Today is Good Friday. The day we remember when Jesus died on the cross. It’s been five days since Palm Sunday. Have you stayed awake this week? Have you watched and waited with Him? We will read the Gospel of John’s account of Jesus’ death, but before we do, I want to look at something that Jesus spoke to Pontius Pilate, right before He was led to the cross.
Let’s read John 19:1-16. It says:
1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers also twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on his head, and clothed him in a purple robe. 3 And they kept coming up to him and saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” and were slapping his face.
4 Pilate went outside again and said to them, “Look, I’m bringing him out to you to let you know I find no grounds for charging him.” 5 Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”
6 But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”
7 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.”
8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9 and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”
11 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.”
12 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.”
13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14 It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon. [I would like to note that Passover had already started. Jesus and the disciples had eaten the Passover meal at the Last Supper. Perhaps John’s statement that it was the day of Preparation of the Passover should be understand as, “it was the day of preparation during the week of Passover,” for Passover, you might know, was the first day of the week-long Feast of Unleavened Bread.]
“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.
15 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. 16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus away.
Did you notice what Jesus said to Pilate? He said, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.” Pilate only had power over Jesus because it was given to him from God. Otherwise, he would have had no power over Jesus. The first reason this is true is because Jesus, being fully God, has all authority over all people. At any moment, Jesus could have put a stop to the suffering He was going through. It would have taken no effort for Him to resist His captors. But as we know, it was God’s plan that Jesus would be crucified. He was choosing to be led to the cross to die. As easily as He walked through the crowd of people who wanted to push Him off the cliff as Luke 4:30 recounts, He could have easily escaped from Pilate and the guards.
Second, Pilate, and the Sanhedrin who sent Jesus to him, were not just acting according to their own evil ways, they were acting as tools of the devil. But even as such, they still had no authority over Jesus. For more than just having power over people, Jesus also has complete authority and power over the devil. The devil had tried to tempt Jesus to sin, back when He had gone into the desert to fast and pray. The devil appeared to Him and offered Jesus every temptation he could think of. Then, as Luke 4:13 (NASB) tells us, “And so when the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.”
The devil wanted to tempt Jesus to sin, because if Jesus sinned, then the devil could gain power over Him. That was never going to happen though, because Jesus was no ordinary man. He is God. There was no temptation that the devil could offer Him that would have held any value for Him. Those temptations were no temptation for Jesus. More accurately, we should say the devil tried to tempt Jesus, but he failed miserably. There was no deliberation on Jesus’ part.
That’s why, when Pilate says he has the power to set Jesus free or not, Jesus contradicts Him and breaks His silence to say, ‘No, you only have power over me because God has given it to you.’
Even though Jesus had become human, He had never given in to any of the devil’s temptations. Jesus never sinned. So the devil had no opportunity to gain any power over Jesus. That is why Pilate, even though he was being manipulated by the devil, had no power over Jesus. Pilate, the Sanhedrin, and the devil only had the power that God had given them at the moment. The devil thought he had gained the advantage over Jesus, but we know that he did not.
Did you know that the devil only has the power that God allows or that we sinful people give to him? We live in a fallen world, and the devil is the ruler. But when we are born again, we are filled with the Holy Spirit. It is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us. It’s as Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
As children of God, we have power that other people do not have. We have the power of God living inside of us, and He gives us believers the ability to resist the devil. God’s power inside of us triumphs over the devil’s power. We no longer are bound under the devil’s power. But when we sin, we give the devil permission to harm us. That is why the Bible repeatedly admonishes us to put on the things of God and to put away deceitful desires. In Ephesians 4:27, for one example, we are told to stop lying and stop being angry, so that we “don’t give the devil an opportunity.” Every time we sin, we give the devil an opportunity to attack us.
