Easter: Daily Meditations On Holy WeekSample

Good Friday: Finished

INTRODUCTION

Text: Today we pause to engage with Good Friday, the day Jesus died. 

Reading: Read and consider this verse: “And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34 ESV)

Text: Take a few moments to let your imagination fill your mind with images of what you already know and can picture about the crucifixion of Jesus.  

Prayer: Pray this prayer and consider its words: “King of Glory, we adore you, our Savior and Lord. You suffered on the cross and gave your life as a ransom for many. We bless and thank you for the outpouring of your love and offer our worship today out of unspeakable gratitude. Amen.” 

BACKGROUND

Text: On the cross, Jesus invoked the words of Psalm 22. 

Verse: Read this part of Psalm 22 Jesus quoted on the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.” 

Text: This is a mighty mystery and a weighty word: the Son of God forsaken by God the Father. Jesus could not have been cut out of the eternal trinity. Nor could he have been out of the Father’s love or unsupported by the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, he was truly forsaken. He did not just feel forsaken but was forsaken. He became sin, bore the curse and drank the full cup of God’s wrath. 

Text: Take a moment to imagine the weight of Jesus being forsaken. Try to wrap your mind around the Son of God becoming sin, the ultimate blessing taking the ultimate curse and the true judge willfully receiving undeserved wrath.  

RESPONSE 

Verse: Read this prophecy about Jesus: “Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 53:12 ESV)

Text: Jesus did not bear some faint relation to sinners. He was made a sinner. He was numbered with the transgressors. The holy Son of God stood as a condemned man before his holy Father. 

Verse: Read this verse aloud if you can: “For our sake God made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV)

Text: Not only was Jesus numbered among the sinners; he became sin for us. Jesus became sin, condemned to bear its curse. He had no cover. None could serve as his advocate. Nothing could be offered as his expiation. He had to bear all, and God would not - could not - spare him - till the ransom was paid in full.[1]

Prayer: Take the next few minutes to reflect on the stunning truth that the perfect Son of God became sin for us. Pray your own prayer of awe and thankfulness to Jesus. 

CONFESSION

Text: It is a sobering fact to realize that Jesus had to endure such a heinous punishment because our sin is, in fact, so much more heinous than we know. How regularly do we disregard the weight of sin? How often do we excuse our transgressions without remembering the cost of their forgiveness? Take a moment to lament, confess, repent and pray over the little regard you give your sins and the cost it took to pay for them. 

Prayer: Pray this prayer: “Merciful Savior, you are the only one fully accepted by God, yet you were rejected to bring acceptance to your people. You are the only true Son of God – same God of same God – yet you were forsaken to bring adoption to your people. Help me to see the weight of my sin in the weight of your payment. Kill the sin in me for which you died to pay. Thank you, my Lord and Savior.”   

GOSPEL

Text: As Jesus was on the cross, he was experiencing, in one tiny point in space and in one tiny moment in time, all that sin deserved. In human nature, he suffered the fury of Hell. But then, suddenly, it was over. The sacrifice was complete. 

Verse: Listen to some of the final words of Jesus on the cross: “When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” (John 19:30 ESV)

Prayer: Spend a few minutes in prayer asking the Holy Spirit to shed new light on these last words of Jesus: “It is finished.” Consider how these words apply to the payment for sin, the sacrifices for sins, the reign of sin, the cost of sin, and the punishment against sin.  

Text: We would never have been able to say the words Jesus said. We would never have been able to say, “It is finished. I’ve done enough to pay for my sins.” Instead, the only thing our works earn us is death. Jesus, as the sinless sacrifice, was not paying for his sins, but for the sins of all who would believe in him. He finished the work we never could. 

Verse: “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit” (1 Peter 3:18 ESV)

Prayer: Spend the remaining moments in joyful prayer, thanking Jesus for finishing the work of paying for sin by being put to death so that you may live.  

[1] Sorrow to Joy, 80.