Good Friday 2026

0:00 Renaissance artists 400, 500 years ago had a peculiar habit of taking their paintings, sometimes even of very happy scenes, and hiding somewhere in that painting a picture of a skull. It didn't really matter much what the scene was. You could have a royal ballroom. You could have a wedding that was going on. But they would hide somewhere in that picture a skull. It might be in a fruit basket, right? All the round pieces of fruit. just tucked underneath there would be peeking out from under the apples a skull. It might be a reflection in a mirror hanging over somebody's shoulder. It might be tucked away behind some candlesticks on the mantle. Why did they do that? Well, those little skulls that Renaissance painters would put into their pictures were called memento mori, a reminder of death.

0:52 You know, Good Friday has always been that for Christians. And in a weird way, it's always been that also for the world. It's always been a reminder of death. It invites us, it forces us, in a way we don't often do, to look at and consider death. We're not an age that does that very much. We don't think about death. We're not confronted by death all that much. Even the food that we eat, which had to die, is all nicely packaged and put on a shelf for us as if, you know, it just sort of sprouted there at some point. We don't have death in front of our faces every day and every hour, and so when it comes into our lives and when we have to stare it in the face, it does things to us. A memento mori, a reminder of death, has very different effects on different people. Bertrand Russell, the famous atheist, wrote in his autobiography that when he when he thought about death his own death here's what he here's what he thought there is darkness

1:53 without and when I die there will be darkness within there is no splendor no vastness anywhere only triviality for a moment and then nothing that's bleak Charles Spurgeon on the other hand the great Christian preacher when he thought about death thought about it like this depend upon it Your dying hour, Christian, will be the best hour you have ever known. Your last moment will be your richest moment.

2:25 Better than the day of your birth will be the day of your death. It shall be the beginning of heaven, the rising of a sun that shall go no more down forever. Tonight, friends, I want to invite you, even maybe force you since you're here to do just that. I want to force you to look for just a few minutes at death. And not just any death, not just death as a concept, not even your own death. I want you to stare for just a few minutes with me at the death of Jesus. And I want to ask you a question that confronted everyone who was standing around the cross on that day.

3:03 When you see the dead Jesus, what exactly do you see? And to do that, I want to take you to a text that might be, I think, at first a little bit surprising. Because it's not a text where Jesus is being condemned to die. We've read about that tonight in our scripture readings. It's not even a text where he's dying. We read about that at length from Matthew's gospel just a few minutes ago. But I want to take you to a text where from the very first verse, Jesus is already dead.

3:35 So take a Bible if you have one. Turn over to John chapter 19. And we're going to be looking at a few verses of John 19. What I want to try to get across to you from this as we look at the aftermath of Jesus' crucifixion is this. This is what I want you to do tonight. Whether you're a Christian, whether you're not a Christian, whether you've thought about these things all your life or you've never considered them before at all, I want to convince you to look to the crucified king and be changed. That's my message for you tonight. Look to the crucified king and be changed. I've got two points that I want to make. We're going to look at two short little passages out of John 19, but I want you to look at first the piercing of the lamb, and then second, the honoring of the king. Two very different things, right? The piercing of the lamb, that's about death. The honoring of the king, it turns out that's about death too, but we'll get there in a few minutes. First, I want you to look with me at John chapter 19, verse 31, and I want you to consider with me and look at the piercing of the lamb. Here's what John writes about the aftermath of the crucifixion. John 19, 31.

4:38 Since it was the day of preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, for that Sabbath was a high day, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it, that's John, that's the writer, he who saw it has borne witness his testimony is true and he knows that he's telling the truth that you also may believe for these things took place that the scripture might be fulfilled not one of his bones will be broken and again another scripture says they will look on him whom they have pierced now if you if you look back up to the very end of the uh of the crucifixion story right right as jesus is dying you can look up into verse 30 if you want to see it jesus ended his life he ended his crucifixion with this loud cry it is finished in the original language

5:41 that he would have cried out in it's literally just one word to tell us die right it is it is done and then he bows his head and he dies or as john puts it there in verse 30 he gave up his spirit most of you know that that word to tell us die as it comes off jesus's lips is not a it's not a cry of defeat. It's not an admission that the Romans and the Jews have won. He's not talking about the end of his life. It's a cry of victory. What he's saying is, it's done. It's all done. Everything that I set out to do from the minute I came into this world to secure my people's salvation is now finished. Tetelestai. And so he dies. So by the time you get to verse 31 that I just started reading to you a few minutes ago Jesus has done his work and now he's dead which it turns out in the story is surprising to everybody it's surprising to Jesus's followers it's surprising to the Roman soldiers because it's only been about three hours that Jesus had been on the cross and that's usually not not enough time for anybody to die by crucifixion

6:46 usually to die by crucifixion took hours it may have even in some cases taken days and some people have looked at that and wondered about Jesus dying in just three hours instead of several days and they've tried to give a kind of medical reason for it right so maybe it was because of the fact that he was flogged twice not just once as normal criminals were but he was flogged twice and and that made him die faster than normal but Pilate knew that he'd been flogged twice and yet another one of the gospels Mark tells us that even Pilate knowing all of that commanding the two floggings was just as surprised as anybody else that Jesus was already dead. And he even had one of his soldiers go and confirm it. It's like, are you sure? Are you sure he's dead?

