 Good evening, reading in church. Thank you for joining us on Good Friday. This is a unique, I think, service in many ways, even in name, really. I mean, we call it Good Friday because we're on the other side of history, but I would venture to say if you pulled the disciples on that Friday, it wouldn't have been the word they would have probably used to describe it, but Good Friday is this wrestling period we have before we celebrate Easter. And it's sometimes even kind of abrasive. You know, we sing of death and we sing of suffering and we call it Good. I remember my first sort of memory of Good Friday was probably I was probably like nine or 10 and I went to a Christian school and I don't remember much of anything, probably, but I remember the teacher one time saying, hey, we're not gonna have school tomorrow because of Good Friday. And I literally thought that it was Good Friday because we didn't have school. So I was like, oh, that sounds good to me. And then my friend Nate, who lived down the street, went to the public school and he still had school. And so I was like, well, man, it can't be good for everybody, you know, like. And I found out that wasn't it. I asked my dad and then he explained, well, it's the day that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. And I understood that but still sort of struggled with calling it Good Friday. Like it was just a weird word in my opinion to describe the death of someone and the suffering of someone as my dad's explained that. And that's even true really today. Like there is something about suffering. There is something about the cross and death that obviously in many ways we try to avoid. We don't wanna celebrate things like that. And I think it's true even of Christians. I mean, there's a reason we have four Easter services and one Good Friday service. There's a reason you go in the store. There's Easter candy everywhere. There's not any Good Friday candy that I've ever seen. And I get that. And I think sometimes Good Friday can confront us more than comfort us. And I think that's okay. And I think there's an invitation tonight and on Good Friday to enter in to the suffering of Jesus. Weight of our sin and the wonder of our savior. That's what Good Friday is about. It's recognizing the ultimate price that Jesus paid for our salvation, for our redemption and not rushing in honestly to Easter, but reflecting and remembering how much it costs and how great the price was that Jesus paid. And that's what we're going to do this evening. And I wanna just briefly maybe highlight some of what's happened so far in what we call Holy Week. And so on Sunday, it was Palm Sunday. And on that week, in the first century, Jesus as we know rode into Jerusalem on a cold, fulfilling a prophecy in Zachariah and humbly entered Jerusalem to the crowds, shouting Hosanna and waving palm branches. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. That was Sunday. And then on Monday, Jesus began to exercise his authority, really show his authority and power. He cleansed the temple of the money exchangers, of the rank commercialization that had taken place in the temple. And he drove people out with a whip. And then on Tuesday, he again, confronted the religious leaders. He confronted the scribes of that day and they asked him questions and they tried to catch him and drill him and he answered them with authority. Spoke what's now known as the Olivet Discourse, one of the most powerful sermons in the whole Bible. Now on Wednesday, you don't hear much of what happened with Jesus, but most scholars believe that was the day that Satan entered into the heart of Judas and convinced him to betray his friend, his teacher and his Lord for 30 pieces of silver. And then Thursday, yesterday, it was Monday, Thursday. I don't want to brag, but I used to go to church on Monday, Thursday, too. Growing up, and that's where Jesus had the last supper and passed over with his disciples and told them of his impending death. He'd done that before, but he told them again. And this time he said, and one of you is gonna be the one who betrays me. The one who dips their hand in the bread with me. And of course, there's just this angst amongst all the disciples at this time. And who is it, Lord? Is it me? What's happening? And to that moment on that Thursday that Jesus doesn't pick up a sword to try to teach his disciples how to fight if they need to, he picks up a towel and he washes all their feet. And he says, I've done this as an example as your Lord and your master. Love one another even as I've loved you. And that leads us to Friday, where we see and experience the betrayal, arrest and ultimate crucifixion of Jesus. And so that's where we're going to start today. I'm gonna read John's depiction of that moment. And John chapter 18, if you brought your Bibles, I'm gonna read the first 11 verses. Verse one of John 18 says this, when Jesus had spoken these words, now those these words he's referring to is John 17, which is a high priestly prayer. Jesus prayed to the Father, I would encourage you to read that at some point. It's a beautiful prayer of unity and of purpose and of the reason that Jesus came. It's literally the last prayer he prays as a free man. It says, when Jesus had spoken those words, he went out with his disciples over the brook Kidron, where there was a garden which he and his disciples entered. And Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place for Jesus often met there with his disciples. Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops, I studied that, a detachment of troops could be anywhere between 100 and 200 armed soldiers that went into that garden to arrest Jesus. I want you to just keep that in mind as we continue reading. It said, and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees came there with lanterns, tortures and weapons. Jesus, therefore, annoying all things that would come upon him, went forward and said to them, whom are you seeking? And they answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. And Jesus said to them, I am he. And Judas, who betrayed him, also stood with them. Now when he said to them, I am he, they drew back and fell to the ground. I don't know if you've ever read that. It's not in the synoptic gospels, but imagine 100 plus soldiers armed with weapons, torches, lanterns, ready to arrest Jesus. They ask his name, he tells them I am, speaks the name that has been the name of God since the book of Exodus. And 100 plus soldiers fall down on the ground at the very name of Jesus. I mean, if there was ever a time to maybe reconvene and say, hey, maybe, is there a plan B here? But they don't, they move forward. And then verse seven, he asked them again, whom are you seeking? They said, Jesus of Nazareth. And he answered, I've told you that I am he. Therefore, if you seek me, let those go their way. These go their way that the saying might be fulfilled which he spoke of those whom you gave me, I have lost none. Again, a reference to John 17. Verse 10, then Simon Peter having a sword drew it and he struck the high pre-servant and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Melchus. Jesus said to Peter, put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup, which my father has given me? This is the arrest of Jesus in the garden, leading up obviously to his crucifixion on that Friday, 2,000 years ago. And in the brief time that we have, I want to just highlight three aspects of the cross, of the suffering, of the price that Jesus paid. I want us to enter in as to the degree that we can into the moment that Jesus had to face for all of us and not skip past it and not gloss over it. Paul wrote in the book of Philippians chapter three, he said, I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection. All the Christians are like, amen. And I want to share in his sufferings. And we're like, what, wait, what, huh? Can't we just get to Easter? And we will. And it's beautiful that we understand on this side of history that the cross doesn't have the final word, that death doesn't have the ultimate victory. But I want us to just lean into what Jesus felt and what Jesus did. And I believe it will help us come Easter, better understand what it means to be forgiven and redeemed. And so three aspects of the cross. The first is this, is I said it, the foolishness of the cross. I almost said the mystery of the cross. You could say it either way, but there's nothing really about the life of Jesus that made any sense, nothing. I mean, his birth, crazy. I'm gonna send someone to save the world. And you would think like, I don't know, Thor or something, you know, some superhero, right? And then God's like, no, actually it's gonna be a baby. And it's gonna be born in this tiny, obscure town. Well, certainly it's gonna be in the best hotel, like Four Seas, nope, it's gonna be in a stable. It's gonna be the most significant birth in the history of the world, in the most insignificant place. That's how Jesus came. And I think it's important we remember that Jesus, yes, was born a baby, but he wasn't born God, like fully God, fully man, yes, but he wasn't like an adult man born a baby. It wasn't like Jesus was born and like understood what was happening. It wasn't like, oh my gosh, this is so embarrassing. I'm the savior of the world and I'm wrapped in swaddling claw. You know, that's not what he was doing. He had to grow, Luke 2.52 says he grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and many had to grow into his identity, think about that. There came a time where it began to become known and real and impending what he was gonna have to face. And then his ministry, mystery around his ministry. You've heard it said, but I say this is what you, but this is what the new kingdom introduces. Disciples are like, I know what we do. We should call fire down on these feet. No, no, no, you don't even understand what spirit you're of. Like everything about Jesus's ministry highlighted a different kingdom. You wanna be great, then be the least, serve. You wanna be first, be okay, being last. All of these different components of the ministry of Jesus were foolishness to the world, foolishness to the system, foolishness to everyone who heard it like this makes no sense and the cross was no different. How is there going to be victory in a death on a cross? That's what everyone was thinking. Like where is the victory in death? The foolishness of the cross. Paul wrote that, the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved. It is the wisdom of God, it is the salvation of God. I want us to understand the cross made zero sense. That's why even when Jesus was saying things to his disciples, like I'm gonna be handed over to the Romans, I'm gonna suffer. And they were like, okay, sure, whatever, what's he doing? Like they didn't get it because that made zero sense. The Bible even says if Satan had any clue, if the devil had any inkling of what was gonna happen to the cross, of course he wouldn't have done it. But it looked like impending doom, but instead it was the foolishness of the cross and the mystery of the cross that brought about the greatest victory that's ever taken place in the history of the world. The mystery of the cross. Even the people who were accusing him were saying things like, hey, if you're really God, then come down, save yourself. Like that's how it works. This is not how kings are treated. This is not how heroes in the story end up, they don't die, we go to the movies, right? The heroes, they don't die in the end. They find a way out, they find a way to overcome, they find a way to escape, whatever it is, this makes zero sense. And so they were saying to him, hey, if you're really God, even the thief on the cross, then save yourself and hey, save us too. And Jesus proved he was God, not by coming off the cross, but by staying on it. And Jesus proved the power he had, not by grabbing it, but by letting it go. There's a mystery to the cross, there's a foolishness to the cross, there's a harshness to the cross that doesn't make sense to the natural mind, but ushers in the overcoming victory of Jesus. The second thing is the suffering of the cross. There's the mystery of the cross, but at the end of the day, Jesus suffered mightily the hands of