 So in Matthew 27, I'm actually going to give you a prolonged introduction and take you through a good portion of the chapter. But let me read to you in Matthew 27 at verse 27 just to give you something to read with me and we're going to proceed to that point as we go through this the study this Good Friday evening. So in Matthew 27 verse 27 it says the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around him and they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and a reed in his right hand and they bowed the knee before him and mocked him saying, Hail, King of the Jews. Then they spat on him and took the reed and struck him on the head and when they had mocked him, they took the robe off him, put his own clothes on him and led him away to be crucified. Let me give to you a prolonged introduction, but we're going to be picking up at verse 27 in a few minutes. Let's begin by just reminding ourselves that tonight we came in order to celebrate something. We came to celebrate what has been called Good Friday. Some have asked the question, why is this day called Good Friday? Why is Friday referred to in this fashion? There are some who believe that it's called Good Friday because it is derived from the words God's Friday, referring to Jesus' death and burial. So it's really a contraction, they would say, and it would be something that would be referring to it being God's Friday because of Jesus and all. And we have that in the English language, for example, when you say goodbye, that is just a typical thing that we say today or by goodbye, but goodbye just originally was God be with you and so Good Friday, there are those who simply say at one time it was called God's Friday to remind us that this was the day that Jesus died and this is the day that he was buried. There are others who say that the Friday that Jesus was crucified on has been called Good Friday because it led to the resurrection of Jesus and his victory over death and sin and the celebration of Easter, the very pinnacle of Christian celebrations, and therefore it's a Good Friday because of what it led to and what was accomplished on that day. Fact is the single act of loving grace for us makes us realize that this indeed is what we would call a Good Friday. And so we've gathered tonight in order that we might celebrate Good Friday, Good Friday evening. Now as we look at this passage and as we're about to lead to it, this is the last week of the Lord Jesus Christ. As you've seen this last week of the Lord Jesus Christ was filled with activity. We saw how that he had entered into the city of Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. And we remember the excitement, the things that were going on on that day, how that Jesus came down that way. And as he came down from the Mount of Olives, how that a group of people were following with him and others were coming out of the city. And I was mentioning to you recently as we studied that portion of Scripture, how two crowds had actually merged into one and they were beginning to cry out and they were in excitement because the Lord Jesus Christ was entering into the city and they were saying Hosanna saved now. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. And there was tremendous excitement on that Sunday. And as he entered into that city, there was a tremendous anticipation. And so as he went through the week and Monday and Tuesday, there were many things that he did. Monday and Tuesday of that week were filled with various things, including the cleansing of the temple. And when you look and see the things that he did on Monday and Tuesday, you'll see that that he spent a lot of time doing a lot of teaching and you'll see that as you read your New Testament. Nothing is recorded concerning what he did on Wednesday, interestingly enough. And so church historians and theologians had referred to to Wednesday as silent Wednesday. And because there's really nothing that you can look at and actually say this is an event that transpired on Wednesday. But we know that on Thursday he celebrated the Passover with his disciples. And we know that Jesus that night had done a lot of teaching. He had spoken to them in some very deep ways. We know that Jesus Christ is on that night had given them the most thorough teaching that they were going to receive from his lips concerning the Holy Spirit. We know that Jesus Christ spoke and shared with with his disciples. Of various things that were necessary for them to continue on because he knew this is his last night. He had told them that there was going to be something significant about them. He had said to them that all people would know that they were his disciples because his disciples were going to have a quality that was different than you found in the world. By this he said, shall all may know that you're my disciples if you have love one to another. And so Jesus as he was speaking to them was giving to them final orders and all. And as he did so he celebrated communion and he ministered to them. We know that on that night Jesus Christ actually did something that surprised him. He had actually taken a basin and had taken a towel, girded himself as a servant. And that he had now down at the feet of his disciples and began to wash their feet. And we remember how the Apostle Peter that night was so taken back by