7:31 Go make sure that that's the case. So the more likely explanation for Jesus dying so quickly is well, that cry in verse 30. Jesus had simply finished his work and he gave up his spirit. It was done, and so the suffering could end. And whatever the case, though, the Jews decided that because the Sabbath was coming and because it was a high holy day because of the Passover, they wanted to be sure to get this business over quickly. And so they decided to go to the Roman soldiers and ask for some help.

8:04 And so the Roman soldiers had a practice for getting people off the crosses quickly. Normally it would take days, and the way that you would die on a cross was not from starvation. It wasn't from shock from the pain. That's not how you normally died. that your arms were stretched out and you were hanging on the cross and that would put all the weight and the fluid in your lungs and eventually you would just die of suffocation. You couldn't pull up any longer to loosen up the lungs and allow breath to come into them. And so your body just got so weak and sagged down so much that it crushed the lungs. And you'd die after many, many hours of asphyxiation.

8:37 So when the Romans wanted to get somebody off the cross quickly, they did what was called, a practice called the crurifragium in Latin, which means bone breaking, bone fracturing. So what they would do is take a club of some kind and they would walk along the line of crosses, however many there were, and they would swing the club at the shins of the condemned and their shins would shatter, their legs were broken and so they couldn't push up any further on their legs and they would die more quickly because they couldn't get air into their lungs.

9:08 So that's what they start to do. The Romans come along with this mallet, they start shattering the leg bones of the two crucified criminals on either side of Jesus but John tells us that when they when they get there to the center at Jesus they saw that he was already dead and so if you look down at verse 34 instead of the bone shattering the crew of Phragium one of the soldiers instead thrusts a spear into Jesus's side which caused a stream of blood and water to to come out now here's a question for you why does John record that detail? Why does he record all of this detail? There are a few reasons. I mean, obviously he records it just because he saw it, like he says there in verse 35. He's an eyewitness to the event, and part of what John is doing is writing down what he saw so that future generations like you and me can know from an eyewitness what he saw. He saw an incredibly significant event, And so he's writing down the details of everything he remembers of it.

10:08 And with the blood and water, even, he's recording a detail that everybody on the ground would have recognized as proof positive that Jesus really was dead. He didn't just swoon. He wasn't just pretending to be dead. He wasn't just almost dead. He was dead. He's not in a coma. He's not in a vegetative state. He's dead because the only time the blood and water and the body separate is upon death. But if you look down at 36 and 37, you can see that John sees even more significance in all of this.

10:41 The blood and water is important because it confirms Jesus' death. But to John, in 36 and 37, to John, it's obvious that these aren't just details. They're details that continue to speak about who Jesus is and what he's actually accomplished by dying on the cross. So look at 36, for instance. he says there these things took place so that the scripture might be fulfilled not one of his bones will be broken he says he says there's a reason there's a reason that god worked all of this out so that jesus would be dead before the career of frogium what's he talking about well there's no particular place in the old testament that uses those exact words but what john is thinking about of course is is the lamb from the passover in exodus 12 we read we read the story a little bit earlier in the service.

11:36 The Israelites were told to take these lambs and slaughter them and put the blood on the doorposts, right? And when the angel of death came over the whole land of Egypt, when he would see the blood of the slaughtered lamb on the doorpost, he would pass over the house that was hiding under the blood of the lamb. And they were told through the instructions that God gave them, you're going to cook the lamb and you're going to eat it, but you're not to break any of its bones. So you see what John is seeing here? all of a sudden it's all kind of snapping into place for him he's realizing that jesus is the lamb whose blood saves sinners when god sees the blood of this lamb on a person's life the angel of death the sentence of death passes over because the lamb has already died i mean there's the spear too not just the bones there's the spear the blood the water John sees significance in that too.

12:35 And people have tried to find all kinds of significance in the blood and the water. That's probably not there. But what John sees here is a fulfillment of an old prophecy from Zechariah. You can see it there in 37. Another scripture says, they will look on him whom they have pierced. You know what that's about? It's about God coming to his people as their king to save them. and the people killing him by piercing him. And John sees that, and it snaps into place.

