Good Friday Reading Guide

The Trial of Jesus

The Jewish trial comprised three stages, the preliminary examination by Annas, the informal trial by the Sanhedrin (probably before dawn), and the formal trial after dawn. The Trial after down was a ratification of the condemnation and an effort to make the action legal. But no ratification of a wrong can make it right. Some modern Jewish writers admit the illegalities and argue the unhistorical character of the narrative. But the hate of the Sanhedrin for Jesus made them violate their own rules of legal procedure. Following this, the Roman Trial also comprised three stages: 1) The first appearance before the Roman procurator Pilate; 2) The appearance before Herod Antipas, the native ruler of Galilee appointed by the Romans; and 3) The final appearance before Pilate (adapted from A. T. Robertson).

Scripture Reading: Matthew 26:57-66; Luke 22:66-71; Luke 23:5-25

The Beatings of Jesus

The authorities’ disgust leads them to spit in Jesus’ face (a serious insult), physically abuse him (punching and slapping him around), and mock his prophetic reputation. Mark 14:65 adds that “they blindfolded him,” which explains their charade a little better. Their voices probably dripped with sarcasm as they taunted, “Christ” (Messiah)! The soldiers mock Jesus’ alleged kingship. They clothe him with a loose reddish purple outer garment worn by soldiers and travelers (cf. Mark 15:17) and pretend he is a royal warrior (v. 28). They press a garland or wreath of thorns into his head, probably a thorny branch bent into a circle, parodying a crown (v. 29a). They place a reed or rod in his right hand to look like a scepter, and the soldiers then mockingly worship him with feigned adulation as they cry, Greetings (“hail”), “king of the Jews,” echoing the words of Pilate’s question in v. 11 (v. 29b). Then they turn to more direct insults and overt abuse by spitting in his face (recall 26:67) and beating him on the head with the rod (v. 30). The scarlet garment is then removed, his own cloak returned, and he is taken away to the site of the crucifixion (v. 31) Jesus was submissive to this entire procedure is the measure of His total submission to the will of God. Here, the Lord of glory, capable of destroying anyone who put a hand upon Him, allowed Himself to be abused in this painful and humiliating way. Although the Scriptures are graphic, even they state only the essentials. Jesus was beaten about the head and the body until He was almost unrecognizable. Few incidents in history more clearly illustrate the brutality in the desperately wicked heart of man than that which was inflicted on Jesus the Son of God. The mockery of the crown of thorns, painful as well as humiliating, His being stripped naked in front of the large crowd; the mockery of the purple robe, intended to represent a kingly garment; His being spit upon and beaten over the head repeatedly as well as the mocking worship testified to the unbelief and sordidness of the actors in this situation (modified from Craig Blomberg and John Walvoord).


Born to die, He bore the fire of God's holy wrath on His shoulders. Born to die, I watched Him pour out his life as a ransom for all. No one could take His life, He laid it down for me. That twisted wreath of thorns, He took that crown for me; then after three days, out of the ground for me, He overcame it all! With stripes on His back, betrayed by the ones that He'd loved so perfectly, we spit in His face and we crowned Him…We crown Him with the crown of thorns (modified from Mattie Montgomery).

Scripture Reading: Luke 22:54, 63-65; Matthew 26:67-68; Matthew 27:27-30; Isaiah 53:3-5 

The Walk to Golgotha

Matthew notes that Golgotha is “a place of a skull,” which is what Golgotha means, apparently from the idea that the hill Calvary looked something like a human skull. Matthew records Christ’s refusal to drink the sour wine mingled with a drug, which would have tended to dull His senses and make the cross easier to bear (modified from John Walvoord).

Scripture Reading: Matthew 27:31; Luke 23:26-33; Mark 15:20-23

The Crucifixion

Matthew simply records His crucifixion ‘without going into details, as the crude spikes were driven through His hands and His feet, and the entire cross was set up by being placed in a hole in the ground. Luke includes that one of the criminals says that if Jesus were, in fact, the Messiah, he should save himself and them. The other criminal promptly rebukes him and contrasts their just suffering and guilt with Jesus’ unjust suffering and innocence. Then turning to Jesus he asks to be remembered when Jesus enters into his reign. The account ends with Jesus’ pronouncement that the “repentant” criminal will enjoy paradise with him that day (modified from John Walvoord and Robert H. Stein).

