Matthew 27:27-61

27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. 30 They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. 31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

32 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. 33 They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). 34 There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. 35 When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 36 And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. 37 Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews.

38 Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” 41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

45 From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. 46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).

47 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”

48 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. 49 The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”

50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split 52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

54 When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

55 Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. 56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

57 As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. 58 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. 59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.

-Matthew 27:27-61

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Jesus knew no sin. The Son of God came down from heaven to earth where he healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, fed five thousand, performed miracle after miracle, but most importantly he demonstrated and lived out the perfect love of God. Despite all this, we took the only man to have ever walked this earth without sin and murdered him like a criminal. Today on Good Friday we remember that very day that Jesus was crucified on the cross.

Despite all that he had done for everyone and all the disciples and followers he gathered, Jesus made a lot of enemies along the way. This was not because Jesus did anything wrong, but because of sin that is rooted deeply in all of us. Jesus was the light of the world and to the people that felt they weren't good enough, this light revealed that we are all worthy of receiving love from God, but to those that thought they were perfect, this light revealed that they were actually more lost in their sin than they could ever imagine.

These men refused to be humbled and instead of changing themselves they sought to eliminate Jesus. They succeeded when Judas, one of Jesus's own disciples, betrayed Jesus and they finally captured him. They did whatever they could to convict Jesus of crimes he was not guilty of and again they succeeded. They beat, mocked and tortured him like a criminal, until it was decided that his death would be carried out in the most painful way they knew how, crucifixion.

Despite how hopeless and discouraging this all may seem, we need to remind ourselves why we even call this terrible day Good Friday. We call this Good Friday because as Christians, we know how this story ends. We also know how this story began. God is sovereign and from the very beginning since the time sin first entered the world, He orchestrated his masterful plan to save us from sin that all culminated to this very moment.

"The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23) so Jesus who knew no sin took upon himself the entire sin of the world so that at this moment when he was killed, he paid the price for all our sin. Although death is not 'good', what is 'good' is that because of this death, we can now live freely from our sin and now be with our Father in heaven.

We call today Good Friday and we find solace in the death of Jesus because we know what eventually happens soon after. Yet Good Friday is remembered as a somber day and not a day of celebration because despite how it turns out, we remember how much Jesus suffered and that we ourselves are the very reason that he had to suffer.

Jesus was stripped, brutally beaten and whipped. They forced on a crown of thorns that pierced his head until blood dripped down his face and then finally they crucified him on a cross, their most painful method of death reserved for the worst criminals. This was not easy, and despite what we might think, Jesus did suffer.

I want you to think of some the difficult times that you've had in your life. Think of that moment when you were crying or hurting. Whether it was a disappointment, rejection or failure. There's a good chance that eventually things got better and you were able to move on, and if not, it will. Regardless of how many times we've seen this happen before, when we're in that moment of pain, it still hurts even if we know that it'll get better eventually.

In those moments, sometimes we just don't need someone who's going to tell us that everything's going to be okay. Sometime's we just need someone to be with us in that moment.

In a similar way, even though we know that the death of Christ isn't the end and that it's going to get better, we need to be in that moment. We remember that despite being the Son of God, this wasn't easy. Jesus really did suffer, he genuinely wished that he wouldn't have to suffer like that, but he did it anyway because in the end he knew that was the only way people like you and I would ever be saved.

So on this day we call Good Friday, remember why we call it 'good' but also remember what the cost was and that our sin is the reason that cost had to be paid.