that that when Jesus came to wash his feet, he said, you shall not wash my feet. We know the story how that Jesus spoke to him and said, if I do not wash your feet, you have nothing to do with me. And so Peter said, then give me a complete bath, wash my hair, my feet, wash all of me because to tell me that I could have nothing to do with you if you didn't wash my feet. Then Lord, give me a bath. And as Jesus did that, he said, you, he said, you're basically amazed at what I've done. You call me Lord and you call me master. And indeed, that's true because that's what I am. If I then being your Lord and master, I've washed your feet, you ought to wash the feet of one another. And that's what led to him finally saying by this, amen, well, no, you're my disciple. If you have love, one for another. As Jesus had been ministering, there was one at the table. We all know by the name of Judas and Judas left that table. And he went out to complete the task of betraying the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus continued teaching after he left and continued encouraging his disciples. And at a certain point, the remaining disciples and Jesus left. And they went off to a garden that he went to quite often, a garden that was borrowed by from one of his disciples, a garden in an area that was referred to as the Gethsemane garden of the oil press. And Jesus went there, he left eight of his disciples at the gate. He took three of them further in. We know the story of how he began to pray and agonize. And even as Luke says, he began to sweat, even as it were great drops of blood. An angel came and ministered to him and Jesus was strengthened and ready to do that, which he was called to do. At that point, Judas arrives. And he brings with him a detachment of soldiers, officers and they arrest him. We know the apostle Peter who had earlier that day said to the Lord Jesus Christ, though all were to be all were to leave you. I will never do so. I would die for you. And we know the story and we know how he took that sword and he attempted to take the head of a man off. He struck the head. It took the ear off of a man by the name of Malchus. And Jesus said, put your sword away. And the Lord said, this needs to be done. And they took him and we know what had happened. They took him and he began to go through a mockery of trials. He stood before the former high priest, a man by the name of Anas. And next they took him to appear before the ruling high priest, a man by the name of Caiaphas. At that time, those who were guarding him began to mock him. They blindfolded him. They hit him. Mark 1465 says, some began to spit on him and to blindfold him, to beat him and to say to him, prophesy. And the officers struck him with the palms of their hands. After improperly securing a charge against him, next they took him to stand before the Roman governor, a man by the name of Pontius Pilate. Now, these people knew that that there were many following him. They were envious. They were afraid that they were going to lose their positions. They were afraid that they were going to lose the nation itself. And with this in mind, they secured a charge, a charge that they thought would stick against the Lord Jesus Christ. Luke 23 2 says, they began to accuse him, saying, we found this fellow perverting the nation, forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ, a king. And these were serious charges. They were grave enough to warrant a death penalty. So upon hearing this, Pontius Pilate asked Jesus a question. John records it. It's found in John 18, verse three. Pontius Pilate asked Jesus, are you the king of the Jews? And as you look at that passage, Jesus asked, is this your own question? Knowing Pilate was aware of who he was, but like a good politician, Pilate dodged the question, answered him with a question. He said, am I a Jew? Your own people and religious leaders delivered you to me. What have you done? He interrogated him and then Pilate knew there was nothing that he could charge him with. So he attempted to release the Lord, but the priests and the people would not agree to it. So he appealed to a custom that they had during Passover. A criminal would be released instead of Jesus. The priests inside did the mob to cry out for somebody else. They cried out for a robber by the name of Rabbas. Well, the more Pilate argued against him, the angrier they got. And Pilate knew that things were getting out of hand. And finally he just gave up. So in Matthew 27, verse 24 through 26, when Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water, washed its hands before the multitude, saying, I'm innocent of the blood of this just person. You'd see to it. And all the people answered and said, his blood beyond us and our children. Then he released Barabbas to them. And when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. He scourged him. When he did this, he hoped that this would arouse sympathy from the people. You see scourging has been called the living death. To be scourged was something to be feared. It was to be dreaded. You see, the victim would be tied to a post. His hands would be over his head. That would completely expose his back. His face, his neck, back chest, midsection, loins, his legs were exposed and unprotected. There were two torturers and they would take turns striking