Good Friday

In the morning on Friday the church authorities gathered again and questioned the Lord again, hoping to discover something more, but they received only a confirmation of what they had previously found out. And this was quite enough for their conscience.

Then they delivered the Lord to Pilate the governor, so as to obtain from him a condemnation of the Lord to death. Here they used different language, all in a political tone. Pilate at once saw that there was no capital offense in the accused. But, unwilling both to condemn the Lord and to displease the Jews, as soon as he saw an opportunity, he hastened to remove the case from himself and delivered the Lord to Herod. However, he too found no capital offense in the one brought to him and sent word of this to Pilate, clothing Him in a white robe.

Pilate found himself having to decide the case again. He did not want to condemn the Lord, being aware of His innocence of death. But he was weak in love for truth and, instead of relying on the power of this truth, turned to outside help, which did not produce the expected effect on those accusing. Nothing was accomplished by setting the Benefactor against a criminal to persuade them to choose the first for release; the display of the wounded and bloodied figure produced no effect to arouse pity and dispose them to be satisfied with this scourging. “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend” – at last deprived Pilate of all energy to defend the Righteous One – and he condemned Him to crucifixion. The people take the blood of the Lord upon themselves; Pilate washes his hands; thus all is settled. – And the Lord is led away for crucifixion with two criminals.

On the way the blessed Simon of Cyrene was counted worthy to carry the cross of the Lord for Him; the weeping women received a lesson to weep for themselves with an exhortation of fear for all.

At Golgotha they crucify the Lord, divide His garments and mock the Crucified. After this are heard seven words of the Lord from the Cross, beginning with a prayer for those who crucify and revile Him, and ending with the committing of His spirit into the hands of His Father in heaven.

From the sixth hour until the ninth there was darkness; at the ninth hour the Lord gave up His spirit with the accompanying awesome signs, which caused the people, smiting their breasts, to come to themselves.

Then all became quiet. Only the malice of His enemies found no rest. They obtained permission to break the legs of the crucified, so that, bringing them thereby to death, they could remove their bodies. But concerning the Lord it did not happen according to their desire. In fulfillment of the prophecies, His legs were not broken – though alive, but His side was pierced after He was already dead; and His body was taken down not like the bodies of criminals, but like the body of a person reverently honored and worshipped, by Joseph and Nicodemus, without doubt not without the participation of other persons close to Him. – The women observed how they laid the Lord in the tomb.

The repentance of Judas with his despair and destruction we place at the end of the events of Friday so as not to interrupt the accounts of what happened to the Lord. Moreover, in his despair he turned to the high priests, who until the very evening were occupied with the matter of the unrighteous condemnation of the Lord and had no time for Judas.

All the events of Good Friday are determined in their course by the indications of the accounts about them.