A Good Friday message presented at CrossPoint Alliance Church, Copley OH, Friday, April 18, 2025.
For the “Live in Church” version of this message, select here.
How many of you remember the movie, The Passion of the Christ? (I have to ask this question because the movie is now just over 20 years old!) It was co-written, co-produced and directed by Mel Gibson, and it starred Jim Caviezel as Jesus of Nazareth. The movie covered the last twelve hours before Jesus’s death.1 The movie begins at the place where Jesus went to pray to His Father:
Matthew 26:36-44 NLT
36 Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” 37 He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. 38 He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
39 He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
40 Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? 41 Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”
42 Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open.
44 So he went to pray a third time, saying the same things again.
So we see how Jesus, in this crisis moment, went to the Lord with complete knowledge of what was ahead for Him. And talk about a wrestling match! Satan was most certainly there to tempt Jesus—in the same manner we read in Matthew, Chapter 4—because He told the other disciples about not giving in to temptation (verse 41). We are to resist the tempter and the temptation with the Word of God and prayer.
In the garden named Gethsemane, which actually means “oil press,” the crisis moment for Jesus was the immense pressure he was experiencing over what was about to take place, and he was talking with His Father in anguish.
Our message for this Good Friday is to begin with the spiritual wrestling that took place when Jesus went to the garden to pray. It is easy to miss this if you go too quickly, but I want you to see how significant this event was in the moments before Jesus’s arrest, trial and persecution before going on the cross. We need to reflect upon the struggle that Jesus had in this moment in the garden. God the Father had already communicated with His Son, who is holy, to take on the entirety of sin committed by all of mankind—past, present and future. But now, Jesus is in the moment. The moment of His betrayal is approaching. He would soon be taking on our sin out of the Father and Son’s love for us, and this was an extremely intense moment. The aspect of Jesus, who was without sin, taking on the crushing burden of our sin must have been a horrifying experience. He knew that it was coming, of course, but that doesn’t change the reality of dealing with it as it was about to finally happen. This communication with the Father was done with the understanding that it would be done according to His will and that there was no other way for Jesus to complete His mission than to do exactly what He proceeded to do. You should also note that Jesus went to the Father in prayer three times. The number three, as shown repeatedly in Scripture, represents completeness.2 The matter was settled, and Jesus moved forward with resolve to complete His mission. He did this VOLUNTARILY. His action of obedience to the Father is tantamount to his eventual victory at Calvary.
Now, most of us (perhaps all of us) watching the movie when Jesus was being punished and flogged by the Roman soldiers saw the bloodshed. It was so hard to watch that I found myself dropping my head and turning away at times. It was tough to look at, but it made a point that turned out to be an important aspect of what Jesus would do in His act on the cross. Remember that He had prayed to the Father about taking on the sins of the world. What was to happen to those sins? They required that a sacrifice be made to redeem you and me for our sins. To be redeemed means to be rescued and delivered from the bondage of sin. Without redemption, there is no release from sin against God, and there is no forgiveness.3 God had determined long ago that forgiveness of our sin required the shedding of blood.
But why did God require the shedding of blood? Because it was declared in His Word. He established that bloodshed was necessary for the forgiveness of sin.
Hebrews 9:22 NLT
In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.
Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden had damaged the relationship between them and God. God took it upon Himself to kill two animals, which required bloodshed, and clothed them (Genesis 3:21). This was followed with Moses declaring God’s law for the Israelites that involved priests taking sin offerings, guilt offerings, fellowship offerings and offerings of unblemished animals with blood splattered on the altar for the forgiveness of sin.
Leviticus 17:11 NIV
For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.
But what about what happened to Jesus? All of that blood was so gory to look at! The crown smashed down onto His head caused even more bleeding. The nails in his hands and feet. More bloodshed.
Yes, and so was the incredible burden of all of the sin that Jesus took upon Himself. The amount of sin that represents every living person throughout history, for us living in the present, and for those who come after us is a number beyond comprehension. Just consider, in this moment, how much of YOUR sin did Jesus take on from your life? The burden was so intense that Jesus yelled out:
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?!” (Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34)
In Psalm 22, these were prophetic words shared by the psalmist to reflect the emotion of what it is to experience utter abandonment. In spite of the loving relationship between Jesus and the Father, a holy God could not look upon His Son in that moment. Jesus was bearing the weighty punishment of our sin.
And yet, He didn’t shy away from it. He took everything that came upon Him. And I’m grateful for it.
Isaiah the prophet spoke about the crucifixion 700 years before Christ:
Isaiah 53:5-7, 10 NLT
5 But he was pierced for our rebellion,
crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed.
6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
the sins of us all.
7 He was oppressed and treated harshly,
yet he never said a word.
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
And as a sheep is silent before the shearers,
he did not open his mouth.
10 But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him
and cause him grief.
Yet when his life is made an offering for sin,
he will have many descendants.
He will enjoy a long life,
and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.
In John’s gospel, Jesus uttered the words “It is finished” (John 19:30). Jesus accomplished His purpose on earth. All of the words of the prophets about Him, including these words of Isaiah, were fulfilled. He was now our permanent atonement for our sin.
Romans 5:8 NIV
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
The goodness in Good Friday was the action that showed us the intensity of God’s love for all of us.
John 17:1b-5 NIV
1b “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
John 17:24-26 NIV
24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
Jesus finished the work in loving obedience to the Father, and He is still working today as the Holy Spirit is working to bring people into a saving relationship with Him. May we trust in the words of Peter as to God’s eternal plan for us:
1 Peter 1:18-21, 2:24 NIV
18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
2:24 “He (Jesus) himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”
We cannot begin to measure the magnitude of what Jesus’ death on the cross involves except to conclude that His death on the cross was an act of His eternal love for us. Paul knows the intensity of this love that He has for us:
Romans 8:38-39 NIV
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
This moment in the history of the world, a truly GOOD Friday, was when Jesus showed the world how much God loves us. Because we believe that He died for you and me, we will be with Him for all eternity.
We can experience joy today in that Christ paid for our sins by dying on the cross that sacred day.
The goodness of Good Friday is the amazing love that Jesus has for each one of us. Personalize it. Live it. Be grateful for it.
“Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?”4
Copyright © 2025 Melvin Gaines.
1 Wikimedia Foundation. (2025, April 9). The passion of the christ. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Passion_of_the_Christ
2 Rainey, Z. (2025, March 28). The number 3 in the Bible: Spiritual meaning & significance. wikiHow. https://www.wikihow.com/The-Number-3-in-the-Bible#
3 Brodie, J. (2022, December 22). What does it mean to be redeemed? biblical redemption explained. Bible Study Tools. https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/what-does-it-mean-to-be-redeemed.html
4 Wesley, C. (n.d.). Hymn: And can it be that I should gain. hymnalnet RSS. https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/296
Melvin Gaines 