God Died for the Ungodly - Good Friday Service 2026

Let's all stand. And I want to read for us Romans 5 6 through 8. And this is the passage for tonight. It reads. Can I have the slide? Okay. For while we were still weak at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man, though perhaps for the good man someone would dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love towards us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Let's pray together. Father, I pray that you would help us to feel the gravity of this evening's events and help us to understand that before there is joy in the morning, sorrow does last for the night. And I pray that as we think through the events of the Passion Week culminating on Good Friday, I pray that you would give us just a great appreciation for the cross of Christ, a great humbling and a tearing down of our pride, understanding that there is no other way to salvation.

And we pray that you would prepare our hearts well tonight for the resurrection on Sunday morning. So we pray for your help to listen well. We pray especially also for the children, that from an early age that they would come to know Christ, and that they would grow in the fear of the Lord, and that you would maximize their life.

Amen. Go ahead and take your seats. Well, today is Good Friday, and it wraps up the events of what we call the Passion Week. The Latin word is Patior, from which we get the word passion, and that means suffering. And this was the week of the Passion of the suffering of Christ. And Jesus Christ, fully man, fully God, suffered uniquely on the cross, or suffered uniquely on the road of the cross, and it was a week full of rejection, and it was a week highlighted by betrayal. He was betrayed by one of his very own handpicked apostles for thirty pieces of silver, children, equivalent to about four months' worth of wages, and that fulfilled the prophecy made in Zachariah 11. And then Jesus was in with an earshot when Peter, the leader of the chosen group of apostles, vehemently renounced him and denied any association with him.

And remember, Peter was a man who just one single meal prior to this, had pledged his allegiance even to the death. The informal rejection of Christ throughout the week quickly gained momentum and then became a formal and a legal one. And in a matter of a few hours, Jesus was tried by Annes and then Caiaphas, by the rest of the Sanhedrin, and then eventually by King Herod and Pontius Pilate. Pontius Pilate customarily pardoned a prisoner on the feast of the Passover, but amazingly the mob at this particular Passover wanted Barabbas' release, even though Pilate was doing all that he could to push on them the release of Jesus. And the crowds demanded the release of Bairabbas, even declaring that they be willing to incur all the divine guilt and subsequent curses upon themselves and even upon their children.

And coincidentally, that curse came, right? So Jesus is bloodied and beaten to almost an unrecognizable pulp. Jesus is first scourged with chunks of his flesh ripped off his back, his arms, his legs, his chest, and a crown of thorns is forced on his head. And then with thick reeds, which were in abundance at the banks of the rivers in Israel, it's like a thinner version of our bamboo. The soldiers specifically and repeatedly beat him on his already bloodied head. And no doubt these cruel soldiers took delight in aiming right at the crowd of thorns as they hit Jesus again and again and again. So Isaiah chapter 52, verse 14, the section that describes the future Messiah as a suffering servant, says that his face was so bloodied and beaten that he did not even look human after it was all done.

And Jesus Christ was so beaten that he did not have the strength to carry his own cross. So the scriptures say that Simon the Cyrene is recruited from the crowd and forced to carry the 100 pound beam for him up to Golgotha. And Jesus was crucified. Jesus Christ, fully God, fully man, the Lamb of God, was put to death to pay for the penalty of the sins of the world. Those are the events. And all of these things were set in motion by Judas Iscariot. And I'd like to take us back a little bit to Wednesday and Thursday of the Passion Week. And we're going to be spending the bulk of tonight's message on those two days.

Do you guys know what it's called? Silent Wednesday. Silent because the scriptures don't say much about Wednesday outside of the preparations being made for the Passover. And while Jesus and his disciples remain in Bethany for the last time of fellowship, and for perhaps some additional teaching, Judas returns alone to Jerusalem to arrange for the betrayal of Jesus. And the scriptures suggest that Judas was often sent out on errands as the group's treasurer, so none of the disciples probably thought much of his absence on this day. And I'm going to read Luke 22, verses 1 to 6 for you.

