(The Beginning of Holy Week Pt. 3)
Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. John 18:4-6.
Today marks the beginning of Good Friday. It is the day when the plan is put into action. As Jesus prayed (and asked the disciples to watch and pray), He said, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” Luke 22:42 This is his prayer to his Father, but understanding what needed to be done, He took on the sin of the world. There’s not one of us that would be willing to trade places with Jesus because:
(1) We are not willing to be hunted and betrayed.
“While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss? Luke 22:47-48.
(2) We are not willing to be arrested.
“Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him…” John 18:12
(3) We are not willing to listen as a beloved brother denies our existence three times.
Denial One: Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard, but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the servant girl on duty there, and brought Peter in. “You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” she asked Peter. He replied, “I am not.”
Denial Two: Meanwhile, Simon Peter was still standing there warming himself. So they asked him, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?” He denied it, saying, “I am not.” John 18:25
Denial Three: One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenged him, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?” Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow. John: 18:26-27.
(4) We are not willing to be falsely accused taken before the high court and sentenced to death in our innocence.
Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” John 19:4-5
(5) We are not willing to endure the torture to complete the assignment.
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face. John 19:1-3
(6) We are not willing to take the sin of every individual on our shoulders in the form of a cross knowing that eventually we would be nailed to death.
So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). There they crucified him and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle…
When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
24 “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.” This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said, “They divided my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.” So this is what the soldiers did. John 19:17-18, 23-24.
(6) We are not willing to be the last one to hear the last breath that Jesus took while still suffering under persecution.
The beginning of nine long hours. As tradition would have it, the daily prayer in the temple was at 9:00 in the morning and 3:00 in the afternoon because it was also the time of making a daily sacrifice of a lamb. Time is a very important part of Jesus’ journey to the cross.
[ Note: “This is what you are to offer on the altar regularly each day: two lambs a year old. Offer one in the morning and the other at twilight. The first lamb offers a tenth of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil from pressed olives, and a quarter of a hin of wine as a drink offering. Sacrifice the other lamb at twilight with the same grain offering and its drink offering as in the morning—a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the Lord. Exodus: 29:38-42]
These two sacrifices were actions of atonement in order to become clean and holy before God. On Good Friday, the 9:00 sacrifice was Jesus on the cross. For six hours He was nailed to that cross so that we could live. From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. At about three in the afternoon, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”)… immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.” And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. Matthew 27:45-48, 50
Can we even conceive of the suffering that Jesus endured so that our sins could be paid? This man walked among us on this earth. He saw our ugliness, our non-compassionate selves, our self-absorbed nature, our greed, our insecurities, and most of all our disobedience. And yet, He loved us unconditionally granting us mercy and grace. How can we not give thanks knowing that Jesus was dead and buried and rose again? This is the power of the cross.
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