Through the night, Jesus has been mistreated and rejected by the Jewish leadership, and endured three ‘trials in darkness.’ He has been convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to die.
Prepare for the Good Friday Service Tonight
12:00 AM – PRAYING IN THE GARDEN
Jesus is experiencing serious anxiety while praying in the garden – even sweating blood. HIs disciples, after their Passover Meal, are sleeping.
“Father, if you are wiling, take this cup from me…yet not my will but your will be done.” Luke 22:42
It was the Father’s will. Jesus embraced it with perfect obedience – for our redemption and His Father’s glory. Though finished on the cross, VICTORY was won in the garden.
1:00 AM – BETRAYED BY A KISS
Judas cam to the garden with a group of temple guards to arrest Jesus – the identifying sign is a kiss. Soon, Jesus will endure three ‘trials’ by Jewish leaders and priests (Caiaphas, Pilate, Herod, then back to Pilate) – all in violation of Jewish law mandating that trials be held in daylight. He will be accused and convicted of blasphemy – a crime punishable by death. (Read John 18:6)
This path runs directly from the Garden of Gethsemane through the Kidron to old Jerusalem. It is believed that this is the path that Jesus’ captors took on their way to Ciaphas’s palace. Photo: IMB
The mob carrying swords and clubs led Jesus out of the garden, through the Kidron Valley, and up a staircase to the house of Caiaphas, the high priest. The religious leaders were gathered and waiting, eager for a chance to finally put Him to death. Peter followed the mob and lingered quietly in Caiaphas’s courtyard, where he denied his Lord three times.
A prison found beneath the floors of the Church of Saint Peter in Gallicantu. It is believed that Jesus was held here the first night He was taken to the home of Caiaphas, the high priest. Photo: IMB
Psalm 88:6, 18 “You have put me in the depth of the pit, in the regions dark and deep. . . . You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me; my companions have become darkness.” Many believe Jesus fulfilled the Psalmist’s words in the blackness of that night.
2:00 – 8:00AM – TRIALS
At first light, they will take Jesus to Pilate and request execution. Jesus then begins the next three trials (before Pilate…then Herod…then back to Pilate). Pilate tries to avoid giving in to the mob whipped up by Jewish leaders. He orders Jesus flogged just one lash short of death. The Roman soldiers by now have mocked him with a crown of thorns.
Pilate gives the crowd a decision- release the known murderer, Barabbas, or Jesus. But the crowd chooses to free Barabbas. This sentence means that Jesus will be crucified and will have to carry his own cross to the place of his execution outside of the city, Golgotha. (Read Matthew 27:33, Mark 15:22, Luke 23:33, and John 19:17)
Jesus has now been rejected by Jew and Gentile.
The Via Dolorosa, or “Way of Suffering,” is a path through Jerusalem’s Old City that attempts to trace the journey Jesus might have taken on his way to the cross. At this stop, Station 5, it is believed that Simeon the Cyrene carried the cross for Jesus.
9:00 AM – CRUCIFIED
Around 9am, Jesus is now on the cross-hanging between two thieves.
He who had no sin became sin to bear the iniquities of many (2 Cor 5:21)
Additional Reading: Isaiah 53, Luke 23:33-43
Golgotha, meaning “skull.” Skull-shaped hill in ancient Jerusalem, the site of the crucifixion.
10:00 – 12:00PM – PAIN AND MOCKERY
The people hurl insults and mock him. David predicted their behavior and very words a thousand years earlier in Psalm 22. The Psalmist describes the piercing of Jesus’ hands and feet, the casting of lots for his clothing and the insults hurled at him by those observing his pain and agony. Yet the Psalm concludes in victory, glory to God, and salvation to the nations.
“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me…” (Psalm 22, Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34)
12:00 PM – DARKNESS
“At the sixth hour, darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour,” when Jesus dies at 3:00pm (Read Amos 8:9-10). As in Egypt at the time of Moses and Pharaoh, the plague of darkness will precede the final plague: death of the firstborn son. This time, however, it is God’s son. The death occurs on the anniversary of the very plague that gave the children of Israel the feast of the Passover: the blood of the lamb brings deliverance! (Read Exodus 10:21-23)
3:00PM – JESUS BREATHS HIS LAST
“It is finished.” He breathes his last and gives up his spirit.
The earth shakes and rocks split. The Centurion praises God and exclaims, “Surely this was the son of God!”
Tombs open and the dead bodies of people are raised to life and appear to citizens of Jerusalem.
The temple curtain is torn from top to bottom.
The Creator God – in human form – dies naked on a cross.
The lower level in the Church of the Sepulchre shows split rock from the first century. Some geologists believe this was a natural break in the rock, rendering it unusable for quarrying and subsequently offering the community a place for executions. Others, however, look at the rock and wonder, is this from the same earthquake that caused the centurion to exclaim in fear, “Truly this was the Son of God!” (Matt. 27:54). Jesus Himself said the very rocks would cry out (Luke 19:40). Photo IMB
3:30 – 5:00 PM – JESUS IS BURIED, THE TOMB IS SEALED
Roman soldiers confirm Jesus is dead by piercing his side with a spear, blood and water pour out.
The bodies of all three crucified men must come down off of the crosses before sundown – Friday at 6:00pm – the beginning of Sabbath. (Read Deuteronomy 21:22-23)
If a Jew touches a dead body on Sabbath, he or she is ‘unclean’ for the Sabbath.
Joseph of Arimathea hurries to Pilate to ask for Jesus’ body.
Though Jesus’ disciples have long fled, the women have not. They quickly wrap the body, lacking the customary oils and spices to complete the job before Sabbath restrictions apply. Sabbath restrictions – created by God – require that the women must return to finish the job on Sunday after the Sabbath.
The tomb is sealed and soldiers are sent to guard it.
