Good Friday

Good Friday






Behold, the man! (John 19:5)



When Pilate spoke these words on that first Good Friday, he was trying to prove Jesus’ innocence. He had tried him and found nothing in him worthy of the death that the Sanhedrin was demanding. “I have interrogated him. I have even punished him for whatever crime you may think he committed. Look at him now! I’ve done all I have to do. Now leave him—and me—alone!”



But it wasn’t enough. Incited to a near riot, the crowd demanded that Jesus be put to death. And Pilate, forever known as a weak-willed government functionary, caved in.



Two thousand years later, Pilate’s words continue to ring out, only now with a new, prophetic meaning. On this day above all other days, God himself is asking us to behold the man. He is asking us to look at Jesus—wounded, bruised, crowned with thorns—and see him as our Savior, our Lord, and our King.



Yes, behold the man! He stands before you as an innocent victim. Behold this man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, and see the One who bore all of your sins. Fix your eyes on him, and see your redemption. See the lengths to which God went to rescue you from death. See the love of Christ—a passionate love that is willing to endure the cross for the sake of your salvation. Behold the man, and know that he embraced this fate because he loves you.



But there is more. As you behold the man, you are also beholding humanity itself. You are seeing what our sin, our jealousy, our selfishness look like. You are seeing a picture of how sin has marred us. Like the man beaten and left for dead on the roadside until the good Samaritan rescued him, Jesus stands before you now, showing you how desperate and needy we are without him. He is showing you what sin does to you, in the hopes that you will surrender yourself to him anew today. So behold him, and see what he has saved you from.



Yes, behold the man today. Praise him. Thank him. Worship him. Give him your life today, because he gave himself so completely for you.



“Jesus, as I fix my eyes on you, give me a glimpse of the salvation you have won for me. Lord, I want to belong to you alone!”



Isaiah 52:13–53:12;



Psalm 31:2,6,12-13,15-17,25;