the victim. The amount of stripes being determined by the commanding officer. Now Jewish law actually had said an amount of stripes that guilty man would receive. According to Deuteronomy 25.3, they would receive 39. The torturers would use a whip. It was a short, it had a short wooden handle. It had several straps. The straps were embedded with bone, acorn shaped bits of lead, sharp spikes. Each stroke would cut into flesh until veins and entrails were laid bare. Often the scourge struck the face knocking out eyes and teeth. It normally ended in fainting, even in death. The scourging fulfilled a biblical prophecy concerning Messiah. In Psalm 129, verses two and three, it reads, many a time they have afflicted me from my youth, yet they have not prevailed against me. The plowers plowed on my back. They made their furrows long. The prophet Isaiah had prophesied that this is how Messiah would be treated. Isaiah 50, verse six, as I gave my back to those who struck me, my cheeks to those who plucked out the beard. I did not hide my face from shame and spitting. Isaiah 52, 14, many were amazed when they saw him beaten and bloodied. So disfigured one would scarcely know he was a person. Again in Isaiah chapter 53, verse five, he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him with his stripes, we are healed. And even as we read a little bit earlier, Pilate turned Jesus over to the Roman soldiers. They treated him shamefully. They twisted a crown of thorns and they placed it upon his bruised head. They gave him a staff, put a robe upon him. They began to bow their knees before him and to mock him as this was taking place by comparing different accounts of what took place. Pilate brought Jesus before his accusers. He wanted to elicit sympathy from them. It's almost as if he was saying, this should be enough to satisfy your anger. In the Latin, it's at your homo. Behold the man is what he said. Look at him, but instead of causing the people to have sympathy, their anger was even more provoked. You see, Pilate was determined to let him go, but they resisted him in this. So when he said to them, behold the man, they began to cry out for his death. And when he sought to release him, they cried out all the more in John 1914. He simply said to them, behold your king, but they cried, if you let this man go, you're not Caesar's friend. Now this was a great, great threat to Pilate because Caesar was a bit paranoid and he would kill his enemies. He'd already been guilty of doing so. And so Pilate knew that if that word came to the ears of Caesar, that he wasn't supportive of him, that he could very well die. And that's why they went on to say, we have no king but Caesar. And they began to say to him, our loyalty is proven, how about yours? And this caused him to back down. So what does he do? Well, he washed his hands of the matter and he had Jesus led away to die. In spite of everything that he saw, in spite of everything that he heard, he made up his mind to reject the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice what it says in verse 31. It says, when they had mocked him, they took the robe off him, put his own clothes on him, and led him away to be crucified. According to John 19, carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the skull. The Hebrew word for the place of the skull is Golgotha. The Latin word is calvaryia. It's where we get the word calvary from. So he went out to die. By Jewish law, death penalties had to be carried out outside of the city. And as he's carrying his cross, according to verse 32, as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, him they compelled to bear his cross. So we are introduced to a Jewish man who was living in modern Libya. And he was living there and had undoubtedly had come to Jerusalem during the time of Passover. And so what they did is they compelled him to bear the cross of Christ. This is something that they could do. And he began to carry it for him because Jesus was incapable of continuing to carry it. He was so weak. And in verse 33, they came to a place called Golgotha. That is to say, the place of the skull. And they gave him sour wine mingled with Gol to drink. But when he had tasted it, he would not drink. They crucified him, divided his garments, casting lots that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet. They divided my garments among them. And for my clothing, they cast lots. Sitting down, they kept watch over him there. They put up over his head the accusation written against him, this is Jesus, the king of the Jews. Two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right, another on the left. And those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads and saying, you who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself. If you are the son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise, the chief priest also mocking with the scribes and elders, said he saved others. Himself he cannot save. If he's the king of Israel, let him now come down from the cross. We will believe him. He trusted in God. Let him deliver him now, if he'll have him. For he said, I'm the son of God. Even the robbers who were crucified with him reviled him the same thing. And so the Lord Jesus Christ is taken and he's crucified on Good Friday. They gave him according to verse 34, they