What does that have to do with Good Friday, you might ask? Jesus, even during His great suffering, as He is being led to the cross, He shows us exactly how we can overcome the devil today. When Jesus died on the cross, He overcame death and the devil. He was able to do that because He is God, and He had never sinned. Because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross, we also can overcome the devil through the power of God living inside of us, and by using the tools that Jesus modeled for us on the cross. Jesus used faith-filled prayer and the Word of God to endure the suffering of the cross and defeat the devil, triumphing over death. And if we want to overcome the devil and his temptations and attacks on us, we are to do the same.
Let’s recall Jesus’ words on the cross. The entire time Jesus was on the cross, He was in communication with the Father. He was in constant prayer. Luke 23:34 tells us, “Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing.’” I am sure, though, that He was praying the whole time, not just when we read His recorded words. Matthew 27:46 tells us, “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabaktanei?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’” That was Jesus’ fourth recorded phrase, and it, too, is a desperate and heart wrenching cry of prayer to the Father. Also, His last words were a prayer of surrender. Luke 23:46 tells us, “And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into Your hands I entrust My spirit.’ And having said this, He died.”
Even before He went to the cross, He stayed up all night praying. Jesus, when facing the unimaginable pain and anguish of crucifixion, continued to pray to the Father. That shows us that the way we are to face trials and defeat the devil’s attacks in our lives is by being in constant prayer. Not only do we overcome temptation by prayer, but we can do battle to the devil’s plans and attacks by calling on God’s help through prayer.
The other thing Jesus modeled for us during His death was the importance of knowing God’s Word. Not only are we to use faith-filled prayer to overcome trials, but we are to use the Word of God. Jesus’ last words were, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” This seems to be a quote from Psalm 31:5, “Into your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, Lord, my faithful God.” His fourth phrase is also a quote from Psalms. Psalm 22:1 says, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?” If we ever needed an argument for why Scripture is important, all we need to do is look at the importance Jesus placed on it. In His darkest moment, He recalls Bible verses. Even while He is in extreme pain and anguish, He is teaching us to look to God’s Word for help.
As believers, we do not have to fear the devil’s schemes. As 1 John 5:19 says, “We know that we are of God, and the whole world is under the sway of the evil one.” The world should fear the devil, for they are under his power, but we do not need to. We can call out to God in prayer and find help and assurance to our faith by reading His Word. As 1 John 4:4 says, speaking about false spirits that are not from God, “You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” That is because the devil has no power compared to God’s great power.
Even so, we all face trials. We all face temptations. We live in this broken world that is under the sway of the devil, and so we all are attacked constantly by the devil’s schemes. This is the reality we live in. Scripture makes it very clear that the devil does exist and he seeks to destroy all that God has made. He prowls around seeking opportunities to attack people. I am sure He tried everything in his power to attack Jesus. And when Jesus went to the cross, the devil must have thought that he was about to win. He had carefully led Judas and the chief priests to form their plot to kill Jesus. He must have been rejoicing when they whipped Jesus, spit on Him and beat Him. He must have laughed when they put the painful crown of thorns and purple robe on Jesus. How he must have rejoiced when they nailed Jesus to the cross. I’m sure he thought he was winning; he thought he was destroying God.
All that the devil did, though, was actually playing right into God’s hand. Just as Jesus said to Pontius Pilate, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above,” God had given him power because it was part of God’s plan. And just as the disciples did not understand Jesus’ plan and purpose in dying, neither did the devil. If he did, he would have never sought to have Jesus killed. For when Jesus died on the cross, He defeated death and the devil. As Hebrews 2:14 says, “Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through his death he might destroy the one holding the power of death—that is, the devil—.”
Let us continue to read how Jesus destroyed the devil’s power, by finishing the crucifixion account in John 19:17-42. It reads:
17 Carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called Place of the Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him and two others with him, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle. 19 Pilate also had a sign made and put on the cross. It said: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. 20 Many of the Jews read this sign, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek. 21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Don’t write, ‘The king of the Jews,’ but that he said, ‘I am the king of the Jews.’”
22 Pilate replied, “What I have written, I have written.”
23 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, a part for each soldier. They also took the tunic, which was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. 24 So they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it, to see who gets it.” This happened that the Scripture might be fulfilled that says: They divided my clothes among themselves, and they cast lots for my clothing. This is what the soldiers did.
