This Easter season, I’ve made a series of posts addressing skeptics’ criticism surrounding the Resurrection. As we close in on Easter, I want to do a day-by-day detail discussing the events happening during the Passion Week.
Please keep checking back!
Good Friday
So many things happen on this day that it’s impossible to fit a thorough discussion of them into a single post. The most important event - by far, of course - is the Crucifixion. Yet, what do I do about the other events? Though they may be overshadowed by the Cross, should I omit them when there is still so much to learn from them? Of all the days of the Passion Week I’ve covered before now, I knew this day would be the most difficult to address adequately. I just pray in advance that God will guide my thoughts and forgive my clumsy words.
In my western way of thinking, it’s hard to draw a defining line between the events of Thursday and the events on Friday. The Jewish day begins at sundown, while in the west, the next day starts at midnight. So in this case, Friday technically began on what some (including me) would call Thursday. Since I ended my last post with the arrest of Jesus, I will consider the events that followed His arrest to be happening on Friday. I know it’s complicated, but realize that the events are historical regardless of the day to which we assign them.
The flight of the disciples and Peter’s denial
Jesus had warned His disciples earlier that they would soon fall away, citing Zechariah 13:7. I will remind you of that conversation:
Matthew 26:31-33, Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.
I’m amused at the pride of Peter who seemed more upset that his loyalty would be questioned rather than amazed at Jesus saying He would rise again! It’s as though Peter was so offended, that he completely missed the remark. Of course, Jesus was correct and, just as He had also prophesied, Peter would later deny even knowing Him.
I think we sometimes judge people of the Bible too harshly. We have the entire revelation of Scripture so, in a sense, we know more than they. They were living in the times the Bible was being written and probably struggled to understand what was happening.
In my life of comfort, it’s easy for me to look down on Peter and boast that I would have never denied knowing Him. I like to think that I would stand fast if I had to face real threats of harm on account of my faith. But I know that I’ll probably never be in that situation. In the meanwhile, I know there are some Christians who wouldn’t take their Bibles to work because they’re afraid of what their coworkers might say. Knowing what I know now, if I were to ever deny knowing Jesus, that would make me 100 times more a coward than Peter!
The trials of Jesus
The Bible tells us that Jesus was taken in front of multiple authorities to face the accusations being made against Him: Annas (John 18:13), Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin (Matthew 26:57-68), Pilate (Luke 23:2-5), and Herod (Luke 23:6-12).
When Jesus stood before the Jewish authorities, He spoke nothing in His own defense just as was prophesied in Isaiah 53:7, “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.”
The accusation against Him was made by 2 false witnesses who said He had said He would tear down the Temple and rebuild it in 3 days (Matthew 26:59-61). Yet even when faced with the lies spoken against Him, Jesus remained silent until the Chief Priest asked, “I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God” (Matthew 26:63). In response, Jesus made His only confession, (v. 64) “Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.”
I see in this scene a picture of Christ as the Lamb of God. He was examined by the Jewish priests and shown to be without blemish - worthy of being a sacrifice that would atone for sin. In this case, it was the sin of the whole world! Praise Him!!
John 19 tells us about Jesus before Pilate. V. 13 says, “When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.” The word translated as “judgment seat” here is the Greek word Bema (béma, βῆμα, Strong’s word 968). It’s the same word used in 2 Corinthians 5:10 where the works of Christians are judged by fire.
I thought it was interesting that Jesus Himself was once judged before the Bema seat. We know the outcome, of course; He was ultimately sentenced to be crucified. However, note carefully what Pilate said about Him. He said that Jesus was a “just person” who had done no evil. It's significant that Jesus was found to be without guilt. The Bible says the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). If Jesus had been guilty of any sin, He would have been deserving of death. If He had been deserving of death, He could not have given His life as the payment for our sins since He would have had to die for His own sins. But He was innocent. Before we stand before the Judgment Seat, it was necessary for Him to stand before the judgment seat. It is by His obedience that we are made righteous (Romans 5:19).
Jesus or Barabbas?
While Pilate was trying to find a way to release an innocent man without raising the ire of religious leaders, he resorted to the Roman custom of freeing a condemned man on the Passover (John 18:39-40). He offered the people a choice: Jesus, the King of the Jews or Barabbas (a murderer). To his surprise, the people chose Barabbas.
There’s something very interesting about the name, “Barabbas.” Bar (bar, בַּר, Strong’s word 1247) is an Aramaic word that means “son of.” It’s used in a few other places in the Bible such as Matthew 16:17 where Jesus refers to Simon as “Simon Barjona” (Simon, son of Jonah). Many people already know that abba (ab, אָב, Strong’s word 1) means “father.” Barabba, then, means “Son of Abba” or “Son of a father.”
Wow. I happen to be the son of a father. When you think about it, everyone is the child of a father, so Barabbas could have been anyone. That could have been my name written there! This paints a wonderful picture of the substitutionary death of Jesus. Each one of us is a Barabbas: all guilty of many sins and all sentenced to die. But we don’t have to die. Jesus – the innocent man who knew no sin – has died in our place. He went to the cross and we were set free.
Jesus on the Cross
There is more that could be said about Good Friday: the scourging, the mocking, the purple robe of Herod, the crown of thorns, the road to Golgatha, the two thieves, the accusation posted over His head, His clothes being divided, and so much else. However, time and space does not allow them all to be examined.
Concerning Jesus on the cross, let us examine this passage given in John’s gospel:
John 19:30-35, When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.
The last words of Jesus recorded by John were, “It is finished.” The ultimate goal of Jesus’ incarnation had been accomplished. The penalty for sin had been paid. The wrath of the Father had been satisfied. Our debt has been settled and there is no more need for a sacrifice. God and sinners are reconciled.
John tells us that he saw the event with his own eyes and wrote it down for our benefit. In his own words, And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.
Let John’s desire be our desire: that we tell others about Jesus so they, too, might believe!