Now the feast of unleavened bread, which is called the Passover, was drawing near, and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how they might put him to death, for they were afraid of the people. And Satan entered into Judas, who was called Iscariot, who belonged to the number of the twelve. And he went away and discussed with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. And they were glad and agreed to give him money. And so he consented, and he began seeking a good opportunity to betray him to them apart from the crowd. So here we see Satan at work. And in verse 3, we see a very scary verse. Satan himself enters into Judas, one of the twelve, and the chief priests and the scribes now had a willing inside man.

They did not have to lure or bribe any of the disciples. One of the disciples took the initiative to come to them.

Judas Iscariot, a disciple who had been handpicked by the Lord Jesus, was going to commit the biggest act of betrayal in the history of all mankind. So this almost seems absurd. And this really is an unbelievable thing. How could someone in such close proximity to Jesus turn on him in such a way? What kind of man was this Judas Iscariot? How sinister, how evil, how foolish must this man have been to do such a thing. What do we know about Judas Iscariot? Well, first, next slide, please. Judas had stuck with Jesus when most of the crowds, including those who had been called followers and disciples, turned away from him. In John chapter 6, the narrative where Jesus said that he was a bread of life, he told the crowds that he was the destination and not just the means.

In him was life, in him was eternal life. Jesus said that he was eternal life. He made explicitly clear he did not come to fill their bellies or to overthrow the Roman government to make their lives easier. He was God incarnate. And this could not but have sounded blasphemous. This was crazy talk. And understandably, many were incredulous. And Jesus' teaching started getting very difficult to listen to, very difficult to understand. And at these hard teachings, most of the crowds withdrew and stopped walking with Jesus. You guys know this story, right? But Judas remained. Judas stuck with Jesus. And I want to read for you the end portion of John chapter 6. As a result of this, the teachings, many of his disciples went away and were not walking with him anymore.

So Jesus said to the twelve, do you also want to go? Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. And we have believed and have come to know that you are the holy one of God. Jesus answered them, Did I myself not choose you the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil. Now he is speaking to Judas, a son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him. Nobody had a clue. Okay. And whether it was only head knowledge or simply lip service, I'm sure at this point in time, this was also Judas's sincere verbal confession. Perhaps he may have only mentally ascribed to these truths, but Judas too publicly confessed Jesus as the bread of life.

And he backed up his confession by continuing on with Jesus. So, secondly, Judas too, had been given spiritual power and authority, and had been commissioned to preach the gospel in Jesus' name. Judas, like the rest of the twelve, was with Jesus for most of the three years he did his public ministry. So Judas not only witnessed and marveled at the miracles of Jesus, he performed miracles. Judas preached. Judas cleansed lepers. Judas cast out demons. He healed the sick. Judas perhaps even raised the dead. So let's look at Matthew chapter 10, verses 1 to 7 to 8. If I just do this, you guys just click. And summoning his twelve disciples, Jesus gave them authority over unclean spirits to cast them out, to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

And as you go, preach, saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Verse 8, heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons, freely you received, freely give. And verses 2 to 4 gives a list of the names of the twelve disciples who are given this commission, who are given this power. And if you look at verse 4 in your Bibles, you'll see that Judas is mentioned there. So the apostle Judas was a man who had spiritually empowered gifts. And third, Judas on the surface appeared to be exceptionally trustworthy. Judas looked dependable and trustworthy.

But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, who is going to betray him, said, Why was this perfume not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor? Now he said this not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to take from what was put into it. So here the scripture tells us that Judas was a thief, but there are a couple of details I'm hoping you don't miss. First, Judas is the one who makes mention of the poor. You will find that Judas often says the right things. Notice it wasn't someone like Matthew, the tax collector. Usually when we appoint or designate someone to handle the group's finances, we usually put money into the hands of the one we deem most trustworthy, right?

And it does not seem that the other disciples had any problems with Judas being in charge of the finances.

No one was suspicious of Judas or had any misgivings about him. So they trusted Judas. Why? Because Judas on the surface appeared to be trustworthy. So what do we know about Judas Iscariot? Here's a review.

Two, he was one who had been given spiritual power and authority to preach and teach and perform miracles. Three, he was a man thoroughly trusted by the eleven other disciples. Now, if you have your Bibles with you, I want to encourage you to hear to open up to John chapter 13 and follow along with your eyes as I quickly work through the details of John chapter 13. The verses are going to be put up here for you, but you can fill in more of the gaps with your eyes if your Bible is open. So beginning in John chapter 13, verse 10, Jesus says four times that one of the twelve will betray him. How many times? Four times.