Pilate, the hands of the Roman soldiers and at the hands of the religious leaders. It began with him being falsely accused, it began with him standing in front of judges, religious people, and being condemned even though he did nothing wrong, then standing in front of Rome, being condemned even though he did nothing wrong. This is just happening, it's this innocent man that's continually being condemned and condemned. And Pilate, who Jesus stands before, makes this declaration. I don't find anything wrong with him. What do you want me to do? And the religious leaders got the crowd riled up, crucify him, crucify him. And then in like a nod to the Passover, Bible says there was a tradition at the time that the governor could let a prisoner go and he says, who do you want me to release to you? Jesus or Barabbas? Thinking of course they're gonna say, Jesus, Barabbas was this insurrectionist, he was a murderer, he was a terrible person. They were like, Barabbas, release Barabbas. Jesus standing there, not defending himself, saying nothing. And in an act of cowardice, Pilate turns him over to the crowds and in your Bible it says, and he sent him to be flogged. And I think sometimes many of us have probably seen the passion of the Christ so we can put some visuals to it, but you can read that in your Bible, he was flogged, but it was one of the most brutal forms of punishment that Rome could ever muster. It was a whip with maybe nine or 10 leather bands and at the end of those would be rocks or pieces of glass and they would strike it across your back, those would hook in to your flesh and then they would rip it out. You read history books, many times internal organs would be exposed, flesh just ripped off, bleeding, many times they'd end up crippled or worse, many times they wouldn't even survive. That was Jesus's first suffering, was at the hands of Pilate. Then the soldiers and the religious leaders, they put the purple robe on them. They bow down to them, they mock them, they spit on them, they hit them. Who hit you? Who hit you? They fashioned this crown of thorns and they push it down on his head and then lastly they lead Jesus to be crucified, which again, you can read in your Bible and then he was crucified, but crucifixion was the most brutal form of death that had ever been created. The Romans had perfected torture. The word excruciating comes from of the cross and it wasn't just the nails in your feet and it wasn't just the nails in your hands. It was really death by asphyxiation. It would be this situation where you'd have to push up on your feet and just endure the most intense pain so you could take a breath and then sink back down and it would take you hours, maybe even days, to basically suffocate and that's what they did to Jesus. That's the physical price that Jesus paid. We know he couldn't carry his cross, I found someone else to do that in his weakened state. He suffered physically in ways that few people ever have. He endured mocking, he endured reviling, but the mystery of the cross and the suffering of the cross lead to the last, which is the beauty of the cross. The beauty of the cross and again, just like Good Friday, it feels like an oxymoron. Like where is the beauty in this suffering? Where is the beauty in this absolute travesty of justice that's happening to an innocent man? But I want to read to you Isaiah chapter 53, 1500 years prior to this, Isaiah the prophet, prophesies of what would become of this man and Isaiah 53 verses three through six, it says this about Jesus, he was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief and we hid, is it where our face is from him? He was despised and we did not esteem him. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted, but he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement for our peace was upon him and by his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray and we have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. I want the weight of that last sentence to just sink into our hearts and minds and the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all, not just the iniquity of his accusers, not just the sins of Barabbas, my sins, your sins, the sins of the entire world were placed on Jesus, on the cross and I explained the physical suffering that Jesus went through and it was atrocious and it's part of the story but it is a fraction of the suffering that Jesus endured because ultimately Jesus had to endure the righteous wrath of a holy God against sin and against sinners and that's why he's in the garden of Gethsemane prior to this moment crying out sweating drops of blood, telling his disciples my soul is sorrowful even unto death, like literally saying I don't know what's happening to me but I think I'm gonna die because the revelation of what's about to take place is hitting Jesus in that moment. He had to grow into his identity, he had obviously some idea as God what was happening but in that moment in the garden, the weight of what would take place was hitting the shoulders of Jesus and he was staggering under it and what did he pray? My God, Father, Father, if it's possible, he didn't say I really don't wanna get whipped, Father, if there's any other way I'd rather not have nails through my hands, what did he say? If there's any way to take this cup from me, if there's any other way that I don't have to drink this cup, can we do that? That the humanity you just see and feel the human side of God, of Jesus fully human, fully God saying I don't wanna drink this cup because he understood what it was Jeremiah 51, Revelation 14, they both tell us that it was the cup of God's wrath poured out on sin, poured out on the nations and Jesus who had only ever known perfect unity, perfect harmony and perfect fellowship with his Father for all eternity knew when I drink this cup, God is gonna turn his back on me. My Father is gonna lay all the sin, all the iniquity of the entire world upon me, an innocent, spotless land. And in the most selfless act in the history of the world, Jesus said I will do it, I will drink the cup, not my will, but yours be done, what's the