Good Friday - Who's running the show?

[As we read the story of Good Friday in John 18:1-19-42], let me remind you that everything today seems to be backwards. Look for these moments and more as you read:

1. Four hundred soldiers come to arrest one person, Jesus. Jesus is innocent of anything, by the way

2. As they ask for Jesus, he answers, “I AM,” and they fall down in fear rather than Jesus being afraid of them.

3. The high priests bring Jesus to Pontius Pilate and say that He needs to be crucified because He is a criminal even though the charges they bring are false. Who are the ones doing the wrong thing here?

4. Pilate tells the crowd that Jesus is innocent, and they react by demanding His crucifixion.

5. Pilate tells Jesus that he is in control and that he can release Jesus if he wants. When Pilate tries to release Him, what happens? Is Pilate really in control?

6. A judge delivers a verdict to the accused from the judge’s bench, dictating who is innocent and may go free, and who is guilty and must be punished. Pilate sits Jesus in the judge’s bench and declares Jesus king of the Jews, but the punishment is death. Who is the true judge? If Jesus is the judge, who is guilty? Who is the punishment for?

The truth of who Jesus is and what He is doing is so intermingled with the truth of our sin and our separation from God, that it was lost at the time. It’s not so different now, even when we know the story. We can get turned around and lost in our sin and see the good being offered as something bad to be avoided. May this Gospel help to open our eyes to the truth.

(Excerpted from Walking Through Holy Week)

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