GOOD FRIDAY
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Jesus Arrested and Taken to Annas
Then the company of soldiers, the commander, and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus and tied him up. First they led him to Annas, since he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it would be better for one man to die for the people.
Peter Denies Jesus
Simon Peter was following Jesus, as was another disciple. That disciple was an acquaintance of the high priest; so he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard. But Peter remained standing outside by the door. So the other disciple, the one known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the girl who was the doorkeeper and brought Peter in.
Then the servant girl who was the doorkeeper said to Peter, “You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?”
“I am not,” he said. Now the servants and the officials had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold. They were standing there warming themselves, and Peter was standing with them, warming himself.
Jesus before Annas
The high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching.
“I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus answered him. “I have always taught in the synagogue and in the temple, where all the Jews congregate, and I haven’t spoken anything in secret. Why do you question me? Question those who heard what I told them. Look, they know what I said.”
When he had said these things, one of the officials standing by slapped Jesus, saying, “Is this the way you answer the high priest?” “If I have spoken wrongly,” Jesus answered him, “give evidence about the wrong; but if rightly, why do you hit me?” Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.
Peter Denies Jesus Twice More
Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They said to him, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.”
One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?” Peter denied it again. Immediately a rooster crowed.
Jesus before Pilate
Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters. It was early morning. They did not enter the headquarters themselves; otherwise they would be defiled and unable to eat the Passover.
So Pilate came out to them and said, “What charge do you bring against this man?”
They answered him, “If this man weren’t a criminal, we wouldn’t have handed him over to you.”
Then Pilate went back into the headquarters, summoned Jesus, and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?
Jesus answered, “Are you asking this on your own, or have others told you about me?”
“I’m not a Jew, am I?” Pilate replied. “Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?”
“My kingdom is not of this world,” said Jesus. “If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, so that I wouldn’t be handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”
“You are a king then?” Pilate asked.
“You say that I’m a king,” Jesus replied. “I was born for this, and I have come into the world for this: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”
“What is truth?” said Pilate.
Jesus or Barabbas
After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no grounds for charging him. You have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at the Passover. So, do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”
They shouted back, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers also twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on his head, and clothed him in a purple robe. And they kept coming up to him and saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and were slapping his face.
Jesus Flogged and Mocked
Pilate went outside again and said to them, “Look, I’m bringing him out to you to let you know I find no grounds for charging him.” Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”
Pilate Sentences Jesus to Death
When the chief priests and the temple servants[a] saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”
Pilate responded, “Take him and crucify him yourselves, since I find no grounds for charging him.”
“We have a law,” the Jews replied to him, “and according to that law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.”
When Pilate heard this statement, he was more afraid than ever. He went back into the headquarters and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus did not give him an answer. So Pilate said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you know that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you?”
“You would have no authority over me at all,” Jesus answered him, “if it hadn’t been given you from above. This is why the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”
From that moment Pilate kept trying to release him. But the Jews shouted, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Anyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar!”
When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside. He sat down on the judge’s seat… Then he told the Jews, “Here is your king!”
They shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”
Pilate said to them, “Should I crucify your king?”
“We have no king but Caesar!” the chief priests answered.
Then he handed him over to be crucified.
The Crucifixion
Then they took Jesus away. Carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called Place of the Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him and two others with him, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle.
Pilate also had a sign made and put on the cross. It said: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. Many of the Jews read this sign, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek. 21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Don’t write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that he said, ‘I am the King of the Jews.’” Pilate replied, “What I have written, I have written.”
When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, a part for each soldier. They also took the tunic, which was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. So they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it, to see who gets it.” This happened that the Scripture might be fulfilled that says: They divided my clothes among themselves, and they cast lots for my clothing. This is what the soldiers did.
The Finished Work of Jesus
After this, when Jesus knew that everything was now finished that the Scripture might be fulfilled, he said, “I’m thirsty.” A jar full of sour wine was sitting there; so they fixed a sponge full of sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it up to his mouth.
When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.
Jesus’s Side Pierced
Since it was the preparation day, the Jews did not want the bodies to remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a special day). They requested that Pilate have the men’s legs broken and that their bodies be taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man and of the other one who had been crucified with him. When they came to Jesus, they did not break his legs since they saw that he was already dead. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out.
He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows he is telling the truth. For these things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: Not one of his bones will be broken. Also, another Scripture says: They will look at the one they pierced.
John 18:12-30; 33-40; 19:1-24; 19:28-37
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PRAYER POINTS
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1) Ask the Holy Spirit for boldness to stand for Jesus even in challenging times.
(reference for further reading: Matt. 10:32-39; Acts 4:13, 29-31; Romans 1:16; 2 Tim. 1:8; Titus 1:6)
Holy Spirit give us the same boldness that You gave to the disciples in the early Church. Help us in our human weakness never to deny Jesus. Through our words and our deeds, help us to present incontrovertible evidence to the world around us that we know and love Him. Give us the strength to stand for Jesus even in the face of opposition.
2) Thank Jesus for His Kingdom coming. (ref. Matthew 4:17, 6:10; Luke 17:20-21, 18:29-30; 1 Cor. 15:50; Heb. 12:26-29)
Jesus, thank you that you came to establish a Kingdom that is not of this world – one that cannot be shaken, corrupted or brought to an end. Help us to remember that our citizenship, identity and allegiance is to You, in You and through You, King Jesus. Help us to live with an eternal perspective, remembering that this age is passing away and the age to come is breaking in.
3) Thank Jesus for being truth and guiding us in truth. (ref. Psalm 25:5, 119:60, John 1:14, 8:31-32, 14:6, 16:12-15; 1 John 3:18)
Thank you, Jesus, that You are Truth -- that You have given us Your Holy Word, the Bible, which testifies of You from Genesis to Revelation! Thank You for the many prophecies that You fulfilled during your 33 years on the Earth. We stand amazed
at the many evidences you have given us that you are indeed the Messiah. May Your Holy Spirit continue to guide us into all truth.
4) Thank Jesus for paying the price for our redemption.
(ref. John 3:16; Rom. 5:8, 6:23; Gal. 1:4; Eph. 1:7-10; 1 Peter 2:24-25; 1 John 3:16)
More than anything, we thank You, Jesus, for loving us so much that You were willing to suffer and sacrifice Yourself for us. You bore our sins in Your body, and redeemed us through Your blood. Your act of love overwhelms us and we are in awe of You. We will praise You throughout eternity for paying the price for our sins, a price that we could never pay.
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*Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible, Copyright (c) 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Christian Standard Bible and CSB are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.