Scripture Reading: John 19:18-22; Matthew 27:38-44; Luke 23:34, 39-43

The Casting of Lots

The picture presented by John is one of a squad (or quaternion) of soldiers completely unconcerned about the dying victims on the crosses and instead engrossed in dividing the spoils of the event. Crucifixion was for this squad of soldiers a business enterprise. Dividing the clothes was a matter of sharing the basic garments, undoubtedly like sandals, a belt, and perhaps a head scarf, and so forth. But the seamless tunic caught their attention, and they agreed that rather than ripping it into four pieces, they could enjoy a game of chance and see who could win the prize by challenging each other in “casting lots.” John reveals how these actions fulfill Psalm 22:18 (modified from Gerald L. Borchert).

Scripture Reading: Matthew 27:35-36; John 19:23-24; Psalm 22:18

Darkness, The Last Words, and Death of Christ

During a crucifixion, the arms would be fastened along with the legs, and the body would normally fall forward, creating great difficulty in breathing. The fastened legs would enable the victim to push up on the body and gasp for breath. Without the fastened legs the victim would die. The breaking of the legs of those crucified with Jesus would quickly hasten death, but since Jesus was already dead, that was unnecessary. At Christ’s death, the heavy veil of the temple, which separated the holy of holies from the holy place, was torn in two from the top to the bottom. As the divine commentary in Hebrews 10:19–22 signifies, the death of Jesus opened the way for ordinary believers to go into the holy of holies, where formerly only the Jewish high priests could go. Although not immediately known to those who witnessed the scene of Christ’s death, the resurrection of many saints occured. As a careful reading of this account reveals, the raising of the bodies of the saints, although mentioned here, actually occurred after the resurrection of Jesus. This event is nowhere explained in the Scriptures but seems to be a fulfillment of the feast of the first fruits of harvest mentioned in Leviticus 23:10–14. On that occasion, as a token of the coming harvest, the people would bring a handful of grain to the priest. The resurrection of these saints, occurring after Jesus Himself was raised, is a token of the coming harvest when all the saints will be raised (modified from Gerald L. Borchert and John Walvoord).

The probable order of these four sayings coming just before the death of Jesus: 1) The Cry of Desolation (Mark 15:34; Matt. 27:46); 2) The Cry of Physical Anguish (John 19:28); 3) The Cry of Victory (John 19:30); and 4) The Cry of Resignation (Luke 23:46).

Scripture Reading: Matthew 27:45-47; John 19:28; Matthew 27:48-50; John 19:30; Luke 23:25-26; Matthew 27:51-54; Luke 23:47; Matthew 27:55-56; John 19:31-37

The Burial

Ordinarily, there was little ceremony in connection with those crucified, and their bodies would be thrown into a shallow grave or even on a refuse heap. The problem of what to do with the body of Christ was quickly solved, however, by the intervention of Joseph of Arimathaea. The account given in all four gospels indicates that he was a wealthy and influential man, a member of the Sanhedrin, and one who had been secretly a disciple of Jesus. He went boldly in to Pilate, although this involved ceremonial defilement for a Jew during the feast, and requested the body of Jesus. Mark 15:44–45 records Pilate’s surprise that Jesus was already dead, his inquiry from the centurion to verify the fact, and his permission to Joseph. Matthew and the other gospels record the details of His burial. In the custom of the Jews, He was wrapped in clean linen cloth, and His body was placed in a new tomb hewn out of the rock. The stone door was rolled before the opening of the tomb, as they completed the act of burial. Matthew records that the two women, Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary,” identified in Mark 15:47 as “mother of Joses,” watched the burial. John 19:39–40 adds that Nicodemus, who first encountered Jesus in the incident recorded in John 3, participated in the burial, bringing myrrh and aloes of about one hundred pounds, the spices being used to saturate the linen cloths in which the body of Jesus was bound. John also records that the place of burial was in a garden. Pharisees came to Pilate the next day, which was Saturday, and requested that the tomb be sealed to keep the disciples from stealing the body of Jesus and then claiming that He had risen from the dead. It is most interesting that the chief priests and Pharisees, who were unbelievers, remembered the prediction of Jesus that He would rise again after three days, while this truth does not seem to have penetrated the consciousness of the disciples in their sorrow. With Pilate’s permission, the Jews sealed the stone, which had closed the tomb’s door, and set a watch of soldiers to be sure there was no interference with the tomb. Stealing the body of Jesus was an impossibility, but chief priests, and Pharisees, and all the power of the Roman government could not prevent Jesus rising from the grave. Their care in thus guarding the tomb only added to the certainty of the evidence when the resurrection took place (modified from John Walvoord).

Scripture Reading: John 19:38-42; Matthew 27:61-66

Written by Klayton Carson