It was six o’clock in the morning
On that first Good Friday
Jesus stood before Pilate
After from Gethsemane he was led away.
“Art thou the king of the Jews?”
Pilate then had asked,
Where upon Jesus replied, “Thou sayest,”
Compounding Pilate’s task.
When Pilate had discovered
That Jesus was of Galilean descent
He decided he would pass the buck
And to Herod he had him sent.
When Herod saw Jesus
He was exceedingly glad
And treated to this opportunity
Like none he had ever had.
He had hoped to see a miracle
But he was given none
So he sent him back to Pilate
But not before he’d had his fun.
Herod and his soldiers mocked him
And set him at nought
Then arrayed him in a gorgeous robe
And back to Pilate he was brought.
That very same day
Herod and Pilate became good friends,
They had been enemies before
But that enmity came to an end.
Pilate reexamined Jesus
And again he found no fault
But the people pressed him sorely
And at their demands he came to a halt.
As was the Jewish custom
Some prisoner should be released,
Pilate presented them with the choice
And Jesus was rejected by the priests.
Barabbas was chosen to go free
While Jesus was sentenced to die,
He was therefore led away to Calvary
And there he was crucified.
Three hours had passed
Three hours had passed
And now he was on the cross,
For most of the spectators
To them he was no great loss.
They had called for his death
In the worst possible way
And for the religious bigwigs
This was a remarkable day.
The people that passed by
They shouted their abuse,
They taunted and they mocked him
And treated him like refuse.
But he pled for their forgiveness
From his Father above
Demonstrating from the cross
His unrequited love.
“He saved others,” they scoffed
“But he can’t save himself.”
Some must have remembered
When he raised Lazarus from death.
One of the criminals also crucified
Hurled his insults at him,
He certainly did not realize
That Jesus was dying due to his sin.
The other reprimanded him
Then called on God’s Son,
“Remember me,” he requested
When you come into your kingdom.”
Jesus in his response
Offered to him paradise
Promising he would be with him,
Him he did not despise.
Mary, the mother of Jesus
Was not to be left alone,
At the directive of Jesus
John took her to his home.
At the sixth hour, it was then 12 p.m.
Darkness covered the land,
All this was in keeping
With the unfolding redemptive plan.
“My God, My God
Why have You forsaken Me?”
These were the word from Jesus
No doubt while in his deepest agony.
Fulfilling the Scriptures he said I thirst
And sour wine was held to his lips
Whereupon he cried, “It is finished,”
Immediately after he had taken a sip.
“Father into you hands
I commit my spirit,”
Having said this he breathed his last
And from life took his exit.
It was the ninth or 3:00 p.m.
And the temple veil was rent in twain,
The tombs opened and many holy people
Were raised to life again.
“Truly he was the Son of God!”
The centurion and others confessed,
With the earthquake and all that occurred
They could do no less, is my guess.
Many women were there
From afar they beheld these events,
For us they hold great significance
Especially when the temple veil was rent.
Joseph of Arimathea was a rich man
And in a way quite brave,
Having requested Jesus’ body of Pilate
He buried him in his grave.
Some felt he was a secret disciple
Though a member of the Sanhedrin
But in order to identify with Christ
He threw caution to the wind.
Jesus the very Son of God
Was implanted in a virgin’s womb
Then on the event of his substitutionary death
Was interred in a borrowed tomb.
The events of that first Good Friday
Should be stamped upon each heart
That God, through the sacrifice of His Son
For us such love did impart.
Stewart Russell © March 2018