So four times Jesus speaks of being betrayed by one of the twelve, and no one has a clue who he's talking about. So here's the first time.

Actually, never mind. John 13, 10 to 11. Jesus said to him, He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean, and you are clean, but not all of you. For he knew the one who was betraying him, for this reason he said, not all of you are clean. So this first time it's a little bit more subtle. Jesus had just finished washing the disciples' feet, and there's nothing written about him skipping the washing of Judas's feet. So you can assume he washed Judas' feet as well, right? But he takes this moment to say that someone among them is unclean. The second time in verse 18, Jesus is a tad more explicit.

I know the ones I have chosen, but that the scriptures may be fulfilled, he who eats my bread has lifted up his heel against me. And if they did not get it the first two times, Jesus says a third time in verse 21. And this time his spirit is deeply troubled. And judging from the response of his disciples, my assumption is that this time there is now more emotion in Jesus' voice. John 13, 21, when Jesus had said these things, he became troubled in spirit and borne witness and said, Truly, truly I say to you that one of you will betray me. Now he's really explicit. He just doesn't mention anyone by name. The disciples are now perceiving that Jesus is a bit upset, so they begin to murmur to one another.

And you know what's absolutely crazy here? They still have no clue who Jesus was talking about. The passage continues, John 13, 22 to 25. The disciples began looking at one another, perplexed about whom he spoke. And there was reclining on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. So Simon Peter gestured to him to inquire, who is the one of whom he is speaking? And he, leaning back thus on Jesus' bosom, said to him, Lord, who is it? Who is it? Judas is sitting right there. Remember, he's beyond demon possessed, right? He had spent time being influenced by Satan himself. In fact, Luke's account, which we read in the beginning, it says it already says that Satan had already entered into Judas.

So Judas was beyond demon possessed, beyond unclean spirit possessed. Judas was devil possessed, and the other disciples had no idea that Judas is the one Jesus is referring to. So in fact, my guess is that he was the last one they suspected. Did that make sense? So they're second guessing themselves. So in Matthew's account, we see in chapter 26 that each of them is deeply grieved. They're like, this cannot be. And each of them takes a turn in Matthew chapter 26, asking, Surely not I, Lord, because no one has confidence in themselves. This brings us to the fourth time Jesus speaks of his betrayal. Can we click to the next slide? Jesus answered, He is the one for whom I shall dip the piece of bread and give it to him.

So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he took it and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon his carriage. And after the piece of bread, Satan then entered into him again. And this appears to be a second time that Satan enters. And therefore Jesus said to him, Whatever you're gonna do, do it quickly. Pay attention, verse 28. Now no one of those reclining at the table knew for what purpose he had said this to him. For some were thinking, because Judas had the money box that Jesus was saying to him, buy the things we have need of for the feast, or that he should give something to the poor. So after receiving the bread, he went out immediately, and it was night.

Now no one of those reclining at the table knew. If you're following, you should pay attention here, all right. The Greek word is. Repeat after me, Udais. Not one person. I have about six or seven children's Bibles at home. They're all Maddie and Karas's. Yes. And all of them, you kind of know right away who Judas Iscariot is, right? He's the one with the scowl on his face.

But in reality, he is so well put together that no one has any idea that Judas would be Jesus' betrayer. He's the last person they'd suspect. My guess is that he was a warm and jolly fellow. Very joyful, perhaps. He may have even been the disciple whom Jesus corrected or rebuked the least. Imagine this with me, if you will. Nice guy. So even after Jesus says, four times, the other 11 disciples still think that Judas was being sent out on an errand. Do you guys notice this? No one was suspecting him and saying, Hey, where were you yesterday? On Wednesday. You went alone to Jerusalem.

What did you do there? Udes. Not one person among them. What does this teach us? First, that man's spiritual vision is horrible. Do you know why God tells Samuel the prophet not to judge by the outward external appearance? Because we are easily tricked by outward appearances. The disciples who had been with Jesus could not even tell that there was a Satan-possessed man in their midst. We read in 2 Corinthians 11, 14. Satan, and I would assume his cohorts, disguises himself as an angel of light. Our natural eyes see very poorly.

