Good Friday – Easter 2026

Key Texts: John 19:16-30 (and the burial account in John 19:38-42)

The Death and Burial of Jesus

This Good Friday we did not rush past the cross. We stopped and looked directly at the sobering events recorded in John 19. On that dark day, Jesus was handed over to be crucified. He carried His own cross to the place called Golgotha — the Place of the Skull. There, between two criminals, the soldiers crucified the Lord of Glory. Pilate fastened an inscription above His head that read “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS” in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. The chief priests protested, but Pilate replied, “What I have written I have written.”

The soldiers divided Jesus’ outer garments and cast lots for His seamless tunic, fulfilling the Scripture: “They divided My outer garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.” Then, standing by the cross were His mother, His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, Mary Magdalene, and the disciple whom Jesus loved. In His final moments, Jesus cared for His mother, entrusting her to John with the words, “Woman, behold your son!” and to John, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour, the disciple took her into his own household.

After this, knowing that all things had been accomplished to fulfill the Scripture, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” They gave Him sour wine on a hyssop branch. Then, with a loud cry, Jesus declared, “It is finished!” He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.

He Gave Up His Spirit

We must not read these words too quickly. The evangelist does not say that Jesus simply died, that His life was taken from Him, or that the cross finally overcame Him. No — He willingly gave up His spirit. The work the Father had given Him to do was complete. The full wrath of God against our sin had been borne. The debt had been paid in full. The perfect sacrifice had been accepted. In perfect obedience and love, Jesus handed over His spirit to the Father and entered Paradise, just as He had promised the thief on the cross.

This was no ordinary death. The Prince of Life laid down His life. The sinless Son of God died in the place of sinners. Yet how easily we hurry past this scene and rush toward resurrection morning. We treat His death almost as inevitable, like any other man’s death, and in doing so we lose the weight and wonder of what took place at Calvary.

The Scene at the Tomb

After Jesus breathed His last, two unlikely men stepped forward with sudden courage. Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the Sanhedrin and a secret disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews, boldly went to Pilate and asked for the body. Nicodemus, the Pharisee who had once come to Jesus by night, joined him, bringing about seventy-five pounds of costly myrrh and aloes. Together these two men — who had previously kept their faith hidden — publicly took the body of the crucified Lord. They wrapped it in linen cloths with the spices according to Jewish burial custom and laid Him in Joseph’s own new tomb in a garden near the place of crucifixion. A large stone was rolled against the entrance of the tomb.

The faithful women who had followed Jesus from Galilee — including Mary Magdalene and the other Mary — were there. They carefully watched where and how His body was laid. Then they returned home to prepare additional spices and ointments so they could return after the Sabbath to anoint Him more fully. They rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.Meanwhile, where were the eleven disciples — the men who had walked with Jesus for three years, left everything to follow Him, and heard His teachings firsthand? They were nowhere to be found at the tomb. When Jesus was arrested, most had fled in fear. Peter, who had boldly sworn he would die with Jesus, had denied Him three times and gone out weeping bitterly. John alone had stood at the cross with the Lord’s mother, but after Jesus gave up His spirit, the disciples as a group hid themselves, locked away in fear of the Jews. Their hopes were shattered. The Shepherd had been struck, and the sheep were scattered.

Why We Struggle to Mourn

Why does this scene not weigh more heavily on us? Why do we so easily hurry past the cross and the tomb? The sermon confronted us with a hard truth: our hearts have grown dull. The spirit of this age has taught us to avoid anything heavy, costly, or sorrowful. We prefer a comfortable, upbeat faith that skips the darkness of Calvary and jumps straight to victory and celebration.

If the spirit of our modern world had been present at the tomb, we would have turned the burial into a “celebration of life.” We would have told the grieving women to dry their tears and be positive. “Jesus wouldn’t want you to be sad — He’s in a better place now.” We would have spoken only of the nice things He did — feeding crowds, healing the sick, telling stories — while carefully avoiding any mention of the blood, the nails, the wrath of God, or the reason He had to die. We would have sanitized the entire event to keep everyone comfortable.

But that is not what happened. The sky went black. The earth shook. The women wept openly. Joseph and Nicodemus handled the body with trembling hands and extravagant devotion. The disciples hid in fear and deep sorrow. No one told Mary Magdalene to cheer up. Their grief was real because they understood the horror of what had taken place: the sinless Son of God had to die for our sin.

The Grace of Godly Mourning

This message called us to recover the biblical grace of godly mourning. Jesus Himself said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). When we refuse to mourn over our sin and the cost paid at the cross, we cut ourselves off from the deep comfort God promises. We trade rich, lasting joy for thin, fragile happiness that cannot survive trials.

The women who stood at the tomb in sorrow were the very ones who arrived first on resurrection morning. Their grief kept them near the Savior. The disciples’ downcast faces and sorrow prepared their hearts for the overwhelming joy when the risen Christ appeared and said, “Peace be with you.” The way down is the way up. The path to true comfort runs straight through godly sorrow. The triumph of the empty tomb is sweetest to those who have stood at the full tomb and wept.

A Call to the Church

Church family, do not let the spirit of this age rob you of godly sorrow. Look steadily at the cross where Jesus gave up His spirit. Let it break your heart over your own sin. Let your soul tremble and say, “My sin put Him there.” Only then can you truly rejoice and declare, “But His grace has delivered me.”

The Lord Jesus, who willingly gave up His spirit for us and took it up again in power, invites us to mourn as those who hope, and to hope as those who mourn. May He grant us grace to feel the weight of Calvary so that we might treasure the victory of the empty tomb even more deeply — until the day when He returns and every tear is wiped away, and sorrow and sighing flee away forever.