Good Friday

On this sixth day of Holy Week, the day we know as Good Friday, our feet are heavy, our hearts and minds are distressed, because the pull is becoming too great for us. We cannot take our minds and eyes away from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and how He, was troubled in spirit, and testified, I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me. John 13: 21b. We are thinking of one just as we are, turned betrayer, whom our Lord, in His universal Love for all, served His enemy, in the same way and with the exact food He fed all the others present.

Lord, am I thinking that I am okay, that I’m safe, because You have not named me as betrayer? Save us from pride and folly. Amen!

The branch that was once in Jesus and has now been broken off, has left and Jesus speaks to the Eleven about His death, in the most triumphant and glorious way. When he was gone, Jesus said, Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in himself, God will glorify the Son in him, and will glorify him at once. John 13: 31 – 32. Jesus, by His words has, as it were, brought them to Golgotha’s scene. Jesus describes it plainly and vividly, in straightforward talk, about His leaving, and them not being able to follow Him to where He is going, at least for a time. Simon Peter is not settling with this and wants Jesus to know that he will not break away from Him, as perhaps Judas has done. Remember, the sadness, the hurt, the sheer unbelief that their brother in Christ Jesus, he who was one with them, day after day, through thick and thin, has been broken off completely.

Peter, carrying the sentiments of the Eleven, asks Jesus where He is going. Jesus repeats that where He is going, none of them can follow. Nevertheless, He assures them that in time to come, they will all be able to follow. Peter was having none of that and spoke with surety and boldness. Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you. John 13: 37b. Calmly and pensively Jesus answers His dear and beloved Peter, with a word which, I am positive, makes Peter think and tremble. Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times! John 13: 38b.

As we continue to listen to our text, what are we being made to behold, on this day of Blood to be shed? If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. Romans 11: 17 – 18.

Many a branch, many a disciple, many of us have become a bit boastful in our good intentions and faithful hearts to serve Jesus with our lives. We, like Peter and the others, have seen believers removed from the Vine, as our Lord speaks truth and has categorically stated that no one can serve two masters. We see those who have been deceived by the enemy of our Lord and have chosen to serve the enemy, the world, and not remain in Christ. We put ourselves up against them and feel good in ourselves that we are not like they are. We may or may not speak these boasts openly, but we carry some self-righteousness in us when compared with others. Do not boast over those branches. Do not boast! Do not look at another brother or sister who has been broken off. Look at yourself. Our Lord, whom we have been serving faithfully and loyally; our Lord, whom we love and do not want Him to leave us; our Lord, who must die, whose life must be laid down, is on His last earthly steps before His Precious Blood is shed, and what do we do?

We, once wild branches who have been grafted into the True Vine, are today, so scared, so intimidated, so very terrified, we become paralyzed by fear. We are so disturbed by what is happening to our beloved Jesus, that we simply can’t think of His Blood being spilled like a common criminal, outside the city, on that dreaded public place call Golgotha, The Place of the Skull.

We, like the disciples, in the place called Gethsemane, where Jesus has gone to pray, become totally disoriented with fear, when they see Judas leading a band of soldiers with swords and clubs, who have come to arrest Jesus, they run away. Mark 14: 50 tells us this. Then everyone deserted him and fled. One of Jesus’ followers was seized also, but he managed to get loose and flee, losing the garment he was wearing. A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind. Mark 14: 51 - 52

We, like Peter, deny knowing our Lord, over and over, while He is about to be crucified. Picture this most gut-wrenching scene between Jesus and Peter. Not one word is spoken between them, yet they both hear each other. It is Peter’s third time denying Jesus and as he utters the words of denial, the rooster crows loudly. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times. And he went outside and wept bitterly. Luke 22: 61 – 62.

Will you ask yourself, as I have asked myself, with bitterness of heart, guilty conscience and deepest sorrow, this question? Am I, this day, a disowner and deserter of our Jesus, the Living Word?

You and I are Jesus’ wild branches whom, through His ever-working Spirit, He has made His own, but fear has driven us to do what we do not want to do.