Good Friday, it’s called this because of an ancient usage of the word “good” as a synonym for Holy. In the same way as the Holy Bible at times is called the “Good Book, Holy Friday, indeed.
From the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was led to a mock trial, after which He was beaten mercilessly with a cat of nine tails. This procedure was so brutal that some recipients didn’t survive it. The leather cords tipped with sharp metal, tore at the flesh of the victim, ripping off pieces of flesh. The beating with its nine cords, delivered 39 times, made a total of 351 lashes. This was barbaric and brutal,not on,y lacerating the back, but wrapping around the front of the victims body, including the face. It is hard to described this lashing without being too graphic for most readers. The depiction of the horrible damage in the Passion movie is no exaggeration. Suffice it to say that when finished, the victim was often unrecognizable.
The soldiers also beat Christ with their fists and spat in His face. To mock Him as “King of the Jews,” a crown of thorns as placed on His head and pressed into His skin, causing great pain and more loss of blood. When the ordeal was finished.Jesus was so mangled and covered with spittle and blood that He was literally unrecognizable. Isaiah said, “Many people were shocked, astonished and appalled when they saw Him. His appearance was so damaged, disfigured and marred. He didn’t look like a man; His form was so changed they could barely tell He was a man (Isaiah 52:14 the amplified Bible). The added punishments and torture, much more than the average victim of crucifixion was afflicted with, can only be explained as the fury of hell, trying to snuff out the life of the Son of God.
Jesus received this for you and me. Isaiah 53:5 and 1 Peter 2:24 tells us through the beating that we can be healed. Place your faith in this today. Receive healing by placing your faith in His substitutionary sacrifice.
Jesus was then led to His crucifixion. There are several prophetic references or pictures in the Old Testament pointing to the Cross. One passage of extreme importance is Deuteronomy 21:22-23, which references one who experienced death by hanging on a tree as being “cursed.” It is abundantly clear from Galatians 3:13 that this verse refers to Jesus hanging on a “tree,” taking our curse. “ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us – for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.”
Jesus’s (Yeshua’s) crucifixion took place at Gotgotha, “the place of the skull.” God centuries before, had ordained that this would be the place and, with stones and stones erosion, craved the international symbol of death onto the hillside. This also was the location of Isaacs interrupted sacrifice (Genesis 22), which pictured the Cross. Like Isaac, we were spared, and God Himself provided the sacrifice. “Then Abraham looked up (lifted his eyes) and saw a male sheep (ram) caught in a bush by its horns. So Abraham went and took the sheep, offering its whole burnt offering to God, and his son was saved (In place of his son). So Abraham named that place the Lord Provides (Hebrews: Yahweh Yireh). Even today, people today, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided (or seen) (Genesis 22:13-14; The Amplified Bible). In this chosen place, high on a hill so all could see the Passover Lamb bearing our shame, God provided the sacrifice for our sins. Jesus carried His own Cross, though He was able to carry it only part of the way. It was actually the cross beam that He carried. When He arrived at the place of crucifixion, Ne was first tied and nailed with spikes to this cross piece, which contained a hole in the center, enabling it to slide down into the upright post.
After a victim was tied and nailed to this portion, it was lifted and placed onto the top of the upright section, whereupon it would fall down and slam into place. This is often with dislocations that would occur in the crucified person, as the crosspiece slammed down. And indeed we know this occurred with Jesus, As was prophesied of Him in Psalm 22:14. The sliding down of the crosspiece is also why the spikes were placed at the bottom of the handles where they joined the wrist; this placement would have sustained more weight. It’s also why the victim was tied to the crossbeam, if they were not secured in this way, they would often to torn loose.
Yeshua (Jesus) hung on the Cross for six hours in this emancipated state. While there He spoke seven times. They were all significant. Half way through the ordeal, at noon, the sun disappeared, and the sky drew dark (Luke 23::44-45). This was the fulfillment of Amos 8:9-10: “It Will come about that day, declares the Lord God ‘That I will make the sun go down at noon and make the earth dark in broad day light. The I will turn your festivals into mourning for an only Son, And It Will be like a bitter day.” Surely this is a prophetic picture of the Light of the World being snuffed out for us.
It was at the end of the 3 hours that Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why hast you forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46-47. Mark 15:34). He was quoting from Psalm 22, which is a detailed prophecy of the Cross. Jesus was crying out in anguish because, for the first time in all of eternity, He was experiencing separation from His Father. It is also the only record we have Him addressing God as any other than Father.
Jesus had taken our sins on Himself (2 Corinthians 5:32; Isaiah 53:5). Most scholars agree that when this occurred, He bore our separation from the Father, who could no longer look upon Him. Though Jesus no doubt endured, and cried out in anguish. It is worth noting the Christ never cried out during His beatings, scourging, thorns, spikes, or dislocations – only when His separation occurred from His Father, as He bore our sin.
Finally, it was enough. The price had been paid. Christ made His final two statements. The first, “It is finished,” this was not a statement referencing His death, but a loud declaration by Jesus, also quoted from Psalm 22:31. This decree was one word in Greek (tetelestia) and also in the Hebrew of Psalm (asah). Using the literal meaning of these words, Jesus was declaring that He had finished His assignment, paid our debt in full, and was bringing forth the new creation!
Yeshua then released His spirit to the Father. Death did not take Him, He “yielded up His Spirit” (Matthew 27:50). It was 3 o’ clock in the after noon. The priests in the Temple were performing their customary duties when, at the very moment Jesus yielded up His Spirit, the veil in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45). The purpose of the veil had been to separate everyone from the Holy of Holies, the dwelling place of God and earth. With this symbolic act, God was declaring that the separation caused by our sin was gone, and we could now enter into His presence once again!
This account of what to place was shared in an email I received this morning. These are the accounts of what took place on this Holy Day -Good Friday 2000 years ago. The email was written by Dutch Sheets, a Pastor and American Author.
I find it very sad that people today don’t take the time to learn what Jesus did for us on the Cross. Many are too busy celebrating a long weekend of fun. Jesus is truly our Savior.
From Pity to Praise 