereign. Let us remember this truth, that for all who are in Christ, nothing is outside of His sovereign hand, so to be in His hands, no matter the circumstance or situation, is the best place to be. There, all will find true peace.

Reflection #4 – “Save Yourself!”: Misunderstanding the King

Matthew 27:39-42 / Mark 15:29-32 / Luke 23:37-39

And those passing by were blaspheming Him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who are going to destroy the sanctuary and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him and saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him. Christ Jesus is truly King, and He knows best the perfect time for everything. What people see as weakness and hypocrisy from Christ by being unable to ‘save Himself’ from the cross, is in fact, Christ Jesus providing people mercy and grace, more time for people to repent of their sins and rebellion against Christ, and time to believe in Christ Jesus alone as their Lord and Savior King! Similarly, there will be plenty of things throughout our lives where we would not understand the timing of certain things, the wait for certain things, or the earliness of certain things, but let us trust in the Lord, for His ways are better than ours. Let us learn to submit to His providence alone and to focus on our daily faithfulness to the words of Christ, and in His perfect time, He will allow things to happen according to His will and purposes. And with our surrendered hearts and minds, we too will rejoice. What is keeping you from fully trusting in the Lord and repenting of your sins to Him? I pray you would humble yourself and bow down to Christ Jesus. John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. Acts 4:12: “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”Romans 10:9-10: that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, leading to righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, leading to salvation.

Reflection #5 – “Why Have You Forsaken Me?”

Matthew 27:46 / Mark 15:34

AAnd about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Christ here proclaims Psalm 22:1; that in His dying moments of His human nature, by quoting Psalm 22:1, He is still affirming, not only that entire book, but more specifically that chapter, where King David was crying and praying to the Lord in anguish for seemingly abandoning him. Regardless, David trusts in the Lord and turns to Him for comfort and joy. I believe at this moment, Christ is indeed in His human nature, expressing to the Lord the same anguish that King David expresses in Psalm 22. However, Christ does not waver in His commitment to the will of the Father because He has come down to the world for the very purpose of obeying God the Father. It is indeed a moment of severe affliction and anguish for the sinless God-Man, Christ Jesus, to experience the wrath of God for the sins of man. While God may have abandoned the humanity of Christ for the moment, Christ did not abandon His commitment to obey the will of the Father. This passage is not about any inner conflict within Christ but merely a humble expression of the affliction He is experiencing, but in the process, He not only affirms further what prophecy says of Him, He reminds us that indeed, He (Christ) is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. The lamb that is to be slain.

Reflection #6 – The Thief on the Cross and God’s Sovereign Grace

Luke 23:40-42

But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? “And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for what we have done; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!”We love to romanticize the story of the thief on the cross because indeed, the theme of mercy and grace is clear as the thief goes from mocking Christ to believing in Christ. However, let us make sure we do not miss out one of the most critical messages in this episode and that is this: God and Christ alone declares who are saved and the standards or requirements on how to be saved has nothing to do with any man made requirements, but only of God’s sovereign prerogative and will.The transformation that happened inside the heart and mind of the thief on the cross was clearly not through any works of His own, because what works could he actually do, as he hung on the cross? The thief on the cross may have heard the gospel throughout the entire past days, and in this moment, by God’s sovereign will and purpose, the thief was regenerated, and instantly he believed completely that salvation and eternal life in the Kingdom of Christ were by and only through Christ Jesus. Let us repent for thinking that we can gain paradise through our own deeds. Heaven is not for those who believe they are good but only for those who believe in the goodness of God.

Reflection #7 – “It Is Finished.”

John 19:30

Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. What was finished? The work that God the Father had sent Christ the Son into the world to do is now fully accomplished. All that is needed or necessary for sinful man to be reconciled with Holy God has now been fully accomplished by Christ, through HIs perfect and sinless life and death on the cross. Romans 8:1-4: Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.The only way anyone can be saved is not through good works, not through good deeds and thoughts. While these may be good in and of themselves, apart from us acknowledging that apart from Christ, we do these things out of our own selfish interests, none of these activities and or efforts will amount to anything pleasing or a worthy sacrifice to the Lord because we are not sinless. There is only one sacrifice pleasing to the Lord to atone for the sins of man and that is the one-time sacrifice and death of Christ Jesus. He alone is worthy. He alone is righteous. 1 Peter 2:24: Who Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that having died to sin, we might live to righteousness; by His wounds you were healed.We need to read this seriously and carefully; we cannot in our own ways save ourselves to somehow cover our sins. As humans, we look at goodness as simply being on a scale, so long as we are doing more good than bad, then we are okay in God’s sight, or so long as I am not committing horrendous sins such as murder and the like, then I will be acceptable to God. Please allow me to lovingly tell you, this is not true biblically. Because God is holy and just, He cannot let sin, any sin, go unpunished. Because He is perfect, His demand from us is also perfection. But since none of us our perfectly righteous, it does not really matter whether you think your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds. You are still unacceptable to a holy and just God. We cannot save ourselves. But, Christ Jesus, the perfect and righteous son of God, died so that all who put their trust in Him and in His perfect work on the cross, will now be acceptable to God because it is not our righteousness which is inadequate that is counted but the righteousness of Christ in us which is perfect. We are saved by Christ Jesus, because all who believe in Him are now in Him, and all who are in Him are loved and given by God the Father.Ephesians 2:8: For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, so that no one may boast.