Our ears are easily tickled and tricked. We naturally walk by sight and not by faith. So Jesus was betrayed by the last person his disciples would have ever suspected. Make sense? Judas himself possibly had never imagined that he would be capable of such a thing. Because he was deceiving and being deceived, as a second, as it says in 2 Timothy 3. So here's a sobering thought. There exists in every single one of us qualities similar to Judas's scariot. Think about this with me. You are Judas. Now, not all of those things are bad. Here are some positive ones. We have a commitment at times that perseveres. We seek to have a good repute in front of other people, which is not a bad thing.

Amen.

Not all bad. Because we have to give everyone an account, right? We have to speak truth. And we all have to varying degrees, levels of spiritual talent, ability, and even supernatural power. These are the good things. But when we look at Matthew chapter 7, we come to understand that not one of these things can exempt us from the pronouncement of depart from me, you workers of iniquity, I never knew you. Right? So there exists in every single one of us, I hope, good qualities similar to Judas Iscariot, but here's one damning quality I pray that none of us ever have. It's this desire to exchange a relationship with the Son of God for our equivalent to 30 pieces of silver.

Big picture it is. It's four months' wages. It's enough money to buy a field, which they later do with that money, right? It's a cost of a slave. So it's not a small amount of money, but it's a tiny amount of money if you're thinking about who Jesus was. So here's a sobering question to ask yourself on Good Friday. Is there some Judas the betrayer in you? Is there some Judas the betrayer in you? And you might be thinking, God forbid. If it were not for the grace of God, Judas's story would very much be our story. Amen. Had it not been for the grace of God, our folly and our demise would have been no different from Judas's. John chapter 6, verse 64 reads that there are some of you who do not believe.

For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that will betray him. These were people called disciples. They followed Jesus. They liked to hear him talk. And those who enjoyed his sermons, there were some who didn't believe. So Jesus had known from the very beginning what Jesus would eventually do. And yet, Jesus recruited him. Jesus invited him in. What did he call Judas? Kids, what did Jesus call Judas? What was the title he gave him? Friend. He even calls Judas friend as this man leans in to kiss and betray him. Now I can't presume to know how Jesus must have felt every day interacting with Judas.

Imagine this with me. Imagine if you know that that person's going to betray you. Interacting with him every day would be a very difficult thing emotionally, right? But it's actually not hard to imagine that he loved Judas the same as he had loved the other disciples. I am convinced that for all three years, Jesus treated Judas the same. It would not be out of character for Jesus to also tenderly have washed Judas' feet the same way he had washed the others. Think about that with me. He lovingly washed Judas' feet. Why do I believe this about Jesus? Jesus, the radiance of the Father's glory, the exact representation of the Father's nature, he too, like his father, loves his enemies.

We serve a God who is able and willing to love his enemies. Amen. We serve a God who would give his life for his enemies. And that's what Passion Week is about. He died for a bunch of Judases. And what qualifies you to be sitting here saying, Amen, and nodding along to this? Nothing. He knew from the beginning that you would not believe. So he gave you belief as a gift, free gift. We have nothing to boast about. That's what the Passion Week is about. If you think, if we think we are more deserving of heaven than a Hitler than a Judas Iscariot, we don't understand the depravity of man.

Romans 5, verse 6 to 8, our passage from the beginning, it reads, while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man, though perhaps for the good man, someone would dare even to die. There is no one good, not even one. Romans 3. But God demonstrates his own love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Let me repeat this. But God demonstrates his own love toward us, and while we were all just as capable of betrayal like Judas, duplicitous like Judas, two faced, greedy, worldly like Judas, Christ died for us. This is what we are celebrating this week, and this is what we reflected on this week.

Amen.

So may the life of Judas and the betrayal of Judas both humble us and sober us up. Amen. May we be reminded never to exchange the glory of the immortal God, the relationship with the creator God for anything that looks like a paltry sum of thirty pieces of silver. We are all Judas. When we actually see the depravity of our hearts, we will realize that we have only been spared because of his grace. So how ought we to respond? Repent and believe. Amen. Repentance and belief. What is repentance? It is not necessarily regret or tears.

