Good morning. Good Friday. I’ve been up for a couple of hours…got a lot to do. A blog to finish, a sermon for Easter Sunday to finish up (or start…depends on how you look at it), our church is hosting a community-wide Good Friday service TODAY in just a few hours…these, and a few million other things have to be done. As usual, I’m behind. However, I did get to sleep a little last night. I’m sipping some coffee that S.H. from church got me. It’s helping, but I’m still sluggish. Diabetes frustrates the entire show…and so it goes.

Jesus did not get to sleep last night. In the late hours of Thursday night and early hours of Friday morning, God’s incredible plan of redemption enters into its home stretch. This begins with the arrival of Judas who we know now as the disciple who betrayed Jesus. Years ago, I heard a preacher ask, “I wonder if a person could hear the jingling of the 30 pieces of silver as he approached?” Makes you think, doesn’t it? Once again, all four Gospels make contributions to this arrival and the rest of the way to the cross. As I shared at the beginning of this series, approximately 1/3 of the total chapters in the four Gospels are dedicated to this final week of Christ. One need only to turn to the last chapter or two in each to find what we are pointing out today.

I will be purposely brief this morning. Not because of scheduling…but simply because I would prefer you read the Bible passages themselves, rather than my blog. My blogs are filled with failures…especially this week. Solid cases could be made I said too much or not enough and both accusations would be correct. I knew those would come when I sat down to write the first one. I have thick skin. The betrayal of Judas and his arrival in the garden can be found in Matt 26:47-56, Mark 14:43-52, Luke 22:47-53, John 18:2-12. The stories that follow are filled with memorable things many of us have carried with us most of our lives. Each event has a series of things found spread throughout the four Gospels that make a little research well worth the effort. For example, in this event alone, several things come to the surface with a little research. John 18:4-6 tells us when Jesus asked the band that came to arrest him who they were looking for, they said “Jesus of Nazareth.” When Jesus said, “I am he,” John gives us a line the synoptics do not-he writes, “they drew back and fell to the ground.” Powerful, no? Of course, there’s more. Judas kisses Jesus to identify Him as the one who is to be arrested. Simon Peter chops off the ear of one of the men who laid hands on Jesus to arrest him. Jesus restores the ear before the eyes of them all. And if that’s not enough to at least think about…consider how the section closes. Matt 26:56b says, “Then all the disciples left him and fled.” Jesus had told them at the Passover meal, just hours before, they would all fall away…and so they did. See what I mean? Tons of things to unpack.

What follows upon leaving the garden is almost impossible to summarize. In a prayer meeting with some fellow pastors years ago, we were discussing how hard it is to tell people everything that happens those early hours of Friday morning…before Jesus is crucified. The oldest pastor in the room, a saintly gent, who was respected by us all, quietly suggested, “It sounds like God wanted us to read it for ourselves.” And that was that.

I will simply point you to the things we know take place before Jesus is crucified. I will leave out the details and will simply encourage you to read for yourselves. Just as the arrest in the garden is loaded with subplots and events, so are the things that follow. Jesus will be taken to an informal hearing before Annas, the former high priest and the father-in-law of the current high priest, Caiaphas. As this is going on, Peter, we discover has followed Jesus from a distance. In a setting where he can see Jesus and Jesus can see him, Peter denies Jesus three times just as the rooster crows. Luke 22:61-62 says, “And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly.”

After sunrise, the full Sanhedrin consults and condemns Jesus to death and sends him to Pontius Pilate. Judas Iscariot suffers a change of mind, returns the silver, and hangs himself. After Pilate questions Jesus, he sends him to Herod Antipas. Herod will send Jesus back to Pilate. Jesus’ second appearance before Pilate will be where He is condemned to die. Please take some time and read the discussions Pilate has with Jesus. Jesus is then mocked. This is all part of His sufferings. He will be abused in ways that seem inhumane. Movies have tried to capture these moments for us…but even they come up short. Jesus is marched to Golgotha and crucified between two thieves. He will die around 3pm and will be placed in a new tomb by Joseph of Arimathea.

I encourage you to read the closing chapters of the Four gospels today. It won’t take long and it will fill in the gaps I have intentionally left. For our purposes, we must remember this is not just for the sake of information. Jesus is doing this as God’s plan of redemption. As our sins are placed on Jesus, the wrath of God is poured out upon sin. Jesus will suffer for this…that we might be forgiven. Our forgiveness was not cheap…nor should even be taken for granted. He took our place. Theologians call it “the great exchange.” He took our sin and God’s wrath and gave us mercy and grace. Yet today, many reject Jesus with a coldness that mystifies me. He is still mocked to this day. The jokes, the ridicule, the dismissals of his sacrifice have never really ceased. But by God’s grace, some have believed. Have you? As I close out this blog, my watch says it’s 9:30am. In keeping with the timeline…Jesus was nailed to the cross 30 minutes ago. I’m on my second cup of coffee. What is your day looking like?

“Heavenly Father, we thank You for the gift of Your dear Son and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. As we remember His death on the cross today, help to never forget why He suffered and died. Please remind us daily of the importance of His sacrifice. Remind us that Sunday is coming…the tomb will not hold Him. He is alive. You have commissioned us to tell the world this wonderful news. We praise You on this special day. We thank You. Amen.”