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Good Friday | Holy Week Day 6
0 Playsin 16 hours
Good Friday is the most sobering day of Holy Week — and the most important. In this episode, I walk through the crucifixion, the tearing of the temple veil, and what it all means for us today. Jesus didn't save himself because he was saving you.
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Transcript
Introduction to Good Friday Segment
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello, friends, and welcome back to Verity Podcast's Holy Week series. Welcome to Good Friday. This is the day that Jesus was crucified.
Crucifixion Narrative from Luke 23
00:00:15
Speaker
And today we're going to be reading in Luke 23, verse 33 through 39. verse thirtythree through thirty nine And when they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left.
00:00:34
Speaker
But Jesus was saying, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. And they cast lots, dividing his garments among themselves. And the people stood by watching, and even the rulers were sneering at him, saying, He saved others. Let him save himself, if this is Christ of God, his chosen one." The soldiers also ridiculed him, coming up to him, offering him sour wine and saying, You are the king of the Jews. Save yourself.
00:01:02
Speaker
Now there was also an inscription above him, This is the king of the Jews. One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at him, saying, Are you not Christ? Save yourself and us.
00:01:13
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Verse 40. But the other responded and rebuked him said, Do not you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? We indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our crimes. But this man has done nothing wrong.
00:01:27
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And he was saying, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
Significance of Jesus' Sacrifice
00:01:32
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And he said to him, Truly i say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.
00:01:40
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This particular hour when Jesus is on the cross, it says it's now about the sixth hour and darkness came over the land until the ninth hour. So three hours of darkness was the time when the Passover lambs were being sacrificed.
00:01:58
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This is the height of the Passover celebration, the remembrance of redemption from the slavery of Egypt, the highest and most pivotal moment of remembrance in this whole festival.
00:02:15
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And at the moment when the Passover lambs are being killed, Jesus is dying on the cross. This is the profound picture of God's love.
00:02:32
Speaker
See, Jesus did not have to do this. He had the power to get off the cross. And that's what makes the things that the rulers were saying just so deeply painful.
00:02:44
Speaker
To see them say, if he can save himself, why doesn't he get down? And yet the reason he didn't get down was to save us.
00:02:56
Speaker
He didn't save himself because he was saving. you and he was saving me and this plan was not impulsive what jesus chose to do on good friday he planned from the very beginning of the world ephesians 2 tells us that predestined from the foundation of the world was jesus christ's salvation for us As soon as Adam and Eve rebelled against God and invited brokenness and sin into our world, God had a plan to bring people back into relationship with him.
00:03:39
Speaker
All of the Old Testament points to this moment and all of the New Testament points back to it. Everyone in the Old Testament put faith in God's coming Messiah. And all of us living under the new covenant put faith in the Messiah who came.
00:03:56
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This is the pivotal moment.
Symbolism of the Temple Veil Tearing
00:04:00
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And as the darkness descends over the cross, the sun stops shining and the veil of the temple is torn in two.
00:04:12
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For context, the veil of the temple is dozens of feet high and incredibly thick, about 18 inches thick. And it was torn from top to bottom.
00:04:26
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It would have been impossible for anything but a divine hand to tear that veil in two. Why? Why was the veil torn in two at this moment? There are many different scholarly theories, but one of the most accepted is that the veil was torn in two because no longer was God in that sanctuary.
00:04:51
Speaker
God was no longer dwelling in that Holy of Holies. God was out there on a cross. And no longer was there a barrier between the children of God and God himself. But he was going to come and dwell personally in temples not made by hands, but temples of human bodies.
00:05:15
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This is the picture of God's love undisported.
Reflection on Divine Love and Salvation
00:05:20
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That instead of making human beings earn and climb and try to make their way back to God by being good enough, God, the only one who is good enough, took on a human body and took on human judgment.
00:05:38
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to save humans who didn't deserve it. That's the gospel. You didn't have to reach God. He reached down to you.
00:05:49
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And all you have to do is believe that he is your king, given for you, that he loves you, and he invites you to relationship with him.
00:06:04
Speaker
If you've never watched my podcast before, you're not even watching the whole Holy Week series. You're just watching this one video. I want to tell you I'm so glad that you're here, and I think you're here for a reason. I think you needed to hear this particular message.
00:06:18
Speaker
And I pray that wherever you are and whoever you are, that you see just how much God loves you. And what Christ did on the cross was a sacrifice of true love for the people that he made.
Invitation to Accept Jesus' Sacrifice
00:06:34
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He is God. He is man. He is the sacrifice for everything you've ever done that you feel like you have to make up for. He made up for it.
00:06:46
Speaker
He took it on himself. And all you have to do is follow him. That's the good news of Good Friday.
Good Friday Traditions and Observances
00:06:58
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This particular day oftentimes will be a day when churches dress in, that people will dress in black. Good Friday was first observed in the fourth century. It goes back a very long way.
00:07:12
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And many people over the course of church history would read this account like we just did. They would fast together and they would meditate on the cross.
00:07:24
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So for those of you who've been Christians for a long time, this day can be a time when you think about what Jesus has done, what he's done for you.
Keeping Jesus' Sacrifice Alive
00:07:37
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Don't let it grow old. Don't let your heart grow cold to the beauty and goodness of Jesus' death on the cross. This is the pivotal moment when all of our sins were paid for. it Let's never let that grow old.
00:08:00
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I'll see you tomorrow on Holy Saturday.