Good Friday - 2024
The First Word on the Cross
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
-Luke 23:34
The first thing that Jesus says while hanging on the cross was the very reason that he was hanging there.
Second Word
“I tell you the truth today you will be with me in paradise.”
-Luke 23:44
“Today”
If it is not used literally, then it gives emphasis to the main point of the sentence that it is in.
Since Jesus did not literally go into Paradise that day, he descended into hell and on the third day rose again, the use of “Today” simply meant that the thief was saved.
“Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
-John 20:17
“Paradise”
The presence of the throne of God.
“Park” or “Garden”.
“Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.”
-Revelation 2:7
Third Word
“…he said to his mother, ‘Dear woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ ”
-John 19: 26-27
Jesus will ask us to do things for others.
Often times we don’t want to take on the responsibility.
But when we do, we will always be blessed.
Simon of Cyrene.
Fourth Word
“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”
-Matthew 27:46
“Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate. 2 “Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate. “You have said so,” Jesus replied. 3 The chief priests accused him of many things. 4 So again Pilate asked him, aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.” 5 But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed. 6 Now it was the custom at the festival to release a prisoner whom the people requested. 7 A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. 8 The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did. 9 “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, 10 knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead. 12 “What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them. 13 “Crucify him!” they shouted. 14 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!” 15 Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”
-Matthew 27:46
God had to turn his back on sin.
Barabbas --> Bar Abbas
Bar = Son Abba = Father
Bar Abbas means Son of the Father
Fifth Word
“I am thirsty.”
-John 19:28
Sixth Word
“It is finished.”
John 19:30
“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, [Paid in full] with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”
-Colossians 2:13-15
Seventh Word
“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”
-Luke 23:46
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my HAND. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s HAND. I and the Father are one.”
-John 10:27-30
“When Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. “The earth shook, the rocks split 52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life…When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”
-Matthew 27:50-54
“Surely he was the Son of God!”
A sermon from a most unlikely source.