Luke 23  I will go back to chapter 19 next week, but for today, Good Friday, I want to visit the events of that day.. the day that Jesus suffered. 

It started the night before, after the Passover Meal, when the group headed to the Mount of Olives, and Jesus fell to His knees and began to pray, "Father, if Thou art willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will but Thine be done."  As He prayed, His disciples slept. The multitude gathered and the betrayer came. 

Jesus was brought before the high priest... mocked, beaten, and blindfolded.  On that Friday morning the Council of elders came. "If You are the Christ," they said, "tell us."  But.. when He told them, they would not believe and brought Him before Pilate. 

Three times Pilate found nothing to convict Jesus of and was willing to release Him.  Three times the Sanhedrin insisted that Jesus be crucified.  They were insistent. They would not quit. And they prevailed. 

Jesus was led away, so weak from the beatings that He had endured.. that Simon of Cyrene was enlisted to carry the cross behind Jesus. 

"And when they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left." 

The soldiers divided His garments. 

The people stared at Him. 

The rulers sneered. 

And Jesus prayed for the Father to forgive them. 

"And it was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, the sun being obscured, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And Jesus crying out with a loud voice, said, 'Father, into Thy hands I commit My Spirit.' And having said this, He breathed His last." 

The centurion praised God, for he understood that Jesus was innocent and that His death was far from ordinary ..  The multitudes.. began to return, beating their breasts. His friends and His mother and the other women, stood at a distance, watching. 

Joseph of Arimathea received permission to take the body of Jesus and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock. 

And it was done. 

Father in heaven, we call this day "good" not because Jesus suffered such cruelty and horror.. but because He did so for us.. that we might be saved by the One sacrifice that can wash us clean of all our sin. The One sacrifice that was enough, once for all, to pay the high price for the redemption of mankind.. for all who will believe in Him. You asked Your Son to lay down His life and He humbly and willingly suffered and died on a cruel cross that day.. that Good Friday.  How can it be?  What is impossible for man.. is possible with God.. and by Your grace we are saved. Thank You Lord!  Let the glory and grace of Jesus Christ our King be made known in our country and in this world today we pray.  In Jesus' Name. Amen.