gave him sour wine mingled with gall. Gall was a mild narcotic. It was intended to stupefy the victim to keep him from struggling. Jesus refused to take of it because he didn't want his senses dulled. And then they crucified him. It's been said, at the cross of Christ, we see man's wickedness most completely exposed. Ecclesiastes 7 verse 20 says, there's not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin. And the execution of Jesus is the greatest proof of man's wickedness. The execution of Jesus Christ demonstrates how far man really has fallen. I was looking at something on Facebook, I believe it's one of the newsfeeds. And there was a demonstration that was being held. Perhaps some of you saw the same picture. And at the demonstration, there was a man holding a placard and he's looking into the camera as the camera has taken his picture. And it says, when Jesus comes back again, we'll kill him again. We'll kill him again. How far will man fall? Man has fallen so far he'll kill his own God. Man has fallen so far he has no sympathy or emotion for someone who is sinless like the Lord Jesus Christ. And that demonstrates to us there isn't a just man on the earth who does good and doesn't sin. This cross was made of two pieces. It was made up of what is called the post and the cross beam. The cross was normally twice the height of a man. And a crucified person was either fastened to the cross beam while on the ground or raised by cords to the cross beam and then nailed to it. The hands would be pierced at the wrist, the legs would be twisted, the ankles would be nailed to the post without breaking bones. The victim would suffer dislocation at the shoulders, would endure suffocation as the ribs compressed on the lungs. The veins would bulge with blood. There was congestion of blood in the head, lungs and heart. The muscles would cramp. Fever and dehydration would set in as well as shock. And the victim would die of blood loss, shock and dehydration. It was a very cruel way to put somebody to death. They wanted it to be a prolonged way. There are records of people who stayed on the cross several days. If they were real strong, they would stay on that cross longer. And there are records that speak concerning people who died through crucifixion as raving lunatics. When people would walk by, they saw them screaming in pain. It was a warning to everybody entering into the city. They would crucify them by a main road so that people coming in and leaving the city would be warned of the justice of Rome. And that's why they did that to the Lord Jesus Christ. And as this is taking place, the Bible says they divide these garments and they were casting lots. You see, Jewish men normally had five articles of clothing. They had a turban and inner robe and outer robe. They had sandals and they had a belt. The prisoners would be in the keeping of four guards and each one would take something. They cast lots for the fifth article of clothing and that way they were fulfilling prophecy. Psalm 2218 says they divide my garments among them and for my clothing they cast lots. Now, one of the garments that Jesus was wearing is a seamless tunic. It's a seamless robe. John 19.23 says the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. This gives us insight because the high priest wore a seamless robe and we see Jesus acting as our high priest in this instance. They sat down according to verse 36 and they simply kept watch over him. The soldiers were impassive. They were even gambling for Jesus's clothing and to them Jesus was just another criminal. According to verse 37, they put over his head the accusation. You see, the prisoner's crime would be written on a placard placed on his neck and then it was placed above the post over his head. There were two robbers crucified with him, one on the right and the other on the left and those who were passing by blasphemed him according to verses 39 and 40 and they began to cast his teachings at him and the chief priest began to mock him and the scribes and the elders, they knew better but it didn't matter. And now according to verse 45, six hour until the ninth hour there was darkness. It's from noon to three in the afternoon. Darkness is a symbol of judgment. The cross is a place of divine judgment. Our sins were being poured out on the Son of God. Darkness was his reaction. Notice verse 46, about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice. Ali, Ali, lama sabhaktani, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Somebody said spiritual death is broken communion. Jesus had a taste of such broken communion, the first and last he ever experienced in those desolate hours when darkness lay upon the earth and upon his soul. Jesus was our forerunner in every kind of experience even to the feeling of God's frown of disapproval on sin that he might become our high priest understanding all our infirmities and being tempted in all points like as we, apart from sin. He felt the way a lost sinner feels without himself having sinned. You know, according to Isaiah 53 verse 10, this actually pleased God. It says it was the Lord's good plan to crush him, fill him with grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have a multitude of children, many heirs. He will enjoy a long life and the Lord's plan will prosper in his hands. He fully experienced