Good Friday

A powerful Good Friday message reflecting on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the depth of His love for humanity. This episode with Pastor Josh Floyd invites you to pause, remember the cross, and consider the significance of Christ’s suffering, and the hope it brings to our lives today.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello everyone, I'm Dr. Steve Holt. I want to welcome you to the Road Church Podcast. Each week we go into God's Word. We teach chapter by chapter and verse by verse. And we are here to build the Kingdom of God revolution through empowering people to change the world. So we pray this will minister to you at your heart level and change your life.

SPEAKER_02 0:25

Happy Good Friday. Are you thankful for the blood today? Where would we be without the cross? The blessed cross. This afternoon I hope to read the scripture and allow the testimony of Christ's suffering foretold throughout the ages to speak to our hearts. Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God indeed said, You shall not eat of every tree in the garden. And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it lest you die. Then the serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die, for God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her. And then in verse thirteen, the Lord God said to the woman, What is this you have done? And the woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate. So the Lord God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, you are cursed, more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field, on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. That word bruise means to deal a fatal blow. I think that the lie Satan told to Eve was not as obvious as we might think. The obvious lie was you will certainly not die, but the subliminal lie, I think, is the same lie that he tells to believers today who have received the impartation of Christ's righteousness, the imputation, excuse me, of Christ's righteousness, which is you are not like God. He convinced her that she was unlike her father, even though we know in Genesis 1 that she was made in his image, not only in his likeness, but also as a representation of him in this world, that Adam and Eve were created as his imagers, as those who would display his glory and rule and reign under his authority. But she believed the lie that she was not like God, and so she decided to take and eat. She decided to take her redemption into her own hands. She decided to, through her own effort, attempt to achieve a semblance of God. But the only way to be like God is to receive his sacrifice by faith. Your works are not good enough. Your effort is useless. Your righteousness is filthy rags. But his righteousness is beautiful and pure. He was a sinless man, tempted in all ways as we were, yet without sin. And he died an agonizing death to deliver his righteousness unto you. And this was the first prophecy of the Lamb. The Lamb who would defeat sin, death, hell, and the grave, and restore many lost men and women back to the glory of sonship. And the lamb will crush the skull of Satan, dealing a fatal blow. And in the end, the lamb will defeat the beast. And he will rule and reign as a lamb. And he has been the lamb slain since before the foundation of this world. In Genesis 22, we read about Abraham and God putting him to the test, instructing him to sacrifice his promised son Isaac. We see this promised son carrying wood on his own back. Up a mountain to be sacrificed as an image, a prefiguration of the Son, who would carry a cross on his back, up a mountain. And we read in Genesis 22, verse 6, so Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took the fire in his hand and a knife. And the two of them went together. But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, My father, he said, Here I am, my son. Then he said, Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb? For a burnt offering, and Abraham said, My son, God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering. And so we know that the angel of the Lord on Mount Moriah will stop Abraham from sacrificing his own son. It was very normal in that day for men to sacrifice their firstborn children. It was, according to many historians, the world capital of child sacrifice. It was very normal. It was very understandable. It was not strange to Abraham in his culture to be asked to sacrifice his son to a god because every pagan god in existence has always asked for us to give the most precious things, to worship them, and those same demon gods are still at work today requiring innocent blood. But only one God provided for himself, Jesus. The place where Christ was sacrificed, we'll read at the end of this message, is Golgotha, which means skull. This was a similar ridge to where Abraham would receive his son back and not have to kill him because the Lord provided a ram whose thorns were caught in the thicket. And on the same ridge, Abraham would meet with Melchizedek, who would offer him bread and wine. And we'll take communion today. And on this same ridge, but outside of Jerusalem was Golgotha, Calvary, that blessed hill where God provided a lamb for himself, and crushed the skull of the serpent on the place called the skull. We move forward in the story to Genesis 40. And Joseph is in prison, and he interprets the dreams of two men, a baker and a cupbearer. And the baker is condemned and hung from a tree. And the cupbearer is restored to a place of dignity next to Pharaoh, a type of king. And in the next chapter in Genesis 41, we see Joseph being set free from a prison and installed as the ruler over Egypt by rightly discerning the message of the bread and the wine. And those of us who have discerned the sacrifice of Christ are also delivered from prisons of shame and sin, suffering, of sickness, guilt, fear. And by discerning the message of Christ's sacrifice, the breaking of his body and the spilling of his blessed, precious, holy blood, transfers us from prisons to being seated with Christ in heavenly places. Later comes the Exodus, and God instructs Moses to take up a staff, a piece of wood. And as Moses throws it down, it becomes a serpent. And as he picks it up, it becomes the rod of God. And Moses is instructed to perform this sign before Pharaoh, who is the one who wears the serpent as a crown. And in Exodus chapter 7, verse 8, the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, Show a miracle for yourselves, then you shall say to Aaron, Take your