25 Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.
28 After this, when Jesus knew that everything was now finished that the Scripture might be fulfilled, he said, “I’m thirsty.” 29 A jar full of sour wine was sitting there; so they fixed a sponge full of sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it up to his mouth.
30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.
31 Since it was the preparation day, the Jews did not want the bodies to remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a special day). They requested that Pilate have the men’s legs broken and that their bodies be taken away. 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man and of the other one who had been crucified with him. 33 When they came to Jesus, they did not break his legs since they saw that he was already dead. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. 35 He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows he is telling the truth. 36 For these things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: Not one of his bones will be broken. 37 Also, another Scripture says: They will look at the one they pierced.
38 After this, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus—but secretly because of his fear of the Jews—asked Pilate that he might remove Jesus’s body. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and took his body away. 39 Nicodemus (who had previously come to him at night) also came, bringing a mixture of about seventy-five pounds of myrrh and aloes. 40 They took Jesus’s body and wrapped it in linen cloths with the fragrant spices, according to the burial custom of the Jews. 41 There was a garden in the place where he was crucified. A new tomb was in the garden; no one had yet been placed in it. 42 They placed Jesus there because of the Jewish day of preparation and since the tomb was nearby.
Jesus endured all of this torture and pain, willingly and sacrificially, so that we could be set free. He died so we might receive forgiveness for our sins. He did this, so that we are no longer slaves to sin and the devil. The disciples witnessed this death. They saw Jesus crucified. They watched Him die. But they did not know that in just a few days, He was going to display His miraculous power and rise again. They left, not knowing that death was not the last word. The devil had not won.
Do we know this, or do we still doubt? So many times it looks like the devil has won, doesn’t it? So many times, it seems like evil just continues to win. But Christian, hear the Word of the Lord: the One who is in you is greater than the One who is in the world. The devil will try and attack, but if Christ is in you, then the devil has no power over you. The only power he has over you is if you give him an opportunity to harm you. Are you living in the truth of what Christ has accomplished on the cross for you? Or are you still living like the disciples did for those few days before Jesus rose from the dead? Jesus does not stay in the grave. That is why today is not Terrible Friday, it is Good Friday, for it is only Good News that Jesus died for us. He did that for us because of His great love.
Soon we will celebrate and rejoice in the resurrection, but tonight, let us mediate on what Jesus did for us. Jesus gave us the power to overcome death and the devil by setting us free from sin. Romans 6:23 tells us, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” We were slaves to sin, but Christ’s death has paid our debt. He has set us free from the power that sin held over us by becoming our sacrifice. He is the Lamb of God. Let us consider all that Jesus did for us on the cross. Let’s pray and sing the old hymn, written in 1804 by Thomas Kelly, which expresses our hearts so fully.
Stricken, smitten, and afflicted,
see Him dying on the tree!
‘Tis the Christ by man rejected;
yes, my soul, ‘tis He, ‘tis He!
‘Tis the long-expected Prophet,
David’s Son, yet David’s Lord;
by His Son God now has spoken;
‘tis the true and faithful Word.
Tell me, ye who hear Him groaning,
was there ever grief like His?
Friends thro’ fear His cause disowning,
foes insulting His distress;
many hands were raised to wound Him,
none would interpose to save;
but the deepest stroke that pierced Him
was the stroke that Justice gave.
Ye who think of sin but lightly,
nor suppose the evil great,
here may view its nature rightly,
here its guilt may estimate.
Mark the sacrifice appointed;
see who bears the awful load;
‘tis the Word, the Lord’s Anointed,
Son of Man and Son of God.
Here we have a firm foundation,
here the refuge of the lost:
Christ the Rock of our salvation,
His the name of which we boast.
Lamb of God, for sinners wounded,
Sacrifice to cancel guilt!
None shall ever be confounded
who on Him their hope have built.
Amen.
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