April 10, 2020
Holy Week – Day six

Good Morning Fellow Believers,

Day six of Holy week is also know as Good Friday. As we all know there were several very significant events that happened on this day. None more important than the crucifixion of our Lord and savior.

Jesus’ charge and trial

Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, Are you the king of the Jews? Yes, it is as you say, Jesus replied. When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you? But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge–to the great amazement of the governor.  Matt 27:11-14 (NIV)

The charge was treason, so Pilate asked Jesus directly if he claimed to be the King of the Jews. Jesus’ answer was basically “yes” but with a qualification attached. Jesus did claim to be a king, to remain silent would be like denying it. But he wasn’t claiming kingship in any way that would threaten Pilate, Caesar, or the Empire. Jesus’ kingship was spiritual. Pilate could sense that the Council’s case was embarrassingly weak and that the solemn rabbi standing before him was unlikely to lead a revolt against Rome.

Jesus’ death

It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. Luke 23:44-46 (NIV)

Jesus was crucified at the place known as Golgatha, which means the place of the skull. The sky was black for three hours when Jesus cried out in a loud voice giving His spirit into the hands of the Father. In committing his spirit to the Father, Jesus died, fulfilling the words of Psalm 31:5. Jesus did not faint; he did not become unconscious only to be revived later, he breathed his last. Jesus died as a human being, voluntarily, sacrificially, in the place of sinners.

Jesus’ burial

Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. John 19:38-41 (NIV)

The Jewish custom of burial did not include mummifying or embalming; instead, they washed the body, then wrapped it in a cloth soaked with aromatic oils and spices. According to Matthew, this new tomb was Joseph’s own that he gave up for Jesus. Such rock-hewn tombs were expensive. Even in burial, Jesus fulfilled prophecy found in Isaiah 53:9.

Today I invite you to take the time to ponder Jesus’ willingness to sacrifice Himself for our ransom and what that means for us as believers. God has indeed blessed us through Christ Jesus.

God bless you friends,

Pastor Dennis