Good Friday 2023
Darkness.
Pain.
Sacrifice.
Mercy.
Love.
Today we remember how Jesus was passed around between Pontius Pilate and Herod Antipas. Then how Pilate finally ordered Jesus to be beaten and then crucified.
On the cross, Jesus cried out, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?”
which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Can you just imagine?
He was quoting from Psalm 22 and while it sounds so desperate and sad, is it possible He was reciting the entire Psalm in His mind?
The Psalm that ends with TRIUMPH:
For He has not despised the affliction of the afflicted;
nor has He hid His face from him;
nor has He hid His face from him;
but when he cried to Him, He heard.
From the four corners of the earth
people are coming to their senses, are running back to God.
Long-lost families are falling on their faces before him.
God has taken charge; from now on He has the last word.
God has taken charge; from now on He has the last word.
All who are rich will bow down to you, Lord.
Even those who are dying will come and bow down.
Even those who are dying will come and bow down.
In the future, everyone will worship and learn about you, our Lord.
People not yet born will be told, “The Lord has saved us!”
Jesus cried out and knew that He had done God’s will.
He breathed His last breath and died.
At that moment the curtain hanging in the temple
was torn in two from top to bottom.
There was darkness.
The earth shook.
The rocks split apart.
The graves broke open, and many of God’s people
who had died were raised to life.
Lives were changed immediately.
Lives were changed immediately.
And lives are still being changed today.
He died for you.
He died for me.
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The truth we see today is a man who was rooted firmly in his Father. We see a man who, despite the journey he had to walk, trusted that his Father would see him through it. We see a man who trusted that God would overcome the darkness of his Death. – Unknown
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The photo above was one I took in Jerusalem in 2012 of a mosaic in Pilate’s Judgement Hall. There are no words to describe what it was like to walk through those halls.
May you stop long enough today to think about, really think about, what Jesus did for you.
“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” – 2 Cor. 9:15
Thank You Jesus for the Blood by Charity Gayle
Click HERE to listen. Words below:
I was a wretch.
I remember who I was.
I was lost, I was blind.
I was running out of time.
Sin separated.
The breach was far too wide,
But from the far side of the chasm
You held me in your sight.
So You made a way
Across the great divide.
Left behind Heaven’s throne
To build it here inside.
And there at the cross
You paid the debt I owed.
Broke my chains, freed my soul
For the first time I had hope.
Thank you Jesus for the blood applied.
Thank you Jesus, it has washed me white.
Thank you Jesus, You have saved my life.
Brought me from the darkness into glorious light.
You took my place.
Laid inside my tomb of sin.
You were buried for three days,
But then You walked right out again.
And now death has no sting
And life has no end
For I have been transformed
By the blood of the lamb.
Thank You Jesus for the blood applied.
Thank You Jesus, it has washed me white.
Thank You Jesus, You have saved my life.
Brought me from the darkness into glorious light
There is nothing stronger
Than the wonder working power of the blood,
The blood.
That calls us sons and daughters.
We are ransomed by our Father
Through the blood,
The blood. (2x)
Thank You Jesus for the blood applied.
Thank You Jesus, it has washed me white.
Thank You Jesus, You have saved my life.
Brought me from the darkness into glorious light.
Glory to His name!
Glory to His name!
There to my heart was the blood applied,
Glory to His name!