rod, that piece of wood, and cast it before Pharaoh, and let it become a serpent. And we see a prefiguration of 2 Corinthians 5. He who knew no sin became sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. So Moses and Aaron went into Pharaoh, and they did so, just as the Lord commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a certain serpent. But Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers, so the magicians of Egypt they also did in like manner with their enchantments, for every man threw down his rod and they became serpents. But Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods. And while the sorcerers of Egypt were able to perform the same sign, the rod of God, that piece of wood swallowed up the rods of Egypt. And in the same way, the power of the cross has swallowed up death in victory. The grave thought it swallowed a Savior, but the Savior has swallowed the grave. This same rod of Aaron was later placed in the Ark of the Covenant as a sign, and this dead piece of wood had miraculously sprouted a branch of an almond tree. And in this same way, life only flows from the cross, the blessed cross. And in Exodus twelve, we finally read about the Passover Lamb. This foreshadowing, prefiguring of Jesus as the Lamb of God. And in Exodus 12, one, we read, Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be your beginning of months. You see, life doesn't really start until you've received the Lamb. The beginning of life is when you've received the sacrifice of Christ. It shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, On the tenth of this month, every man shall take for himself a lamb. You must take the lamb for yourself. I cannot give it to you. You must receive and consume his sacrifice, or you have no part of him. On the tenth of this month, every man shall take for himself a lamb according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. Lord, let every household in this room receive the lamb. If the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons. According to each man's need, you shall make your count for the lamb, because the lamb is too precious for any to be wasted. We must take all of him. Your lamb shall be without blemish, as Jesus was without blemish. A male of the first year, you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight, and on that mount Golgotha, the entire assembly of Israel was gathered. And at twilight they saw the Lamb crucified. And unbeknownst to them, they were witnessing their own salvation. The whole assembly of the congregation of Israel was present, sneering at him, insulting him, cursing him, the one who would redeem them. Possessed by their own hatred, they were gazing on the lamb that would deliver them from captivity, hanging on a cross labeled King of the Jews. The Messiah could have chosen any way he wanted to rule as the King of the Jews. And he chose a throne made of wood to be nailed to. He could have chosen any crown. He created all of the precious materials from which it would be fashioned, but he chose a crown of thorns to be hammered into his skull. And they dressed him in purple, which is the color of royalty. And they flayed him alive. And they ripped out his beard. And they struck him. In verse 7, says, They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. And so in the symbol of the cross, the spirit of death passed over every house that it saw a blood red cross, because it knew that this was not just the blood of a lamb, but it was a prefiguration of the blood of the lamb. They shall eat the flesh on that night, roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire, its head with its legs, and its entrails, you shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it, until morning you shall burn with fire, and thus you shall eat it, with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand, so you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover, it was the Lord's idea, it was the wisdom of the Lord to sacrifice the Lamb of God. He said, put on a belt, put on your shoes, take a staff in your hand in haste, because you need to be ready to leave Egypt quickly. It is time for you to leave and renounce the world behind you. It is time for you to leave your sin. It is time for you to leave your shame. It is time for you to leave your affliction behind in Egypt. Be ready as you receive the Lamb, as you consume his body. It is the healing of your body. And we read in Psalm 105 that not a single one of them stumbled as they left Egypt, and none of them were sick. And so we are asked to receive all of his benefits in Psalm 103 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases. And when we take communion today, I believe that some of you will be healed. I believe that some of you will be set free from prisons of sin cycles and shame, I believe. In the same way that the early church believed a cloth that Paul prayed over would have the power to heal. I believe that a wafer and blood under the power of the Holy Spirit has the power to set you free if you receive it discerning the sacrifice of Christ. A roasted lamb. How do you roast a lamb? I don't know, so I looked it up. What you do is you stretch out its limbs and hang it on a pole. And you suspend that pole over a flame. And you slowly roast it until it is black. And so the Messiah had his limbs stretched out on a pole and was suspended over the fires of hell and the heaven from which he came until our sin, my sin, blackened him. It takes some time to roast a lamb. It's not a quick process. Jesus was not beheaded, he was tortured beyond our comprehension. He did more than die. He went through slow, agonizing, painful death. And in many ways, the Bible. Likens it to childbirth as he began his groans in Gethsemane, where the first drop of blood was spilled. See sweat blood in the agony of his intercession for you and for me. Later in the wilderness, we see that Israel is bitten by snakes. Because of their disobedience, all of us have been bitten by snakes, by serpents of sin and addiction. The things that I have done are unforgivable. And yet he forgave me. And he forgave you. I said, and he forgave you. And so Moses made a bronze serpent and suspended it on a pole. And Galatians 3.13 tells us that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is anyone who hangs on a tree, and so Jesus was lifted up as the bronze serpent, so that curses would fall off of your life. The curse of sin and shame. Later they come to waters called morrow, which means bitterness. And Moses is instructed to