The Goodness of Good Friday - Holy Week

Hello everyone, I'm Dr.

Steve Holt.

I want to welcome you to the Road Church Podcast.

Each week we go into God's Word.

We teach chapter by chapter, verse by verse.

We are here to build the Kingdom of God revolution through empowering people to change the world.

So we pray this will minister to you at your heart level and change your life.

Today, be encouraged by our guest speaker.

Well, good afternoon and welcome to the Roads Good Friday service.

Thank you for making time in your schedules to be here on a Friday afternoon.

Pastor Steve wanted to be here this afternoon, but he and Liz had to leave town uh to deal with a family situation.

So you are stuck with me this afternoon.

Umy Follett.

I'm one of the pastors on staff here at the road.

And as I was reflecting on Good Friday and a message for this afternoon, I'll admit that I didn't make it very far in my preparation.

In fact, I didn't make it past the first word.

Uh I got stuck on the word good.

And I kept thinking about the word good and about Good Friday, and I kept wondering why do we call it Good Friday?

And I'm sure there's a good reason for it.

Um I wasn't aware.

So I started doing some research, and and because the reason I was thinking about it is, you know, we have Good Friday and we have Easter Sunday, and I know other denominations do uh more throughout the Holy Week than just those two.

But but those are the big two, right?

Good Friday service, Easter Sunday service.

But we don't call it Good Easter, we call it Good Friday, but Easter's the day that you would think should have a word like that in front of it, right?

Because Easter's the day where we we dress in fun, bright colors and we give our kids a bunch of candy for whatever reason, and we we go to church and we say he has risen all day, and we take a lot of pictures and eat a meal.

Like that's a good day, right?

That's a good day.

But today is the day we call it Good Friday.

And so I was pondering that and I was thinking, why is today the day we call we use the word good?

Is it because the cross itself is good?

Is it because the crucifixion itself is good?

Was it because of the disciples?

Or because people like Fridays?

As I was doing my research, I was looking at, you know, I didn't find much.

I was searching why does the church call it Good Friday?

And of course I found answers and explanations into the significance of the day and Jesus and the cross and what it means, and but I didn't find much as far as a historical reasoning for why it's called Good Friday.

And part of that is probably because I didn't spend a whole lot of time searching, but I did find that this day had also been called Holy Friday and Sorrowful Friday.

And that second one really struck me, sorrowful Friday.

And I think that one is definitely fitting because if you think about it, for the disciples, most of the events or all of the events that took place on Good Friday weren't very good.

Right?

And if you asked any of his disciples that day, while Jesus was being arrested, beaten, spit on, and killed, if that day was good, I don't think they would have said yes.

Yet today is Good Friday.

So this afternoon, for the next 30 minutes, I want to challenge you, invite you to join me in putting ourselves in the shoes of Jesus' disciples.

As we go through this account together, as we go through the Word, as we read about Good Friday, would you do whatever you can in your mind to put everything else aside for the next little bit and try to imagine what it would have been like to be one of Jesus' disciples on that day?

Watching him go through what he went through, walking with him, right?

Can we experience what the disciples experienced, even just a little bit, right?

Can we feel what they felt, see what they saw, hear what they heard, and experience it like they did.

So whatever happened this morning, whatever didn't happen this morning, whatever's on your to-do list this afternoon, I'm gonna ask you just set all of that to the side just for a little bit, and let's walk through this story with the disciples.

Can we do that this afternoon?

All right, let's read the account of Good Friday from God's Word Together through the eyes of his closest friends.

We're gonna be in the Gospel of Luke this afternoon, and we are going to start in Luke 22, and we're gonna pick up the story in verse 39.

So if you have your Bibles, please turn with me to Luke 22, verse 39, and we're picking up soon after where we started this service with the Lord's Supper, and Jesus spent that time with his disciples, and then we're gonna pick up the story in verse 39.

Luke 22:39

Luke writes this.

Coming out, he went to the Mount of Olives as he was accustomed, and his disciples also followed him.

When he came to that place, he said to them, Pray that you may not enter into temptation.

And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and he knelt down and he prayed, saying, Father, if it is your will, take this cup away from me.

Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.

Then an angel appeared to him from heaven, strengthening him.

And being in agony, he prayed more earnestly.

Then his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

When he rose up from prayer, he had come to his disciples, he found them sleeping from sorrow.

Then he said to them, Why do you sleep?

Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.

After Jesus ate the last supper with his disciples, he went to the Mount of Olives with his disciples to pray.

This had been something that had been a regular habit for Jesus and his disciples, especially this week leading up to Good Friday.

He had been doing this each night, going to the Mount of Olives and praying with his disciples.

His disciples were unaware of all the events that were about to follow this time in prayer, but Jesus knew.

He knew of the importance of spending time with his father in prayer.

And he was encouraging his disciples to join him and do the same.

And in this moment, Jesus knew and was dealing with the weight of what was about to happen to him.

He also knew that one of his disciples, one of the twelve, was gonna know exactly where he was.

Right?

Judas had been with Jesus and his disciples each night that week in the Mount of Olives.

Jesus could have switched up his routine and gone somewhere else that night, but he didn't.

So as he's praying, he's fully aware that at any moment, Judas is gonna arrive to betray him.

And in this time, Jesus was earnestly praying to the Father for the cup to be removed and for the will of God.

His prayer was answered not by the cup being removed, but by an angel ministering to him and providing him with strength.

He was praying with such earnest that sweat dripped off of him like drops of blood.

Sometimes the Father answers our prayers differently than we would hope.

But he gives us what we need.

And in that moment, Jesus needed strength.

And the Father saw that and provided it.

And it was in this moment that Jesus was so caught up in passionate, earnest prayer that he found his disciples sleeping.

Now, at the beginning, I asked all of us to put ourselves in the shoes of the disciples.

And in the past, as I've read this passage, I've always felt some sympathy for the disciples in this moment.

Because I know from personal experience that the disciples are not the only people in the history of the world who have fallen asleep while praying or trying to pray, right?

And so I feel sympathy for them.

And we can relate to them in that regard.

But this passage also says the disciples were filled with sorrow.

They were filled with sorrow.

You see, they had spent years walking with Jesus.

Years spending time with Jesus.

And I think they knew that something was different about that night.

That something wasn't quite right.

Something wasn't good.

And it filled them with sorrow.

It troubled them.

It worried them.

But instead of responding to that sorrow with prayer, they slept.

Instead of responding to that sorrow with prayer, they slept.

Instead of turning their worry, their fears, into fervent, honest prayers, they slept.

When has the same thing been true in our lives?

Can we relate to the disciples here as well?

The Apostle Paul in Philippians chapter 4 wrote about bringing everything to the Lord in prayer.

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

Everything.

Jesus modeled this while on earth.

He modeled to his disciples and to us the importance of prayer, the importance of bringing life's biggest moments to God.

So my encouragement to you today is go to the Father with what troubles you, with what worries you.

When the temptation is to sleep or run or distract yourself with things of this world, pray.

When it's the last thing you want to do, pray.

When you have no other option, pray.

Turn your sorrow, your worries, your anxieties into honest, vulnerable, fervent prayers.

And that's exactly what Jesus was encouraging his disciples to do because he knew it was about to get tough.

He knew it was about to get dark.

He knew it was about to get difficult.

And he so wanted his disciples to be prepared for that, right?

To spend time with his father, praying, preparing for what was ahead.

Let's keep reading in verse 47.

And while he was still speaking, behold a multitude, and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near to Jesus to kiss him.

But Jesus said to him, Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?

When those around him saw what was going to happen, they said to him, Lord, shall we strike with the sword?

And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear.

But Jesus answered and said, Permit even this, and he touched his ear and healed him.

Then Jesus said to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and the elders who had come to him, Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs?

When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize me.

But this is your hour and the power of darkness.

Seeing Jesus, your teacher, your friend for years, a good man getting arrested, a man who had done nothing wrong, a man who was without sin getting arrested.

What about that is good.

Imagine the emotions the disciples must have felt in that moment.

Would you imagine them?

Pain, confusion, hurt, rage at the injustice of a sinless man getting arrested.

So much so that it led Peter to strike one of the men with a sword and cut off his ear.

