GOOD FRIDAY 2021
Let me tell you a story tonight…
Acts 8:26–39 (The Message) God’s angel spoke to Philip: “At noon today I want you to walk over to that desolate road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaza.” 27 He got up and went. He met an Ethiopian eunuch coming down the road. The eunuch had been on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and was returning to Ethiopia, where he was minister in charge of all the finances of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. 28 He was riding in a chariot and reading the prophet Isaiah.
29 The Spirit told Philip, “Climb into the chariot.” 30 Running up alongside, Philip heard the eunuch reading Isaiah and asked, “Do you understand what you’re reading?”
31 He answered, “How can I without some help?” and invited Philip into the chariot with him. 32 The passage he was reading was this:
As a sheep led to slaughter, and quiet as a lamb being sheared, He was silent, saying nothing. 33 He was mocked and put down, never got a fair trial. But who now can count his kin since he’s been taken from the earth?
34 The eunuch said, “Tell me, who is the prophet talking about: himself or some other?” 35 Philip grabbed his chance. Using this passage as his text, he preached Jesus to him.
36 As they continued down the road, they came to a stream of water. The eunuch said, “Here’s water. Why can’t I be baptized?” 37 Phillip said, “If you believe, you can.” He said, “I believe that Jesus is the Son of God!” 38 He ordered the chariot to stop. They both went down to the water, and Philip baptized him on the spot.
39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of God suddenly took Philip off, and that was the last the eunuch saw of him. But he didn’t mind. He had what he’d come for and went on down the road as happy as he could be.
The passage he was reading from was Isaiah 53. Let’s read from it together. Isaiah describes what Jesus did on the Cross.
Isaiah 53:1–12 (NKJV) Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. 3 He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4 Surely, He has borne our griefs (also pains) and carried our sorrows (also sicknesses); yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions (individual sins), He was bruised for our iniquities (inborn sin); the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, everyone, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people, He was stricken. 9 And they made His grave with the wicked— but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. 11 He shall see the labor of His soul and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
John 1:29 (NKJV) The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
WATCH THE LAMB
Walking on the road to Jerusalem that day,
The time had come to sacrifice again,
My two small sons, they walked beside me on the road,
The reason that they came was to watch the lamb.
"Daddy, daddy, what will see there,
There's so much that we don't understand",
So I told them of Moses and Father Abraham,
Then I said, "dear children watch the lamb".
"There will be so many in Jerusalem today,
We must be sure the lamb doesn't run away",
And I told them of Moses and Father Abraham,
Then I said, "dear children watch the lamb".
When we reached the city,
I knew something must be wrong,
There were no joyful worshipers,
No joyful worship songs,
I stood there with my children in the midst of angry men,
Then I heard the crowd cry out, "Crucify Him".
We tried to leave the city, but we could not get away,
Forced to play in this drama a part I did not wish to play,
"Why upon this day were men condemned to die?
Why were we standing here,
Where soon they would pass by?".
I looked and said, "even now they come",
The first one cried for mercy, the people gave him none,
The second one was violent, He was arrogant and loud,
I still can hear his angry voice screaming at the crowd,
Then someone said, "There's Jesus",
I could scarce believe my eyes,
A man so badly beaten, He barely looked alive,
Blood poured from His body,
From the thorns upon His brow,
Running down the cross, falling to the ground.
I watched Him as He struggled,
I watched Him as He fell,
The cross came down upon His back, the crowd began to yell,
In that moment I felt such agony,
In that moment I felt such loss,
Till a Roman soldier grabbed my arm
and screamed, "You, carry His cross".
At first, I tried to resist him,
Then his hand reached for his sword,
So I knelt and took the cross from the Lord,
I placed it on my shoulder and started down the street,
The blood that he'd been shedding
Was running down my cheek.
They led us to Golgotha,
They drove nails deep in His feet and hands,
Yet upon the cross I heard Him pray
"Father, forgive them".
Oh, never have I seen such love in any other eyes,
"Into thy hands I commit my spirit"
He prayed and then He died,
I stood for what seemed like years,
I'd lost all sense of time
Until I felt two tiny hands holding tight to mine,
My children stood there weeping, I heard the oldest say,
"Father, please forgive us, the lamb ran away".
"Daddy, daddy, what have we seen here?
There's so much that we don't understand",
So I took them in my arms,
And we turned and faced the cross,
Then I said, "Dear children, watch the Lamb"
John 19:16–18 (NKJV) Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus and led Him away. 17 And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, 18 where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center.
Via Dolorosa - Alba
COMMUNION
No comments:
Post a Comment