Easter Stories: A 5-Day Reading Plan Muestra

The Snake Crusher Is Crushed for Us

Jesus knew he was going to die and that it was going to be no ordinary death.

We call the day he died “Good Friday.” And it was good—very good, amazingly good. We would say it was unbelievably good, except that it happened, and we should believe it. Jesus suffered so that we can be set free. Jesus died so that we can live forever. Jesus was the good shepherd laying down his life for his sheep. That’s why we call it Good Friday.

But for anyone who loved Jesus, that Friday seemed anything but good. It must have seemed to the disciples like Sad Friday or Tragic Friday or The Worst Friday in the History of the World.

As soon as it was morning, the Jewish leaders bound Jesus and delivered him to Pilate. Pilate was the Roman ruler in that region. He was the one who would decide whether Jesus lived or died (even though he could only do what God had already planned).

Pilate wasn’t convinced Jesus had done anything wrong. He wanted to release Jesus and be done with him. But Pilate was more concerned about people liking him than doing the right thing, so he gave the crowd in Jerusalem an option: “I will release one prisoner: this murderer Barabbas or the King of the Jews. Who should I release?”

They chose Barabbas instead of Jesus.

“Then what shall I do with Jesus?” Pilate asked. “Crucify him!” they shouted.

So, the soldiers took Jesus and led him away. They clothed him in a purple robe and gave him a crown of thorns. They pretended to worship Jesus, but it was all a joke. They struck him on the head and spat on him.

If you could have seen Jesus being led to his death that afternoon, everything would have looked upside down. Here was the Maker of all things too weak to carry his cross. Here was the loving King killed between two thieves. Here was God’s beloved Son mocked and mistreated by anyone and everyone.

But there he was—Jesus, the Christ—hanging from a cross. The sky went black because it was a day of judgment, and Jesus cried out to heaven for help. But this was a time to feel the curse of the law, not the smile of God.

Jesus had become sin for us. He breathed his last, and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. The disciples were scared and confused. The world was dark and sad. Everything seemed wrong.

But one Roman soldier at the foot of the cross got it right. “Truly,” he said, “this man was the Son of God.” And if Jesus was the Son of God, maybe that last breath was not the last word from Jesus.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, we thank you for your sacrifice on the cross. You faced God’s frown for sinners like us. Amen.

This Plan was adapted from The Biggest Story Bible Storybook by Kevin DeYoung, Illustrated by Don Clark