Can you blame him?

Think about it.

How would you have reacted in that moment?

To see Jesus getting bound and arrested.

What would you have done?

Honestly consider that.

Watching the man you love and respect more than anyone else being bound and led away like a criminal.

Surely Peter and the other twelve were thinking this could not be a good day.

Let's continue in verse 54.

Having arrested him, they led him and brought him to the high priest's house.

But Peter followed at a distance.

Now when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them.

And a certain servant girl, seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently at him and said, This man was also with him.

But he denied him, saying, Woman, I do not know him.

And after a little while another saw him and said, You are one of them.

But Peter said, Man, I am not.

Then after about an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, Surely this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.

But Peter said, Man, I do not know what you are saying.

Immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.

And the Lord turned and looked at Peter.

Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.

So Peter went out and wept bitterly.

Would you put yourself in Peter's shoes?

A few moments ago we we saw Peter react to Jesus' arrest with vengeance and anger.

And now, a few moments later, we see Peter denying Jesus three times.

In his confusion, his hurt, his pain, he goes from striking out in anger with the sword to denying that he ever knew Jesus.

You see, Peter let his fears take over.

Now imagine the pain Peter must have felt experiencing this to watch his closest friend getting arrested, and then the feelings of shame and guilt that must have flooded over him as soon as that rooster crowed.

No way was Peter thinking that this is a good day.

In fact, he was probably thinking this is the worst day of my life.

But can we relate to Peter in these moments?

When have we allowed rage or anger or fear to dictate a moment in our lives?

Maybe it was this morning.

When have we reacted inappropriately, too quickly, or too harshly?

When have we relied on our fears and lied instinctively?

When instead we should be relying on the Holy Spirit in difficult moments, asking for divine wisdom, divine discernment, and divine insight.

Let's reflect on Peter's swift actions and decisions, not with condemnation, but with empathy and reflection.

Let's continue reading in verse 63.

Now the men who led, who held Jesus mocked him and beat him.

And having blindfolded him, they struck him on the face and asked him, saying, Prophesy, who is the one who struck you?

And many other things they blasphemously spoke against him.

Jesus is now being mocked and beat.

Imagine watching that unfold in front of your own eyes.

Watching Jesus being made fun of, being mocked.

They blindfolded him, hit him, and said, Hey, who hit you?

Right?

They're mocking him, they're making fun of him, they're hurting him.

What emotions, if you were there watching that, what emotions would be welling up inside of you?

Rage, hurt, confusion, fear.

Jesus is then brought before the council of religious leaders, Pilate and Herod.

His innocence is questioned, his godliness is mocked.

He is accused.

Yet he responds with patience, grace, and gentleness every time.

The crowd of religious leaders and bystanders and grows more and more hostile and angry.

They shout at Jesus, they're giving directions to those in charge.

They condemn, they snarl.

If you were in that crowd that day, how would you have felt?

If you saw the anger from the people, you heard their request, what would you do?

Would you have spoken out or shrunk back?

The crowd then demands the release of a criminal named Barabbas instead of Jesus?

How could this be?

It doesn't make any sense.

A murderer instead of Jesus?

Jesus didn't murder anyone.

And yet the people would rather a murderer living amongst them than Jesus.

Surely this is not a good day.

Let's keep reading in chapter 23, starting in verse 18.

And they all cried out at once, saying, Away with this man and release to us Barabbas, who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in that city and for murder.

Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them, but they shouted, saying, Crucify him, crucify him.

Then he said to them a third time, Why, what evil has he done?

I have found no reason for death in him.

I will therefore chastise him and let him go.

But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that he be crucified.

And the voices of those men and the chief priests prevailed.

So Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they requested, and they released to them the one they requested, who for rebellion and murder had been thrown into prison, but he delivered Jesus to their will.

Even Pontius Pilate was confused.

He was unsure of why Jesus needed to die.

Pilate was the high governmental authority in this moment.

He had the final word.

Yet even he was succumbed by the pressure and influence of the crowd.

When have we been in that moment ourselves?

Right?

Let's reflect.

When have we been so uh succumbed or shrunken back by what everyone else is saying instead of relying on what we know to be true or the Holy Spirit's leading us?