cast a tree into the bitter waters so that it may become sweet. And so some of us here today have grown bitter in the waters of our heart. But as we receive the cross, his broken body, his blood poured out, may the bitterness in your hearts be turned sweet. And as that tree plunged into the depths of the waters, let it plunge into your soul and float to the top as an image of Christ over your life. That when we leave this place, we would resemble him and his sacrifice. And so I want to read the Passion in John 19. John 19, verse 1. So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged him. We know from Psalm 129 that they plowed his back. They whipped him beyond recognition as a man. His visage was marred, and the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on his head. And they put on him a purple robe, and they said, Hail King of the Jews. And they struck him with their hands. I could take you to Leviticus 16, where we learn about the scapegoat who was blindfolded, and the priests laid their hands on this goat and sent it out with the sins of Israel outside of the camp. And in the same way, these men did not realize that their blows were an imputation of their sin to the scapegoat for their salvation. And with each blow, Jesus received their violence, welcoming it, so that he could deliver to them righteousness. Pilate went out again and said, Behold, I am bringing him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in him. He was without blemish. Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and purple robe, and Pilate said to them, Behold the man. Which is what I hope each of us will do today is to behold the man. Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify. Crucify. Pilate said to them, You take him and crucify him, for I find no fault in him. The Jews answered, We have a law. According to our law, he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. But he did not make himself the Son of God, he always was. Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was more afraid and went again into the praetorium and said to Jesus, Where are you from? But Jesus gave no answer. Then Pilate said to him, Are you not speaking to me? Do you not know that I have the power to crucify you? Thanks, Pastor Steve. And power to release you, and Jesus answered, You could have no power at all against me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore, the one who delivered me to you has the greater sin. From then on, Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, saying, If you let this man go, you are not Caesar's friend. Whoever makes him a king speaks against Caesar. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the pavement, but in Hebrew Gabbatha. Now it was the preparation day of the Passover. They were preparing the Passover, and they did not realize it. About the sixth hour he said to the Jews, Behold your king, and I hope that we'll do that today, that we'll behold our king. But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him, just like we all have. Before we've accepted his gift. Many of us, all of us, like sheep, have gone astray and said, Away with him. Pilate said to them, Shall I crucify your king? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar, just like many of us have no king but ourselves. And by making ourselves king, we have given the serpent the throne over our lives. Then he delivered them to be crucified, him to be crucified, so they took Jesus and led him away. And he, bearing his cross, went out to a place called a skull. Golgotha. But it was not his skull that would be crushed. Where they crucified him and two others with him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. Everyone here is one of those two men. Either one who is reviling the sacrifice, or one who is realizing that I am a sinner, and he is the perfect one. And so I must receive this man. Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. This is how he reigns as king. He suffers and dies to receive you. Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. And it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, Do not write the King of the Jews, but that he said, I am the King of the Jews. Pilate answered, What I have written, I have written. Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. They said therefore among themselves, Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it. Who shall it be that the scripture might be fulfilled? From Psalm twenty-two, they divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. Therefore the soldiers did these things. Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Clopus and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother and this disciple whom he loved standing by, he said to his mother, Woman, behold your son. Then he said to the disciple, Behold your mother, and from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. What kind of a savior is suffering and dying and still caring for his family? And after this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, he said, I thirst, and a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there. They filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, which was what they applied the blood to the doorposts in the Exodus with, put it to his mouth. And when Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, It is finished, and bowing his head he gave up his spirit. That word finished in the Aramaic also means bride. It was why he finished it, it was to gain you, to gain us as his inheritance. The joy set before him. Therefore, because it was the preparation day that the body should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, for that Sabbath was a high day, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, that they might be taken away. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and the other who was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. That's where I think he finished his birthing work of intercession, as we know, with blood and water. Comes a newborn child, the washing, the life. It was my sin that placed him there, those nails. But in response to the wounds that I blew, I drove to his skin, came the flow of grace, a cleansing flow, a flow of life to redeem, restore, and transform.

SPEAKER_01 32:55

Thank you for listening to the Road Church Podcast. We pray today's message has empowered you to make a difference in your world. For more information about The Road Church and to find more content like this, go to theroad.org. That's thheroad.org.