the isolation that sin produces. And as it was there, there were those who were mocking him. There were those who were trying to make him feel even worse than he was. And as all of this took place in verse 50, it says Jesus cried out finally and he yielded up his spirit. I'm gonna close by looking at a couple of things. What did he cry out? Well, according to John chapter 19 verse 30, when he received the drink, Jesus said, it is finished. It is finished is a single Greek word that says, paid in full. Jesus cried out, paid in full. Jesus cried out, referring to redemption. It said that he died with a cry of the victor on his lips. This is not the moan of the defeated nor the sigh of patient resignation. It is the triumphant recognition that he has now fully accomplished the work that he came to do. He cried out. And then a second thing, according to Luke 23, 46, Jesus called out with a loud voice, Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit. These words are taken from Psalm 31 verse five. As I've mentioned to you before, they formed part of the evening prayers for centuries. The children, when they went to bed, had a set system of prayers. And part of the prayers would be this, in closing, they would say, Father, into thy hands, I commit my spirit. And they would have their head on their pillow and those would be their last words. They'd close their eyes and they'd fall asleep. We scare our kids with bedtime prayers. If I die before I wake, what kind of prayer is that? But these children would say, Father, into thy hands, I commit my spirit. I want you to take a moment with me and we're gonna close in just a moment, but I want you to take a moment with me and think about it. If you can for a moment imagine perhaps this man on a cross. If you can for a moment imagine how beaten that body was. How those straps that were embedded with those sharpened objects had ripped his flesh from his chest to his back. How his face was beaten beyond recognition. Like Isaiah said, he didn't even have the look of a man. His head was swollen because they had hit him with a staff. They had taken these sharp thorns. The thorns are three quarters of an inch. They had taken the staff and they had pressed these thorns into his beaten head. They had put a robe on him and as they put that robe on him, his blood coagulated and clung to the robe. And then they ripped that robe off of him. They put a cross on him. It wasn't a smooth cross, it was rugged. It had splinters all through it. And they put it on his open wounds. And as he carried it and struggled with it, it became so much for him to bear that they had to get somebody named Simon to take it from him to help him with it because it was too much for him to carry. But it must have torn his back open. Then they took him and placed him on the cross beam. Then they lifted him and they dropped him into the ground. And you can almost hear the dull thud of the post as it hits and the shutter of the cross and the groaning. And you can picture a mother and you can picture John and you can picture them there looking at what's taking place and Jesus looking down and Jesus beginning to speak and people listen and he says, father, forgive them. They don't know what they do. What kind of man cries out and prays for those who are killing him? And people are listening and then he turns and he looks at his mother, woman, behold thy son. He points to John basically with his words and says John, behold your mother. He's speaking from the cross, ministering to his mom. He doesn't want his mother to be placed in the care of those who don't believe. So he entrusts his mother into the care of his beloved disciple, John, who was there at the cross while the others weren't. And there's a thief there. There are two of them, really. And they both are hurling accusations against him. But as time goes on and one of the thieves keeps listening to what's being said, he finally turns to the other one and says, we're dying because we deserve it. This man has done nothing wrong. And he looks at Jesus and he says to him, remember me when you enter into your kingdom. And Jesus says today, you shall be with me in paradise. And Jesus finally says I'm thirsty, I'm thirsty. And they give him something, a sponge filled with liquid so that he can have the ability to speak and he cries out, it is finished. Then he says, Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit. I commit my spirit. His final prayer, more than likely as he was a child, he was praying that as he would put his head on his pillow. At this time his pillow was across. And he places his head in whatever way he did after saying that. And we're told, and he dismissed his spirit. He said to his spirit, because it is finished, paid in full, and there they are on this Good Friday, watching as a son of man, a son of God gave his life for us. What makes Good Friday, Good Friday? Because that was Friday, but Sunday was coming. Easter Sunday, when it was all made worth it. God so loved that world that he gave us only begotten son. That whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. God loves you, doesn't he? And he gave up his son for you. We need to follow him because he has demonstrated to us his love in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And that makes this Good Friday, Good Friday.