Pilate was succumbed by the pressure.

Imagine being one of Jesus' closest friends in that crowd and hearing them shout, crucify him, crucify him.

Certainly, Jesus wouldn't be crucified.

He hasn't done anything wrong.

This isn't good.

But it had now been decided Jesus was to be flogged and crucified.

He was to be whipped to near death and dragged up the hill where he would be nailed to the wooden cross, the hill where he would die, the hill where he would experience extreme pain, ultimate shame, and agony.

A torturous way to die.

Pilate spoke and it had been decided.

No, nothing about this day seems to be good.

Yet all of us know that this is Good Friday.

And let me tell you something today, church.

Today is good.

Today is good.

And the disciples might not have fully realized it in that moment, but Good Friday is good.

And I'm going to tell you why.

Three reasons why today is Good Friday.

Number one is because Jesus is good.

Today is Good Friday because Jesus is good.

Nothing that we have read leading up to Jesus' death would have made the disciples think that this was a good day.

But they all knew something.

Because they had of the time they had spent with Jesus, they knew that he was good.

And I think that's what made the day so difficult for them, right?

That's what made the day so confusing.

How a good man like Jesus had to die in such an extreme and brutal way.

The disciples must have felt so confused, sad, scared, shocked.

This isn't how it was supposed to end.

They didn't want it to end.

They loved being with Jesus.

They wanted more of Jesus.

And now he was out of their grasp.

So why did this good man Jesus die?

And as they were watching the events unfold on that first Good Friday, I imagine there were so many thoughts, feelings, and memories rushing through their hearts and minds.

Thinking back to everything they had witnessed walking with Jesus the past few years.

Because while on earth, Jesus showed his disciples what it means to be good, what it means to love people well.

If you read the gospels, you find example after example after example of Jesus doing that, of Jesus spreading goodness, of Jesus loving people, right?

Like when he stopped to let the little children come to him.

When he stopped in that moment to spend time with the little children, to listen to the little children.

Why?

Because he loved them.

Or Jesus stopping in the middle of a crowd where there's people everywhere and he feels something and there's a woman grabbing his cloak, a woman who is considered unclean by everybody else.

No one would even look at her, and Jesus stopped in that moment, looked at her, had compassion on her, forgave her, healed her.

Why?

Because he loved her.

Or how about Jesus preaching to a crowd of upwards of 5,000 people who were there because they were spiritually hungry?

They were there to hear Jesus' words to be spiritually fed, but he stopped in that moment to feed them.

Why?

Because he didn't just care about their spiritual hunger, he cared about their physical hunger as well.

Because he loved them.

Jesus is good.

Disciples saw it, they knew it.

And the disciples saw firsthand from Jesus how to love people well and how to spread the goodness of God.

But Jesus didn't just leave his disciples that example, he left us that example as well.

Can we do that, church?

Can we love people the way Jesus loves people?

Can we quench people's spiritual hunger by sharing with them the gospel?

Can we quench people's physical hunger by feeding them?

Can we give some attention to the outcast or the person no one else wants to interact with?

Can we love that person?

Can we invest and spend time with children?

This is the example Jesus set while on this earth.

Good Friday is good because Jesus is good.

But the question that must have still been bothering the disciples in this moment was why?

They knew Jesus was good, so why did this good man have to die?

That brings us to our second reason this afternoon.

And the second reason is this because the sacrifice is good.

Because the sacrifice is good.

So why did Jesus have to die?

The question that was plaguing the hearts of his closest friends, his family, the disciples, why did he do it?

They must have been asking, right?

Why is he going through with this?

They were so confused.

This is the same man who we saw walk on water.

We saw it.

He walked on water, he cast out demons, he made the lame walk, he made the blind see, he raised our friend Lazarus from the dead.

We saw it happen.

So why is he going through with this?

He doesn't have to, right?

As they looked up at the cross, why is he up there?

They must have been asking, why doesn't he come down?

Why doesn't he stop all of this?

What was holding Jesus on the cross?

Because let me tell you, it was not the nails.

And they knew that.

We know it wasn't the nails holding Jesus on the cross.

