Holy Week | Good Friday — At the Foot of the Cross

On this sacred Good Friday episode, we begin by reading John 18 and 19, allowing the story of Jesus’ suffering, trial, and crucifixion to wash over us once again. We do not rush past the cross. We linger there.

Jesus on the cross still reaches us—reaches our sinful, broken, weary hearts. In His silence before accusers, His wounds beneath the weight of love, and His final breath given freely, we see the depth of God’s mercy and the cost of our redemption.

This is not a story to observe from a distance. This is an invitation. Join us at the foot of the cross, where sorrow and hope meet, where guilt is laid down, where forgiveness is poured out, and where love holds nothing back. Here, beneath the sign that reads “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews,” we remember that He chose the cross for us.

This Good Friday reflection is a space to listen, grieve, repent, and worship. A space to sit quietly in the shadow of the cross and allow Jesus to truly reach your heart once again.

Come and remember.
 Come and be still.
 Come and stand at the foot of the cross.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to From the Well to the World. Today is called Good Friday, not because the cross was kind, but because God was faithful. This is Holy Friday, the day love was lifted up on wood, the day darkness fell, not to extinguish hope, but to reveal its depth.

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What appears to be defeat is God's design, the victory of mercy.

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Let's turn to the Bible, John 18 and 19. When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kedron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it. Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns, and weapons. Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, Who is it you want? Jesus of Nazareth, they said, I am he, Jesus said. And Judas, the traitor, was standing there with them. When Jesus said, I am he, they threw back and fell to the ground. Again he asked them, Who is it you want? Jesus of Nazareth, they said. Jesus answered, I told you that I am he. If you are looking for me, then let these men go. This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled. I have not lost one of those you gave me. Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. Jesus commanded Peter, put your sword away. Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me? And then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him and brought him first to Ananias, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jewish leaders that it would be good if one man died for the people. Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus because this disciple was known to the high priest. He went with Jesus into the high priest's courtyard, but Peter had to wait outside of the door. The other disciple who was known to the high priest came back, spoke to the servant girl on duty there, and brought Peter in. You aren't one of these man's disciples too, are you? She asked Peter. He replied, I am not. It was cold and the servants and officials stood outside around a fire that they had made to keep warm. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself. Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teachings. I have spoken openly to the world, Jesus replied. I always taught in synagogues or at the temple where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. Why question me? And those who heard me, surely they know what I said. And when Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby slapped him in the face. Is this the way you answer the high priest? He demanded. If I said something wrong, Jesus replied, Testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me? And then Anias sent him back to Caiaphas, the high priest. Meanwhile, Simon Peter was still standing there warming himself. So they asked him, You are not one of the disciples too, are you? And he denied it, saying, I am not. One of the high priest's servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenged him. Didn't I see you with him in the garden? Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow. Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caipus to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanliness, they did not enter the palace because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. So Pilate came out to them and asked, What charges are you bringing against this man? If he were not a criminal, they replied, we would not have handed him over to you. And Pilate said, Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law. But we have no right to execute anyone, they objected. This took place to fulfill what Jesus had said about the kind of death he was going to die. Pilate then went back into the palace, summoned Jesus, and asked him, Are you the king of the Jews? Is that your own idea? Jesus asked. Or did others talk to you about me? Am I a Jew? Pilate replied. Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done? And Jesus said, My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent me my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place. You are a king, then, said Pilate. Jesus answered, You say that I am a king? In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me. What is truth? retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews, gathered there and said, I find no basis for a charge against him, but it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of Passover. Do you want me to release the king of the Jews? And they shouted back, No, not him. Give us Barabbas. Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising. Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again saying, Hail, King of the Jews, and they slapped him in the face. Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, gathered there, look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for charge against him. When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, Here is the man. And as soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, Crucify, crucify. But Pilate answered, You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him. And the Jewish leaders insisted, We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God. And when Pilate heard this he was even more afraid, and he went back inside the palace. Where do you come from? he asked Jesus. But Jesus gave him no answer. Do you refuse to speak to me? Pilate said. Don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you? Jesus answered, You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore, the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin. From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar. When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge's seat at a place known as a stone pavement, which in Aramaic is Gabbatha. It was the day of preparation of the Passover. It was about noon. Here is your king, Pilate said to the Jews, but they shouted, Take him away, take him away, crucify him. Shall I crucify your king? Pilate asked. We have no king but Caesar, the chief priests answered. Finally, Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the skull, which in Aramec is called Gogatha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on each side and Jesus in the middle. Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramic, Latin, and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, Do not write the King of the Jews, but that this man claimed to be the King of the Jews. Pilate answered, What I have written, I have written. When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, divided them into four shares, one of each of them with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. Let's not tear it, they said to one another. Let's decide by lot who will get it. This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said, They divided my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment. So this is what the soldiers did. Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, Woman, here is your son, and to the disciple, here is your mother. From that time on this disciple took her into his home. Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, I am thirsty. A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, It is finished. With that he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. They asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the others. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with the spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled. Not one of his bones will be broken. And as another scripture says, they will look on the one they have pierced.

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Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh, alloys, about 75 pounds. Taking Jesus' body, the two of them wrapped it with spices and strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in that garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid, because it was the Jewish day of preparation, and said the tomb was nearby, Jesus was laid there.

SPEAKER_00 13:14

Good Friday confronts us with the paradox we do not rush past. The servant of the Lord is lifted up, not on the throne, but on a cross. Disfigurement precedes glory. Wounds precede healing. This suffering is not accidental. It is not deserved. It is not wasted.

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Jesus does not suffer as a victim of circumstance, but as a willing Lamb of God. What was lost to the wood of a tree in Adam's disobedience is restored through the wood of the cross in Christ's obedience. Where sin brought death, the cross now brings life.

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John's gospel shows us a Savior who remains in control, even as he is stripped, mocked, and nailed. This is the completion of sacrifice, the once-for-all offering, the work of redemption brought to fullness.

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Hebrews reminds us that the one who suffers is also our high priest, able to sympathize, able to save, able to intercede forever. He does not stand far off from human pain. He enters it. Because of him, we approach this day with not only grief, but with awe. Merciful Savior, teach us to behold the cross rightly, not as failure, but as love poured out without reserve. Wide our hearts, strip away our pride, help us surrender to the old self and receive your life you give.

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As the darkness lingers, anchor us in hope. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, our crucified and risen Lord. Amen.