13:08 This is God come in the flesh, and the people have now speared him. That's Zechariah 12. There's another layer, too. See, what's incredible about this is that if you think back to the Old Testament, there's another place where something is struck and water comes out. Remember what that is? It's the rock in the wilderness. When Moses and the people are out and they're dying of thirst, God tells Moses, strike the rock with the sword or the rod of judgment.

13:41 And when he strikes the rock, the water comes out. That's why so many times in the Old Testament, God says, I am your rock. That's why we sing, rock of ages, broken, cleft for me. Let me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from thy wounded side which flowed be of sin a double cure, save from wrath, and make me pure. The rock is stricken and the water comes out. Do you see the point of all this? It's incredible to notice it. The point is that as John looks at Jesus' dead body on the cross, his mind just explodes with all these images from the Old Testament.

14:21 And he sees salvation happening. He sees Jesus as the pierced king. He sees Jesus as the slain lamb. He sees Jesus as the stricken rock all at once. Look at 35. I think that's why he puts 35 in there. Look what he says there. He who saw all of this, that's John, the writer. So I essentially have borne witness. My testimony is true. I know that I am telling the truth and I'm doing it so that you also may believe.

14:58 Why does he put that statement there? Think about it. Why does he put it there? He's seen a whole lot of stuff throughout the whole trial and crucifixion of Jesus. He's seen so many details. He's seen scripture fulfilled. There are other places where he even mentions other scripture. Why does he put that sentence there? I think it's because at that moment, right there at the foot of the cross, that is when John saw his glory. He says it at the beginning of the book. The word has come in the flesh, and we have seen his glory.

15:31 And I think he's telling you right here, when it finally all dawned on him, that this is glorious. He saw it at that moment, looking at the dead body of Jesus. There's something fascinating here, and it's hard to say. But look down at 35. That little word also, in that verse, is fascinating to me. You ever notice that word? He who saw it is born witness. His testimony is true. And he knows that he is telling the truth that you also may believe.

16:06 I mean, it would be one thing and totally expected if all John said there was so that you may believe. That's what he says he's writing the whole book about, in fact. I'm writing all these things down so that you will believe that Jesus is the Son of God. But he says so that you also will believe. Why? Because, I mean, I don't know. It's hard to know. But I wonder, I wonder if he puts the little word also in there because he knows that it was at that moment that it all clicked and he became a Christian. That's the moment when John believed. And so he says, I did at that moment.

16:42 At that moment when it all clicked together, I believed. Friend, that's my question. And I think it's John's question for you too tonight. When you look at the dead Jesus, when you look at the crucified Jesus, what do you see? You know, different people see different things. And John wasn't the only one who saw the dead body of Jesus hanging on that cross.

17:12 The soldiers did too. But did you notice in the reading what they saw? Look at verse 33. When they, the soldiers, came to Jesus and saw that he was dead. That's all they saw. All the soldiers saw as they looked up at the dead Jesus was a corpse. Not John. John saw his salvation. What do you see? Second thing I want you to see here is the honoring of the king.

17:47 Look with me at verses 38 to 42. after these things joseph of arimathea who was a disciple of jesus but secretly for fear of the jews asked pilate that he might take away the body of jesus and pilate gave him permission so he came and took away his body nicodemus also who earlier had come to jesus by night came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes about 75 pounds in weight so they took the body of jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices as is the burial custom of the Jews.

18:19 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So because of the Jewish day of preparation since the tomb was close at hand they laid Jesus there. Now those events take place sometime later after all of these events. We don't know exactly how much time has passed but it couldn't have been long. Jesus apparently died sometime around 3 p.m. on that first Good Friday and we're now coming up on the time when the sun is going down and the Sabbath is about to end. So you're talking about, you know, an hour or two, maybe three later, 4 p.m., 5 p.m., 6 p.m.

18:54 And it seems pretty straightforward at first. You have these two men who come and ask Pilate for the body, they take it down and then they bury it. And it just kind of seems like filling in details that you kind of need to know before you can get to the resurrection, right? It just seems like a little throat clearing before we come to Sunday morning. But as always with the Bible, the Bible does not waste words. And if it puts something in the story, it means for you to notice it and learn from it. So there's a lot more going on here than meets the eye. For one thing, think about these two guys that do this work of embalming the body of Jesus, preparing it, and then putting it in the tomb.

19:31 Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. What do those two guys have in common? Well, John doesn't really tell us anything about them. But what they have in common is that they were both Pharisees. They were both members of the ruling council called the Sanhedrin. What else? Well, we also know that until now, both of them had been afraid to let themselves be known as followers of Jesus. They were scared until this moment.