You think a couple of nails could hold the Son of the Most High God up on a wooden cross?

It wasn't the nails.

And no, it wasn't the soldiers either.

Yes, Roman centurions were brutal, fierce, intimidating.

Yes, they had power, but it wasn't the soldiers that kept Jesus on the cross either.

And no, it wasn't the Pharisees or the religious leaders.

Yeah, they had power, they had influence, they had authority, they started this whole thing, but no, they weren't keeping Jesus on the cross either.

It wasn't the nails, it wasn't the centurions, it wasn't the Pharisees.

So what was it?

Jesus' love alone is what kept him on the cross.

His love to his father and his love for you.

The author D.A.

Carson wrote, it was not the nails that held Jesus to that wretched cross.

It was his unqualified resolution out of love for his father to do his father's will.

And it was his love for sinners like me.

Jesus' extreme love for people, his love for his father, that alone kept him on the cross, kept him in agony, kept him in pain.

And today, as we remember this event, we use the word good.

Suddenly now that word doesn't seem good enough.

Suddenly now that word seems insufficient.

Because what the Pharisees missed, what the soldiers missed, what so many people missed that day was the true significance of what all of this actually meant.

The sacrifice, right?

The love of Jesus that held him on the cross covers me, covers you, covers the multitude.

The sacrifice of Jesus is good.

In his sacrifice, Jesus took on every sin, every pain, every ounce of shame, regret, and guilt, every unrighteous and unholy thing.

Bearing sin, bearing shame in the most shameful way possible.

Up on a cross, up on a hill, naked, beaten, bruised, broken, where everybody could see, he took on shame.

He took it on so that you can leave it behind.

He bore it all so that you don't have to.

He suffered so that he can relate to your suffering.

Every pain that you've ever ever felt, every shameful thought, guilt.

Jesus felt those exact things.

He can relate, he can understand your suffering because he felt your suffering on that good Friday.

He endured it.

What kind of God does that?

Jesus sacrificed, his sacrifice is good.

His sacrifice changes everything, changes the world, changes my life, changes your life.

First Peter 2 23 says, Who, when he was reviled, did not revile in return.

When he suffered, he did not threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously.

Who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we having died to sins might live for righteousness, by whose stripes you were healed.

The sacrifice is good.

It's life-changing and it's real.

And it's what makes today Good Friday.

That brings us to our third and final reason for why today is Good Friday.

And the third reason is because what is coming is good.

What is coming is good.

Unlike the disciples, we have the privilege of knowing what is coming on Easter Sunday.

The disciples didn't fully know it, but they were actually waiting for Jesus' return.

There was hope, whether they understood it or not, there was hope and they were waiting.

There was hope of victory, of death being defeated.

They didn't know it yet, but it was coming.

And that is good.

And just like the disciples were waiting for Jesus to come back, so are we.

We wait in anticipation and hope of Jesus' second coming.

There is hope.

And the knowledge of that and the hope that comes with that is good and makes this day good and makes every day good.

And as believers in Christ Jesus, we carry that hope inside of us.

Every day is an opportunity for us to share with the world the hope that lives inside of us, the hope that exists because of that cross and because of Jesus Christ.

Will you do that, church?

Will you share the hope that Good Friday and Easter brings?

Hebrews 6.19 says, This hope we have is an anchor to the soul, both sure and steadfast, which enters the presence behind the veil.

Will you use the hope of Jesus Christ as an anchor for your soul?

And will you share that hope so it can be an anchor for others as well?

Today is good Friday because of what is coming.

Today is good Friday because we have hope today and every day.

As we close this service, we turn back to Luke.

We're going to uh read the final words of Jesus while he was hanging on the cross.

And as you leave this service this afternoon, I want to invite you to leave quietly, with respect and remembrance, but also leave with hope and expectancy.

Luke 23, verse 44.

Luke 23:44

Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.

Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two.

And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, he said, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.

Having said this, he breathed his last.

It is finished.

Surely this man is a son of God.

Thank you for listening to the Road Church Podcast.

We pray today's message has empowered you to make a difference in your world.

For more information about The Road Church and to find more content like this, go to theroad.org.

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