Regret and tears and shame are not the same thing as repentance. Because we can be sorry and not repent. Okay. Regret and tears may spring forth from a repentant person, but regret and tears don't always mean that someone repented. Now on Good Friday, there are many tears. There are at least two people who cried many tears. The apostle Peter went out and wept bitterly. Can you guys imagine what a bitter weeping would look like? Because he had betrayed the Lord before whom he had with what I believe is to be a sincerity of heart, made great boasts. Even if all of them betray you and deny you, I will never, even to the death. And he felt shame. But you see through the rest of the gospel accounts in the New Testament that Peter was genuinely repentant and restored.

But on Good Friday, Peter went out and wept bitterly. Now the text doesn't explicitly say it, but Judas Iscariot was also seized with great remorse. Remorse is a very strong word.

Judas even made confession. He made restitution. You know what restitution is paying back the wrong. But Judas didn't repent. Matthew chapter 27, verses three to five. Then when Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that he had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned by betraying innocent blood. Do you guys see that he confesses? Do you think he's sincere? Absolutely. Does he repay for his, does he make restitution? Yes, he does. But they said, What is that to us?

See to that yourself. And he threw the pieces of silver into the sanctuary, and he departed and went away, and he hanged himself. Had Judas repented, I believe that the Lord would have forgiven, saved, and restored him to think about this. That is the character of the God whom we serve. Does this make sense? There is no sin too great. So if the Lord is revealing to you the great depravity of your heart, your weakness, your utter helplessness, and your great need for a savior, the only thing you can do is to cleave yourself to the cross of Christ. Some people feel like they've sinned too much, and their pride keeps them from cleaving to Christ.

You can be remorseful and still reject the cross of Christ. The beautiful thing about Good Friday, the reason it's called good is that what we see through this, everything that unfolded is that there is no sin so great that is beyond saving. Amen. There is no sin that he did not die for on the cross on Good Friday. The only thing that will keep you from the grace of God is an unwillingness to draw near to the throne of grace. Whether it's because you're unbelief or your arrogance or your desire to pay it back.

Jesus was beaten, bloodied, and broken for you, and by his wounds, you and I have been healed if we believe that this is all it takes to cleave to the cross. Amen. So I want to close with this. Isaiah chapter 53. This is a prophecy of the Messiah that's to come. Surely our griefs he himself bore, and our sorrows he carried. Yet we ourselves esteemed him, stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. He was pierced through for our transgressions.

It fell upon him. And by his wounds, we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way. But Yahweh has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him. And what happens at the ninth hour? Jesus can't take it anymore. You know he stayed silent when people were mocking him, spitting at him, beating him, striking him.

You know when he finally opens his mouth? My God.

Why have you rejected me? Why have you forsaken me? Do you know why I believe that the sun turned off? The S-U-N son. There was so much hatred and holy grief from the Father that he had to just turn it all off. You know, in Numbers it says, Now the Lord bless you and keep you and make his face shine upon you and give you peace. You don't think Jesus experienced that every day? But at the cross, all of that is gone. So by the rejection and the death of Christ, we've been brought near. That's why this Friday is good. This is a horrible day. This is a nasty day. It is a beyond a rated R kind of a day. So I was debating whether or not even to say some of these things to the children.

But this is the Messiah for whom we have been waiting. He suffered badly. But more than the physical suffering, he faced the wrath of God once for all. And so he dies, he's buried. And Saturday is pretty uneventful. But in order to fully appreciate the resurrection on Sunday, we have to understand why it is that Christ died for what it was that he died. And we have to be fully sober and remember who he is and who we're not. We are way more like Judas than we think. But he died, and we have an opportunity to cleave to him. And if you've put your faith in Christ already, praise God, that's a gift.

Amen. So I want to ask the praise team to come back up, and I'm going to give you a little bit of time to just kind of reflect and think before we take on take communion, because this is his blood body broken for you. This is the blood shed on your behalf for the forgiveness and payment of your sins. I want us to take a moment to think. Lord, are there pieces of silver that I am currently tempted to trade you away for? Are there things that I have put in my heart that come before this relationship with Christ? Lord help me. I'm a sinner. So let's take some time to just reflect and think together. And after a couple moments, I'm going to interrupt us and we're going to start with our time of communion.

Let's pray.