Luke 23:32-34
Jesus on the Cross with Criminals
32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
John 19:38-42
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.
Isaiah 53:6-10
Jesus With the Wicked and the Rich
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
Romans 7:24-25
We Are All Wretched Men and Struggle With Sin
24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
As people watched Jesus being hung from the cross, emotions and feelings would be wide ranged and very strong...If this Man could truly do miracles, could He do one more miracle and get Himself off this cross and stay alive?...Or would He just die like an ordinary man?...Wouldn't there be great doubt and despair this First Great Saturday?...Would there also be some hope for some watching this Great Man who taught and said so much about God?...But what could He do now that He was hanging and dying from a cross?...So many questions and feelings about this Man would have came up on the First Good Friday?...
Jesus was on a cross and would die with criminals on His right and on His left...Like sheep we often go astray -and after the fall of man we have all sinned and continued our sinful nature...The wicked were around Jesus when He died, but we are all wretched men who have sinned...So our Messiah would die on the cross on a day with wicked ones to His right and to His left...And so He died, but now what about Hope?...And after His death, He would be taken to a rich man's tomb...He was the One who had done no violence, nor ever spoke of deceit, yet, was treated just like the two criminals beside Him...How could He have just died, like a man?...
Many say that these prophecies Isaiah wrote above were fulfilled on the First Good Friday before the First Easter...We—every one of us—have strayed away from God like sheep!...We, have left God’s paths, often many times, to follow our own path and our own ways...Yet, God laid on the Messiah the guilt and sins of every one of us!...His Son was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He never said a word, nor complained about taking on the sins of man and the sins of the world...He was brought to the cross as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before her shearers...He stood silent before the ones condemning Him...From an unfair arrest and unjust trial, they led Him away to His death on a cross...But who among the people on that first Good Friday realized it was their sins was why He was dying...He was suffering their personal punishment and all of our sins on this cross?...
And He would be buried like a criminal on the First Good Friday...He would be buried in a rich man’s grave; but He had done no wrong and had never spoken an evil word...But it was the LORD’s good plan to bruise Him and to fill Him with grief and suffering... However, when His soul had been made for an offering for sin, then He would have a multitude of children, and many heirs...And many, many followers...He shall live again, and God’s plan shall prosper in His Son's hands...God made Him Rise from His death...
The Jewish leaders were instrumental in having Jesus crucified and killed on the cross on First Good Friday...Jesus died on the cross, and now needed to be buried...Joseph of Arimathea ask Pilate for the body of Jesus...Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but only secretly, because he feared the Jewish leaders...Another Pharisee, named Nicodemus, who was taught by Jesus (John 3) accompanied Joseph of Arimathea...Both Joseph and Nicodemus who were both secret disciples of Jesus -would come out and be the ones that would help bury Him properly, and according to custom...Jesus was taken off of the cross and would be laid in a new tomb, and buried according to the proper Jewish burial customs, by Joseph and Nicodemus...Jesus was in His tomb now on the First Good Friday, before the First Great Saturday, and before His resurrection...
Jesus had died, but He would live again?...Another great mystery for man and especially a Great Mystery for those that knew Him best -and those who were feeling such great grief over His death...Could something Holy and Sacred happen after His death for mankind that would be the Greatest Event to ever happen?...Or was This Man just a Man?...What would be next?...Was He the One to come?...Was He the Anointed One?...Was He the Messiah?...In much of what He had said seemed to have His followers believe He was the One...
The first Saturday before the First Easter has many names...It is called Great Saturday, Holy Saturday, or Easter Eve, the Saturday of Light, or Black Saturday...Sometimes, it is called almost the opposite of Black Saturday, it is called Joyous Saturday...This day would be a very, very sad day of mourning for Jesus' first followers and Disciples...Believers and those that had put their faith in Him, would have their faith very much tested on that first Holy Saturday...The Man they thought who was their Messiah, -the Son of the Living God -had died on a cross and now had been buried in a tomb...Would and could a Messiah actually die?...This dying and being buried in a tomb was for the common and ordinary, and for a regular man...It happens regularly for men as everyone knows...But wasn't He or did He not seem a little different than an ordinary man...Was this the Messiah, and the One who had came to save us all?...Was He just a Man?...How could this Man have just died and be buried like any other man?...Do we share this fate, the same fate as the animals?...What's next?...
Man is tempted by sin each day, and because the wages of sin is death, our bodies will be subjected to die because of our sinful nature...Death had now happened to the Christ...But for Jesus' disciples and followers, this would also be a Saturday of Hope...But how does one hold on to hope after He had been buried?...Sometimes we have days like this first Great Saturday -that is days of strong grief and great pain...But we also need A Great Hope...We need a Messiah...Thanks be to God because Jesus delivers us from death, as we wait and can only hope on this First Holy Saturday...Just like the first Great Saturday, we wait and have wonder in today's hopes, that He can deliver us from our problems, our troubles, our death and take us to the safety of heaven...