Contemplating Passion Week

Good Friday Devotional (Day 5 of our Week of Prayer & Fasting)

READING FOR GOOD FRIDAY

John 18:12-40 (Trial of Jesus, Peter’s Denial)

John 19:1-42 (Crucifixion, Burial)

THOUGHTS

Today we commemorate Good Friday.  The question is, why is this Friday called good?

There is a quote I love from  Robert E. Coleman in his book, ‘Written in Blood’.

He states:

“If we want to know what God is like, let us look at Calvary.” 

Calvary shows us the Goodness of God toward us. It was God’s great demonstration of love toward His creation.

Can I simply encourage you today, to reflect on the ‘Passion of the Christ’ and to consider His Goodness.

The summary of the events of Calvary are found in John 19:30

“So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.”

Johns gospel is unique in that it is the only gospel to include those words.

The other gospels give a bit more detail around those words though:

Mark 15:37 NKJV And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last.

As I mentioned in last week’s sermon, it’s those final words “It is finished!” that had great significance in John’s mind.  Each year, on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would enter into the temple and make a special sacrifice for the sins of the people of Israel. As soon as the priest had killed the animal, he would emerge from the place of sacrifice and declare (Shout loudly) to the waiting crowd “it is finished” (“Tetelestai”). 

In the sacrifice, all the sins of Israel were symbolically placed on the animal that was killed and punished in their place.   This fits the whole picture of Johns gospel, Jesus was introduced as the very lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. (John 1:29).

It was during this time that Matthew records the veil of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom, symbolising the fact that the sacrificial system has been complete in Christ.

After these words, it says “Jesus gave up His spirit”.  Essentially, He was in control of when He passed, and we see that He had determined to go the whole distance on the cross.  He had endured the three hours of darkness that came across the land as he took on the burdens of the sin of the world, and when the time was right, by His own will He committed Himself into His Fathers hands.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

John 3:16-17 NKJV