Holy Week: Good Friday

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Close your eyes, and bring your attention to your breath. Inhale deeply, hold for two seconds, now breathe out all the tension, stress, or negativity in your body. One more time. Breathe in deeply, hold, exhale slowly all the way.

As your breathing returns to normal, gently turn your thoughts and attention toward the last week of Christ’s life. Elder Gong describes the Holy Week this way: “The sacred events between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday are the story of hosanna[, meaning “save now,”] and hallelujah[, meaning “praise ye the Lord Jehovah”]. Hosanna is our plea for God to save. Hallelujah expresses our praise to the Lord for the hope of salvation and exaltation. In hosanna and hallelujah we recognize the living Jesus Christ as the heart of Easter and latter-day restoration.”

Today we will be pondering the Friday before Easter, known as Good Friday, when Jesus was tried before Pilate, crucified, and buried.

In discussing the origin of the name “Good Friday,” Eric Huntsman reasons that “On the one hand, it may well be because good was also an archaic way of referring to God—for instance, good-bye probably originally meant ‘God be with you.’ In that case, this was God’s Friday, the day when ‘we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son’ (Rom 5:10). Yet the customary understanding that Good Friday is ‘holy’ Friday is certainly appropriate.”[1]

Trial in front of Pilate and Herod

Christ ends up in front of Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor and Herod, the Roman king. The chief priests tell Pilate that Jesus’s accusation is that He claimed to be the king of the Jews, and thus spoke against Caesar.[2] He stands mostly silent as He is accused by a parade of priests and elders and questioned by Pilate and Herod.[3] But when Pilate asks Him if He is the King of the Jews, Christ answers, “I am, even as thou sayest.”[4]

Why do you think Christ sometimes answered His accusers’ questions, and at other times remained silent?

It was the custom at the feast of the Passover for the governor to release a prisoner back to the people.[5] Pilate cannot find any wrongdoing in Jesus,[6] and Pilate’s wife warns him “Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.”[7] So Pilate offers to release Jesus. But the people want a prisoner named Barabbas to be released instead.[8] Pilate reluctantly agrees to release Barabbas, but asks the people what he should do with Jesus. The people answer: “Let him be crucified.”[9] Pilate objects, asking “Why, what evil hath he done?” but the people cry out more, insisting, “Let him be crucified.”[10]

Pilate gives in and washes his hands “before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.”[11] “Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.”[12]

Pilate seemed to know that putting Jesus to death was wrong. But he did it anyway, essentially throwing up his hands, saying “well I tried!” or “hey, the Jews are pressuring me do this, so they are responsible for my actions, not me.”

Do you ever find yourself justifying your own wrong actions in similar ways?

Crucifixion

The Roman soldiers dress Jesus in a purple robe.[13] They weave together a crown out of thorns for His head and put a staff in His hand. Then they bow down before Him, mocking Him, saying “Hail, King of the Jews!”[14]

Then, spitting on Him, they take the staff and begin hitting Christ on the head.[15]

When they are done with their mockery and abuse, they find a man named Simon to carry the cross that will be used to crucify the Savior.[16] A multitude of women and others follow behind Christ, wailing and lamenting the injustice and horror of what is going on.

The soldiers lead Him just outside of Jerusalem to a hill called Golgotha in Hebrew, Calvary in Greek. They lay the cross down on the ground, then place Jesus on it, hammering nails through his hands, his wrists, and his feet. When they are done, they raise the cross up and let Him hang on the top of the hill, where everyone can see. They take His clothes, “casting lots,” to see who gets to keep them, and they sit down to watch Him die.[17]

At some point during this barbaric scene, Christ says “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”[18] 

Above Jesus’ head on the cross is a sign that the Romans put with His accusation, or the reason He was condemned to death. It reads: “This is Jesus the King of the Jews.”[19] The chief priests complain to Pilate, asking him to change the sign to say not that Jesus is the king of the Jews, but that He said he was king of the Jews. Pilate refuses: “What I have written I have written.”[20] 

At some point while He is enduring this torture, Jesus looks down from the cross and sees His mother standing nearby with the apostle John. Christ says to His mother, “Woman, behold thy son,” and to John, “Behold thy mother!”[21]

The crucifixion site is located near the city, so many people who are coming and going see the Savior hanging there and read the sign above His head.[22] Many people mock Him as He hangs there, jeering at Him. Taunting: If you can build the temple in three days, then save yourself! If you are the Son of God, then come down from the cross! He saved others, let Him save himself! He trusted in God; let God deliver Him now![23]

After several hours of this, Christ, still alive and suffering in indescribable agony both from the physical torture of crucifixion, and the emotional, mental, and spiritual weight of the atonement, cries out, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”[24]

Darkness settles over the land, despite the fact that it is still daytime. Christ cries out again one last time, saying, “Father, it is finished, thy will is done”[25] “into thy hands I commend my spirit”[26] and He dies.

The earth shakes in response.[27] The veil in the temple rips from top to bottom.[28] The Roman centurion, witnessing the darkness and the earthquakes and hearing Christ’s cries, gives an unlikely but powerful testimony: “Truly this was the Son of God.”[29]

Burial

After Christ dies, one of the members of the Sanhedrin who did not agree that Christ should have been condemned to death,[30] a man named Joseph of Arimathaea, boldly begs Pilate to allow Him to take the body, and Pilate agrees.[31] Joseph and Nicodemus, another Sanhedrin member friendly to Christ, wrap Jesus in a clean linen cloth and lay Him in a new tomb.[32] They roll a large stone in front of the tomb.[33] As the stone rolls into place, a feeling of finality sets in. They have crucified Jesus of Nazareth, Savior and King. 

Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Jesus, visit the tomb.[34] They begin to prepare spices and ointments for Christ’s body, but the evening comes, and with it, the Sabbath. So they are forced to halt their preparations to attend to Christ’s body until the Sabbath is over.[35]

Think of some of the individuals who are mentioned in this story: Simon, who bears the Savior’s cross; the centurion who declares Christ’s true identity; Joseph of Arimathaea, who lays the Savior to rest; Mary, who sees her Son crucified and has to wait until the Sabbath is over to tend to His body. Try to imagine what it would have been like to witness the atonement through each of their eyes?

As heavy and depressing as the events of Good Friday are, they do not compare to the love that Christ has for each of us—a love that propelled him through these awful events and allowed Him to carry through with His great atoning sacrifice. Nephi puts it beautifully, “And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men.”[36]

Ponder the following quote from Eric Huntsman: “Yet even while the Lord can truly empathize with us in our afflictions, there are ways in which our sorrows, heartaches, and sufferings allow us, in some measure, to be more like our Savior. Paul wrote, ‘For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ’ (2 Corinthians 1:5). How often we pray to be more like Jesus, but when pain, rejection, loss, and heartache come our way, we recoil and beg for these experiences to be taken away!”[37]

How has the suffering you have experienced in your life helped you to become more like the Savior?

President Hinckley has said, " no member of this Church must ever forget the terrible price paid by our Redeemer who gave his life that all men might live-the agony of Gethsemane, the bitter mockery of his trial, the vicious crown of thorns tearing at his flesh, the blood cry of the mob before Pilate, the lonely burden of his heavy walk along the way to Calvary, the terrifying pain as great nails pierced his hands and feet, the fevered torture of his body as he hung that tragic day . . .

This was the cross, the instrument of his torture, the terrible device designed to destroy the Man of Peace, the evil recompense for his miraculous work of healing the sick, of causing the blind to see, of raising the dead. This was the cross on which he hung and died on Golgotha's lonely summit.

We cannot forget that. We must never forget it, for here our Savior, our Redeemer, the Son of God, gave himself a vicarious sacrifice for each of us."[38]

Take a few moments to ponder the fact that when Christ was suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross, He was doing it for you. He knew you would need the atonement. He knew you would experience suffering and trials and sin and He chose to endure what he endured so He could understand what you were going through.

We know the atonement means that we all can repent, be forgiven, and return to God’s presence. That’s what it does for everyone, generally. But what does that mean to you, specifically? How does the knowledge that the atonement happened affect your life? How does it change your daily living?

When you are ready, take a final deep breath and slowly turn your awareness back to your body. As you open your eyes and return to your surroundings, take a moment to jot down any thoughts, promptings, or questions that came to mind while you were pondering. Continue to ponder the things that have come to your mind and your heart as you prepare for and celebrate the upcoming Easter Holiday.

________________

[1] Eric D. Huntsman, “Good Friday,” huntsmanseasonal.blogspot.com, https://huntsmanseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/04/good-friday.html (last accessed Mar 3, 2023)

[2] John 18:28-37; John 19:12.

[3] Mark 15:3-5; Luke 23:6-11 ; John 19:4-12..

[4] JST Mark 15:4; see also JST Matthew 27:12 (“Thou sayest truly; for thus it is written of me.”); Luke 23:3; John 18:37.

[5] Matthew 27:15; Mark 15:6;; Luke 23:17.

[6] Luke 23:4, 14; John 18:38.

[7] Matthew 27:19.

[8] Matthew 27:16-21; Mark 15:7-11; Luke 23:18; John 18:39-40.

[9] Matthew 27:22; Mark 15:13; Luke 23:21.

[10] Matthew 27:23; Mark 15:14; Luke 23:22-23..

[11] Matthew 27:24; John 18:4, 6.

[12] Matthew 27:26; Mark 15:15; John 19:1.

[13] JST Matthew 27:30; Mark 15:17.

[14] Matthew 27:29; Mark 15:17-20; John 19:2-3.

[15] Matthew 27:30.

[16] Matthew 27:32; Mark 15:21; Luke 23:26.

[17] Matthew 27:35-37; Mark 15:24; John 19:24.

[18] Luke 23:34; see also JST Luke 23:35.

[19] Mark 15:26; John 19:19.

[20] John 19:19-22.

[21] John 19:26.

[22] John 19:20.

[23] Matthew 27:40-43; Mark 15:29-32; Luke 23:35-37.

[24] Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34.

[25] JST Matthew 27:54.

[26] Luke 23:46.

[27] Matthew 27:51.

[28] Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45.

[29] Matthew 27:54; Mark 15:39; Luke 23:47.

[30] Luke 23:50-51.

[31] Matthew 27:57; Mark 15:43; Luke 23:52; John 19:38.

[32] John 19:39-40.

[33] Mark 15:46; Luke 23:53.

[34] Mark 15:47.

[35] Luke 23:55-56.

[36] 1 Nephi 19:9.

[37] Eric D. Huntsman, “Good Friday,” huntsmanseasonal.blogspot.com, https://huntsmanseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/04/good-friday.html (last accessed March 20, 2023)

[38] Gordon B. Hinckley, “The Symbol of Christ,” General Conference, April 1975.