We’ve prepared Good Friday Reflections to help lead you through remembering Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.
This guide is available to download:
Good Friday eBook
Good Friday PDF
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The following is identical to the eBook & PDF.
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Introduction
Dear brothers and sisters,
This Good Friday, we wanted to put together a guide for you to reflect and meditate on the events of that day, wherever you are and whatever circumstance you are in.
We’ve designed 5 different experiences for you to try throughout the day Feel free to do just one, or as many as you like. The important thing is to use this time to reflect on Jesus’ last day on earth. Imagine what he might have felt. Consider his suffering and his love. And pray and ask God to speak to you through each experience. Open your heart and mind to what He wants to say to you.
This Good Friday, let’s come and remember the sacrifice Christ made for us. If the Lord speaks to you, a verse comes to mind, or you capture a photo of the day, please share it on the BCEC Facebook Page so that we can mutually build each other up.
in the love of Christ,
Bert, Ansy and Ben
1 The Hymn
Reading:Matthew 26:1-16
As the disciples gathered with Jesus at the last supper, they didn’t realise it would be last time they ate with him. They didn’t know that in a few hours, Jesus would be arrested, tried, and then crucified. And even as they talked and sat in the presence of their teacher, they didn’t know that he would be taken away from them soon. I wonder if they had taken the presence of Christ for granted. Maybe they expected him to always physically be there. Maybe they had questions they were going to ask him tomorrow. Maybe they were waiting for the right moment to say how much they loved him. Did they know the hymn they sang at the end of the meal, would be the last?
Perhaps we have forgotten how precious it is to have Christ with us. Perhaps we have taken for granted the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Perhaps we have worshipped with our lips but not with our hearts. We’d like to encourage brothers and sisters to take some time worshipping on this Good Friday. To appreciate the presence of God in your life. To acknowledge Christ. To recognise him.
We’ve curated a playlist available on YouTube, Spotify & Apple Music for you to listen to. I’d encourage you to find time to worship him today. Like the woman who poured out her jar of perfume, valuing every moment she had with Jesus, pour out your heart to him today.
2 The Garden
Reading: Matthew 26:36-56
The garden is where we see Jesus’ humanity. Not only is he the Son of God, but he’s human. Even as he willingly goes to the cross, he cries out to father. Despite his power, there is still trepidation. And in this vulnerable moment he demonstrates his obedience to the will of God.
“Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Jesus does not want this to happen. He does not want to be punished and killed. But he goes because that is the will of the father. He goes because he knows that there is a bigger purpose.
Even the son of God is “full of sorrow and trouble” sometimes. Perhaps there are things that you are crying out to God for and not hearing an answer. There is nothing that we need to keep from Him.
The garden is a place where humanity cries to God in the presence of creation. Use this time to being completely open with God about your fears and to reflect on what it means to say “yet not my will, but yours.”
3 The Walk
Reading: Matthew 26:57-75;27:27-33
Jesus had seen the chief priests and the Sanhedrin many times before. He knew their faces, their names. He may have even been to this courtyard before. When they dragged him from the garden and into the courtyard, these were familiar streets. He looked into the eyes of Peter, even as Peter betrayed him. And after he was beaten and stripped, he was forced to walk on the street towards Golgotha. These were streets he had walked before. This was a city he knew well. And the people on the road, some of them he may have recognised from his many teachings.
We’d like to encourage you to take a walk. And as you do, look at the familiar surroundings. The street where you live. The neighbours that you may or may not know. And reflect on Jesus’ own walk to his death. How he knew the area. He knew the people. And the sorrow which must have gripped his heart as he gave his life for them, and for us.
Use the time to prayer walk. Pray for each of your neighbours. Pray for the world around you. Pray for the lives on the street that you live. For the souls in the city that you dwell.
If you’re taking a walk as a family, you can use this time to talk about why Jesus was willing to suffer for us. You can use this time to talk about the cost of sin, and how Jesus paid for that with his life. You can talk about how people on the street might carry different “burdens” and how to pray for them. You can ask them to share if they have any “burdens”. Jesus knew how important it was for him to be our sacrifice to save us — even though it was difficult, he chose to do it for us.
4 The Crucifixion
Reading: Matthew 27:33-56
When we read about the crucifixion in the scriptures, we see a glimpse into the suffering of Christ for our sins. It highlights the depravity of man, and mankinds ability to cause such great harm to their fellow brother. For us, as Christians, it lets us see the great depth of God’s love. The lengths to which Christ went for our redemption. Every few years, i have found it helpful to reread A Physician Analyses the Crucifixion: an Explanation of What Jesus Endured on the Day He Died,by Dr C. Truman Davis.
I have provided an audio reading of the text available here. However, because some of the medical descriptions are graphic, I do not recommend it for a younger audience.
If you would prefer a different way to reflect on the crucifixion, I would recommend reading the passage. Listening to Via Dolorosa, by Sandi Patti or Why, by Nichole Nordeman may be two good ways to reflect.
Audio Reading of A Physician Analyses the Crucifixion
5 The Tomb
Reading: Matthew 27:57-61
Christ gave so much for us. In the garden, he was abandoned by his own disciples, his dearest friends. He was betrayed by a brother who had walked beside him for the past three years. He was tried before the officials with no one to defend him. And on the cross, when he took on the sin of the world, his perfect perfection besieged by our own sinfulness, as Father God turned his face away. Jesus faced the greatest isolation. The greatest suffering. And then he was laid in the tomb, sealed off.
When that moment came, and the disciples scattered, and they were uncertain what they would do next. Did they regret falling asleep in the garden? Did they regret not sharing with Jesus deeper parts of their lives? Did they know what to do next?
- Is there any part of your life that feels like it’s in the tomb right now?
- How does Jesus’ sacrifice for us give us a different hope for the future?
- How does Jesus inspire us to face the situations and feelings that we face?
Read Psalm 130
1 Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;
2 Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.
3 If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness,
so that we can, with reverence, serve you.
5 I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
6 I wait for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.
7 Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.
8 He himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins.
As you stand in the door, stand as a watchman waiting for the dawn of the new day. That even though there is uncertainty, we are certain that Christ has risen. That the dawn will come. That the darkness does not last forever. If Christ was victorious over sin and death, then there is nothing he has not overcome.
Spend time praying, as a watchman, proclaiming God’s power over this broken world. Praying his love over the broken-hearted. His comfort those who mourn.
You can end your prayer by declaring out loud the prayer of St Francis of Assisi.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
And then by saying the Lord’s prayer.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.