Matthew 27:32-40
The Crucifixion of Jesus
32 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. 33 They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). 34 There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. 35 When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 36 And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. 37 Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
38 Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” 41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
John 10:17-19
No One Can Take His Life
17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.
John 19:38-42
Jesus is Buried
38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. 40 Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
John 3:16-21
God So LOVES the World
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned,but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
Acts 4:12
Salvation is Found Only in Jesus
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.
Jesus died on the day we call Good Friday...He died for our sins on Good Friday...Why would we call the day our Savior died, a Good Day, or Good Friday?...Good Friday was a bloody and tortuous day for our Savior...
But we do call it Good Friday...And Good Friday is the day of Jesus' crucifixion...A day when Jesus was tried by Pilate, flogged, and then tortured and suffered on a cross and died...But Good Friday is not the end of Jesus' life and His Story...It is much, much more...
And on that first Good Friday, Jesus is quickly tried...The trial is almost a mock trial...The witnesses have weak testimonies...There is no evidence against Him...After His trial Jesus is flogged...The flogging would weaken those who were going to be crucified, so that their deaths might come faster on the cross...Then Jesus had to carry His own cross, with the help of Simon from Cyrene...This too, would tire and wear very much on Jesus as He carried His cross all the way to Golgotha...And Golgotha is somewhere outside the walls of Jerusalem...There He was hung on His cross to His tortuous death...He would have been very weary after the flogging, and carrying the weight of His cross...Then He was hung from the cross after this...He died on the cross...Jesus' death would bring us relief from our sins...This relief saves us from the sins for what we have done and for the sins we will do...
Crucifixion was a type of Roman capital punishment...Others were crucified during this time period, so His death on the cross, is quite a believable Truth...Followers of Jesus would not have invented this type of punishment up, it was invented by the Romans for criminals...But Jesus was no criminal...The earliest followers of Jesus, would be persecuted for worshiping One who died on the cross for a crime of blasphemy...To blaspheme God, Jesus would have had to speak against God with contempt...But Jesus praised God, and was always teaching of God...God was the centerpiece of His life...Jesus LOVES God...Jesus said things that were hard to understand, like I AM going to destroy the Temple, and then rebuild it in three days...The blasphemy He committed was acting like God, forgiving others, and saying things like before Abraham I AM, and saying I and the Father are One...All these things would be hard to understand for the Jew, who knew the first commandment, and knows that there is only One God...So in the Jewish leaders eyes, He has committed blasphemy of our One and Only God...In their eyes He could not be God, if God is in heaven...The Jewish officials never quite see or realize He is from God, the Son of God, a part of God, sent from God, and a part of what later that would be described as the Christian Doctrine of the Trinity...
So the Jewish leaders accuse Jesus of blasphemy against God, and then they have the Roman officials, specifically Pontius Pilate, approve of their decision of His guilt...Then the Roman soldiers were involved with Him being hung on the cross...Again, the punishment of crucifixion and on a cross is from the Romans and there way of punishing criminals...So being hung from a cross was prior to Jesus...But that is the punishment, He was given -death on a cross...Now the interesting part, in this is this is a Roman thing (a Roman Cross and a Roman punishment type), and now this punishment will always be a symbol for Jesus, His crucifixion, and the symbol of Christianity, thousands of years later...This symbol of the cross and crucifixion would be recognized world wide...
The evil one sends his last jabs and jokes and hurls insults at Jesus...Evil mocks Him as He is painfully hanging from the cross...These are the very people He is dying for...He will die for sinners...And after Jesus dies, He is buried by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus...These two men were bold in burying Him...They were not known by the public to be disciples of His...Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders...With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away to bury Jesus...He was accompanied by Nicodemus, a man who earlier had visited Jesus at night to learn from Him...The two would bury Jesus in a new tomb...
When we think about this, why is this Good, why do we call this day Good Friday?...From a human and mankind way, it was not good for our Savior...He did die...But Jesus is Divine...He is our LORD...He died on the cross for our sins...He died for us...His death on the cross would be where the darkness of our sins are met by the grace of God...Jesus tells us that no one can take His life from Him or His Father...But He will lay down His life on His own accord, for us...So His death on the cross is His destiny...It had to be, this was part of God's Plan...He can do this, because it is the will of His Father, which is where He received this command to die...God has this authority...God is in control...He is LORD...This is His LOVE for us...And this is why it is Good...This is why it is Good Friday...This is all good for us who sin...Only God is good...We are not good...We sin everyday...But we are saved by Jesus dying on that cross...There is no other way to be saved...He is the Only Way to be saved, and the Only Way to God...God's LOVE and His grace saves us, because His authority was given to His Son to die on the cross for us...God's LOVE for us is what makes it Good...God's LOVE makes it a Good Friday, the Good Friday, the Best Friday one could ever have...God's Son's death was part of His plan and it is our salvation...His Plan was to bring a Savior to us to save us from our sins...Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must or can be saved...