Video

How Marvelous [V1, C]

Reading 1

The disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover. When evening came, he was reclining at the table with the Twelve.
As they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take and eat it; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks, he gave it to them and said, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. But I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
Matthew 26:19–20, 26–29

Welcome

Welcome to Good Friday at Third Baptist, so glad you joined us tonight as we take time to remember the price that was paid for our redemption.

The plan for tonight is pretty simple:

Sing together.
Pray together.
Read the story together.
Take communion together.
Worship freely & passionately together

If there is one day that would make us emotional; one event in history that should drive us to our knees in gratitude; if there’s one story that should cause us to lift our hearts, hands, voices in worship, it should be the death of our Savior, his life poured out for us.

So if you feel the tears start to well up in your eyes tonight, let them fall. If you feel your hands wanting to go up, let them. The one who purchased your life by his death deserve the fullest expression of your worship!

Reading 2

He went out and made his way as usual to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. When he reached the place, he told them. “Pray that you may not fall into temptation.” Then he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and began to pray, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me—nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.
Then an angel from heaven appeared to him, strengthening him. Being in anguish, he prayed more fervently, and his sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground. When he got up from prayer and came to the disciples, he found them sleeping, exhausted from their grief. “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray, so that you won’t fall into temptation.”
While he was still speaking, suddenly a mob came, and one of the Twelve named Judas was leading them. He came near Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”
Luke 22:39–48

How Marvelous [V2, C]

Reading 3

Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the governor’s residence and gathered the whole company around him. They stripped him and dressed him in a scarlet robe. They twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on his head, and placed a staff in his right hand. And they knelt down before him and mocked him: “Hail, king of the Jews!” Then they spat on him, took the staff, and kept hitting him on the head.
Pilate went outside again and said to [the Jews], “Look, I’m bringing him out to you to let you know I find no grounds for charging him.” Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!”
Matthew 27:27–31, John 19:4–5

Message, Part 1

“Behold the man!” Like so many people in this story, Pilate had no idea the depths of what he was saying in that moment, that his words would still be remembered thousands of years later. We’re gathered here tonight to do that very thing, to “behold the man”, the God man, Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is not the first time this idea appears in Scripture. All the way back at the very beginning, God himself said something very similar. After creating the entire universe, God saved the best for last, and took special care this one creature in particular. Rather than just speaking him into existence…

The Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.
Genesis 2:7

And when he had made the first man, Adam…

Then God looked over all he had made,
and he saw that it was very good!
Genesis 1:31, NLT

Not just good, like before—now it’s all very good. Human beings were the final flourish on the canvas of creation. They were his signature, made in his very image, representing Him in this new world.

Not long after that, God speaks again: “Where are you? What have you done?”

What they had done was rebel against Him, the One whose image they were created to reflect, whose fellowship they were meant to enjoy.

God judged them there in the Garden—He’d already warned them that if they chose to disobey Him, if they didn’t trust Him, they would die, first spiritually and eventually physically.

That’s the way it had to be.

He is good; when you walk away, all that’s left is evil.
His presence is peace and joy; w/o it, there’s nothing but fear & pain
God was the giver of life itself—He’s the One who breathed life into Adam; w/o him, they shall surely die… and so shall we, their sons and daughters.

But even in the garden, God promised Eve a son, a man who would crush the head of that serpent, a second Adam who would come to put right what had went so wrong.

On the first Friday, God said in effect, “Behold the man.”

On the first Good Friday, when Pilate said, “Behold the man”, he may not have understood what he was saying, but John the apostle did. Jesus is the ultimate man. He is the image of the invisible God, the one “in whom all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.” He shows us what God always intended humanity to be like.

He was the second Adam, better in every single way. And he’s about to reverse all the havoc the first Adam caused.

FIRST ADAM	SECOND ADAM
”my will be done"	"your will be done”
yielded to temptation in garden	resisted temptation in garden
disobedience came from tree	obedience, even on a tree
always meant to wear a crown	wore a crown of thorns
sentenced to toil among thorns	thorns pressed into skull
blamed his bride	took blame for his bride
ashamed, tried to cover up nakedness	on the cross, naked for all to see
clothed by first blood sacrifice	final sacrifice to cloth us in his righteousness
man who sought to be like God	God who became man
brought a curse	became a curse
told he would surely die	would die, once for all

We’re hear tonight to remember and celebrate the sacrifice of the second Adam. By his perfect life we’ve been given the gift of a righteousness not our own.

And by his sacrificial death we’ve been given the possibility of new life, to have our relationship with our Creator restored, to become who we were created to be.

”Behold the man!”

Reading 4

When they arrived at the place called The Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals, one on the right and one on the left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing.”
When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lemá sabachtháni?” which is translated, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Luke 23:33–34

Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross

Message, Part 2

The Judge of the world has now become the defendant; faces a corrupt jury out for blood, who quickly shouts their verdict: “Crucify him!”

The originator of life submits himself to the executioners of death. And when he does, the sky goes dark. It’s as if creation itself has to respond to what it is seeing.

There’s never been a darker moment in the history of the world, but at the very same time, it illuminates God’s heart like nothing else can. Like I heard someone say recently, “The brighter the light shines, the darker of a shadow it casts.”

We could focus on the physical pain that Jesus went through tonight. Death by crucifixion happens by a slow process of asphyxiation—you can inhale, but because of the pressure of your body weight on your shoulders, you can’t exhale that breath without pulling yourself up by the nails through your wrists and pushing off the nails through your ankles. So for six hours, Jesus alternated between searing pain and the panicked feeling of suffocation.

While that’s important, it’s not most important. Notice what Jesus isn’t saying:

“my head, my head”
“my hands, my hands”
“my feet, my feet”
“my friends, my friends”

There’s a suffering he’s experiencing in this moment that makes everything other kind of pain fade to the background.

Because of our rebellion, you and I deserve to spend an eternity separated from God in hell—every single one of us.

All the wrath of God that would take you an eternity to experience, Jesus experienced all of that in those few hours on the cross. Billions of eternities worth of suffering, all compressed into this one point.

For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ… For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:15–17, NLT

Repentance

The cross demands some kind of response from you. You can’t just ignore it.

Look at the cross, look at your sin, decide which one is better.
Look at the first Adam and the second, decide which one you will follow.

“God’s free gift… for all who receive it.” That is the invitation tonight, from God’s heart directly to yours: receive the gift of his grace tonight, whether for the first time or the thousandth.

To come and receive the bread and the cup, to hold in your hand this physical representation of spiritual realities, that Jesus Christ, the second Adam, came to shed his blood so that you can be rescued from the Fall of the first Adam.

Lead Us Back

Reading 5

After this, when Jesus knew that everything was now finished that the Scripture might be fulfilled, he said, “I’m thirsty.” A jar full of sour wine was sitting there; so they fixed a sponge full of sour wine on a hyssop branch Hand held it up to his mouth.
When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.
John 19:28–30