prayer? Yes, there was humanity, yes, there was trepidation, yes, there was, is there any other way but at the end of the day, Jesus looked at his Father and said I trust you, not my will, but yours be done and the insanity of that is that in every other instance in scripture, when you follow what God says, when you do what God says, in Joshua, he said don't be afraid, only be strong, only be very courageous, why? Because the Lord your God is with you wherever you go, like that's the promise, but Jesus didn't have that promise. Jesus said if I follow the plan of God, he's actually gonna have to forsake me. He's gonna have to turn his back on me. I'm gonna become sin, even though I've never sinned and I'm gonna take the place of every single sinner, every single person on the planet and I'm willing to drink that cup. That's the beauty of the cross, we deserved judgment, we deserved condemnation, Jesus deserved none of it, but he said I will take your place, the greatest exchange that's ever happened, 2 Corinthians 521, he who knew no sin became sin so that we could become the righteousness of God. Jesus on the cross said I will drink the cup of God's holy wrath and when he's on the cross, what does he say? He doesn't say my God, my God, my hands are really hurting or my God, my God, this crown, it really hurts. He said, no, my God, my God, the only time he doesn't call him father, why have you forsaken me? The one time that you haven't been with me, the one time that I haven't experienced your closeness, why have you forsaken me? The beauty of Good Friday is that a spotless lamb without blemish, the only sinless man or woman to ever walk the planet set, I'll pay a price that you could never pay. And I'll drink the cup of the wrath of God so that you can be made righteous. And that's what Jesus did. And that's why we call it Good Friday. Was it a Good Friday for Jesus? No, he was wrongly accused and killed. Was it a Good Friday for his disciples? No, they lost their teacher, they lost their friend. Was it a Good Friday even for Jesus' accusers? No, they put the death an innocent man. You know who it was a Good Friday for? Barabbas, a guilty convicted murderer with no hope of ever being set free and no hope of ever being forgiven. And Jesus said, I'll take your place so that you can walk free. That's what Jesus did on the cross. As he hung there, he was forsaken by his father and he took that cup and he drank every last drop and he turned it upside down and he said, it is finished. And now, a holy God, when he looks at you and when he looks at me, he says, righteous. It's not just beautiful because your sins are forgiven. It's not just beautiful because you now don't have to pay for your sins, you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus because of what he did on the cross. And that's why it's a Good Friday because I'm Barabbas and you're Barabbas. And we're all guilty, but Jesus, the only one who was worthy, the only one who was sinless, the only one who could break the seal and open the scroll said, I'll drink the cup and I'll pay the price. And let's step into Easter to the degree that we can remembering the price that Jesus paid. To the degree that we can, not flippantly acknowledging the resurrection, but remembering that Jesus literally paid it all. All to him, we owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. And because of Isaiah 53, we are now the recipients of Isaiah 41, where God says, and I will remove your sin and I will remember it no more. Your sin for his righteousness. That's Good Friday. We stand up with me. We're gonna take communion together. We're just gonna take a moment to reflect and remember a few. We'll just open it. We'll take it together and remove the piece of bread. And on the night before his arrest, he was with his disciples and the Bible says he took bread and he broke it after giving thanks. And he said, this is my body broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Good Friday is about remembering. Remembering the broken body and shed blood of Jesus. And so Father, as we take this bread, we do it in full remembrance of the stripes on your back, of the crown on your head, of the nails through your hands and your feet. And we declare it is by your stripes that we are healed and your broken body gives us life. Let's take the bread together. Jesus took the cup and poured the wine and said, this is my blood shed for the complete remission of all of your sins. Jesus Christ became the living sacrifice. Once and for all, paying the penalty. Once and for all, becoming a propitiation for all of our sins. And without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. But in Jesus, there is no chain that his blood cannot break. There is no power greater than the blood of Jesus. And as we take this today, I pray that a revelation of the power of Jesus' blood would become a reality in our lives. There is no place for shame, no place for condemnation, no place for carrying guilty hearts. Jesus drank the cup of God's holy wrath so that when he looks at you and at me, he sees us as righteous. Let's take the cup together. Father, we again remind our hearts why it's a good Friday, why we are the recipients of a grace we never deserve. And God, we don't rush past your suffering. We don't rush past your willingness to take our sin, our shame and our brokenness upon yourself. We remember and we meditate on it. And more than anything, we thank you for it. We thank you, Jesus. Forgive us for when we've not allowed the reality of what you've done to touch our hearts, to touch our lives, God. We wanna walk in the power of the resurrection, the power of your blood, the power of your sacrifice every day of our lives. And I pray, God, that even now, you would begin to just reveal how great a love, no greater love is there than this than one would lay down his life for his friends. And we thank you for that. The only worthy one, only one, God, who could pay the price and you did it and no one took it from you, you gave it willingly. And we thank you, God. We thank you. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lamb. In Jesus' name. Amen.