20:01 So look in 38 about Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews. And look at the next verse about Nicodemus. Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, he too wanted it to be secret. But now, now, they're doing this incredibly brave thing of letting themselves be known to everybody as Jesus' disciples.

20:33 You think about it, this is a fascinating thing that's happening, right? Now that Jesus is dead, all these people are coming into the light. They're coming out of the darkness, into the light, and they're becoming disciples of Jesus. I mean, you've got three, like, right here in this passage. You've got Joseph of Arimathea coming out of the dark. You've got Nicodemus coming out of the dark. You've got John, I think, also kind of having it all click for him. And it's exactly what Jesus said would happen. I, when I am lifted up, will draw all men to myself. And that's what happened.

21:05 He's lifted up, he dies, and people from Joseph to Nicodemus to John to the Roman centurion that we read about in Matthew start coming to Jesus. Look, friend, maybe this needs to be the day when that happens to you. When you see, maybe for the very first time, Jesus lifted up in death, in your place, and you say, that's my Savior. That's my King. I'm coming to Him in faith. I want you to see something else, too.

21:39 Normally, when John says something like, he was a disciple secretly because of fear of the Jews, or he came by night, normally in John's book, that's just a thundering verdict against the person right when nicodemus comes to jesus by night that's a verdict against him it's not just physically night he is in spiritual night he doesn't understand when judas goes out to betray jesus do you know how that story ends judas goes out to betray him and john ends the story with the little terrifying line and it was night meaning judas's fate is sealed it's over but but not here not not here it's not a thundering condemnation here why not because it's not a description of who they are it's a description of who they were that's why john says it like he does about nicodemus who previously came to jesus by night now comes into the light

22:39 friend do you need do you need to come out of the darkness and into the light of following jesus and god god forbid god forbid that the last thing heaven says about you on the day that you die is and it was night no friends let it be more like spurgeon let it be more like spurgeon that the day of your death will be a day of greater celebration than the day of your birth because it's the dawning of heaven last thing i want you to notice all these details that are given about the way jesus was buried in 39 tells us that nicodemus brought embalming spices and john is careful to mention myrrh right that's a call back to the to the wise men bringing jesus gold frankincense and but but look how much of it they bring 75 pounds by our reckoning 75 pounds

23:42 of spices now to bury a body you do not need 75 pounds you don't it's it's literally 100 roman pounds is what it is it's symbolic number 100 pounds you don't need 100 pounds of spices to bury a normal person but do you know in the historical record who you do use that symbolic like 100 pounds of spices to embalm a dead king. You use 100 Roman pounds of spices to embalm a dead king.

24:14 And look at 41, where his tomb was, in a garden. You read the Old Testament, you find out really quickly that gardens are where kings were buried. Now, I want you to notice something about this. Because to me, it's incredibly sweet to think about it. I want you to notice how it's not like Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus just had a hundred pounds of spices laying around. And it's also not as if that tomb in the garden had been reserved for a long time for Jesus.

24:50 It just, all of those details just all kind of providentially fell into place. And yet, there's no scramble. There's no scramble. It's just as if God himself had prepared it all from the beginning. See, in God's providential control of events, after it is finished, after the death of his son, God no longer treats him as a condemned sinner.

25:22 he changes on a dime and treats him with royal honor. So that's it. It's Good Friday, friends. We spent a little over an hour now thinking about the crucifixion of Jesus, looking for the last 20 minutes at the dead body of Jesus hanging on the cross. And here's the question that I have for you. It's the one I had right at the very beginning. What do you see? Do you just see another dead man like the other 8 billion that have been in the world?

25:58 Do you just see a condemned criminal? Do you just see one more corpse that history chewed up and spat out? Or do you, like John, like Nicodemus, like Joseph, even like that Roman centurion, do you see a slain lamb? Do you see a pierced king? Do you see a divine rock stricken in your place? Friends, that's what we Christians want you to see.

26:31 We want you to see, like the song that we just sang a few minutes ago, like that beautiful verse says that because of our sins, Jehovah, God, bids his sword awake to find its sheath in your heart so that your blood will slake that sword's thirst for justice. But because of this pierced king, because of this stricken rock, if you're a believer in Jesus, that great sword sleeps for you.

27:07 Let's pray. Our Lord Jesus, we praise you and we honor you as the slain lamb, the lamb who takes away the sin of the world as the pierced king, the one who died so that you might make men and women a kingdom and priests to your God, a rock stricken so that the water of life might flow out for us. Our Lord, we pray as we make our way through this holy week, holy weekend, holy week, as we think about your death and your resurrection tonight and on Easter Sunday, oh God, we pray that all of these images from the Old Testament would burn brightly in our minds and in our hearts.

27:49 We pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.