Welcome to Good Friday with Missio

Whether you are a part of Missio Dei Mesa, or just curious about Jesus, you are welcome here. We hope that the next thirty minutes help to expose the horrific beauty of the cross. We will meet tonight at 6pm in downtown, Mesa- but until that gathering may these words help you reflect and meditate.

There is horror because on this day God’s innocent son was murdered for crimes we committed. He felt the wrath of the father for sins that we chose. He absorbed the wounds of this world that we might be set free. There is also beauty. Beauty because we see forgiveness, healing, hope, and freedom personified. We are able to catch a glimpse of the great love God has for his world. We are able to taste and see the devastation that sin causes and the deep love that Jesus has for his creation. For you. For me.

So let yourself be drawn into the story. Look at the images, listen to the words, pray the prayers. If you feel moved to mourn, let the tears come. If you dare to dream this could be for you, let that faith grow. Feel the amazement that , as Tim Keller says, we were so messed up that Jesus had to die for us, but so loved that he wanted to.

If you find yourself needing a break, hit pause, then come back to it in a bit.  There’s no wrong way to experience this teaching except to try to numb yourself from it. 

Thanks for joining with us. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out. If you want to talk more about what you hear, let us know. We’re glad you are here and trust that God will use this in your lives. 

Scroll down for original photography with Scripture & Audio

• Youtube Audio / Images

• Act 4: Redemption

Station 1: Jesus is Tempted

Matthew 26:36-41

Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”

• Original Artwork by Scott Erickson / / Photo by Josh

Station 2: Jesus is Betrayed

Matthew 26:47-50

And even as Jesus said this, Judas, one of the twelve disciples, arrived with a crowd of men armed with swords and clubs. They had been sent by the leading priests and elders of the people. The traitor, Judas, had given them a prearranged signal: “You will know which one to arrest when I greet him with a kiss.” So Judas came straight to Jesus. “Greetings, Rabbi!” he exclaimed and gave him the kiss.

Jesus said, “My friend, go ahead and do what you have come for.”

Then the others grabbed Jesus and arrested him.

• Original Artwork by Scott Erickson / / Photo by Caylyn

Station 3: Jesus is Condemned

Matthew 27:19-26

Just then, as Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him this message: “Leave that innocent man alone. I suffered through a terrible nightmare about him last night.”

Meanwhile, the leading priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas to be released and for Jesus to be put to death. So the governor asked again, “Which of these two do you want me to release to you?”

The crowd shouted back, “Barabbas!”

Pilate responded, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?”

They shouted back, “Crucify him!”

“Why?” Pilate demanded. “What crime has he committed?”

But the mob roared even louder, “Crucify him!”

Pilate saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. The responsibility is yours!”

And all the people yelled back, “We will take responsibility for his death—we and our children!”

So Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified

*Photo by Brandon

Station 4: Jesus is Mocked

Matthew 27:27-31

Some of the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters and called out the entire regiment. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it. When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified.

• Original Artwork by Scott Erickson / / Photo Camille

Station 5: Jesus is Given His Cross

John 3:14-15

And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.

Original Artwork by Scott Erickson / / Photo by Brandon

Station 6: Jesus Falls

Isaiah 53:4-7

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;

it was our sorrows that weighed him down.

And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,

a punishment for his own sins!

But he was pierced for our rebellion,

crushed for our sins.

He was beaten so we could be whole.

He was whipped so we could be healed.

All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.

We have left God’s paths to follow our own.

Yet the Lord laid on him

the sins of us all.

He was oppressed and treated harshly,

yet he never said a word.

He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.

And as a sheep is silent before the shearers,

he did not open his mouth.

Original Artwork by Scott Erickson / / Photo by Noel

Station 7: Simon Carries Jesus Cross

Luke 23:26-33

As they led Jesus away, a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, happened to be coming in from the countryside. The soldiers seized him and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. A large crowd trailed behind, including many grief-stricken women. But Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For the days are coming when they will say, ‘Fortunate indeed are the women who are childless, the wombs that have not borne a child and the breasts that have never nursed.’ People will beg the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and plead with the hills, ‘Bury us.’ For if these things are done when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

• Original Artwork by Scott Erickson / / Photo by Kait

Station 8: Jesus is Stripped

John 19:23-24

When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they divided his clothes among the four of them. They also took his robe, but it was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. So they said, “Rather than tearing it apart, let’s throw dice for it.” This fulfilled the Scripture that says, “They divided my garments among themselves and threw dice for my clothing.” So that is what they did.

• Original Artwork by Scott Erickson // Photo by Michael

Station 9: Jesus is Nailed to the Cross

Mark 15:22-31

And they brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”). They offered him wine drugged with myrrh, but he refused it.

Then the soldiers nailed him to the cross. A sign announced the charge against him. It read, “The King of the Jews.” Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.

The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. “Ha! Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, save yourself and come down from the cross!”

The leading priests and teachers of religious law also mocked Jesus. “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! Let this Messiah, this King of Israel, come down from the cross so we can see it and believe him!” Even the men who were crucified with Jesus ridiculed him.

• Original Artwork Scott Erickson / / Photo Camille

Station 10: Jesus Dies

John 19:28-30

Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture he said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips. When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Station 11: Jesus is Buried

Mark 14:41-46

This all happened on Friday, the day of preparation, the day before the Sabbath. As evening approached, Joseph of Arimathea took a risk and went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. (Joseph was an honored member of the high council, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come.) Pilate couldn’t believe that Jesus was already dead, so he called for the Roman officer and asked if he had died yet. The officer confirmed that Jesus was dead, so Pilate told Joseph he could have the body. Joseph bought a long sheet of linen cloth. Then he took Jesus’ body down from the cross, wrapped it in the cloth, and laid it in a tomb that had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone in front of the entrance.

• Original Artwork by Scott Erickson / / Photo by Noel

Missio Dei Mesa Good Friday Video (audio and images video)

• Words originally written by Ryan Bowen and Dave Atkins of Great Bay Gospel Fellowship

Good Friday Music and Songs