Good News Friday

Read Luke 23:26-49

The Crucifixion of Jesus

As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then

“‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”
    and to the hills, “Cover us!”’[a]

For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”

The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews.

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.[c]”

Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

The Death of Jesus

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.

The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

Take time today to slowly read through the Luke 23 text for today. Use your sanctified imagination to place yourself there, close to the action, as the scene unfolds. There are many who witness the horrible spectacle of Jesus being mocked, tortured, and executed. Luke’s account names the different people who are present—from all walks of life—just in a short amount of verses: political figures, soldiers, a crowd that follows, Simon of Cyrene, women who mourn, rulers who hurl insults, and two criminals next to Jesus. 

It’s as if Luke is reminding us, here at the foot of the cross, of exactly what the angels announced at the birth of Jesus: that this good news really is for all people. 

It’s for people in positions of influence, 

and for criminals facing execution. 

It’s for people in power, 

and for the powerless. 

It’s for locals, and for visiting foreigners. 

It’s for the multitude who follow at a distance, 

and for the few who are close enough to hear Jesus’s dying words. 

Here he is, the one true King, surrendering his power, taking on sin, and suffering shame for all people. Jesus didn’t die alone. He died surrounded by the very mess of humanity he came to save. Luke gives us shepherds at the birth of Jesus, and criminals at the cross. Why? Because even the cross is good news of great joy for all people.

But where is the good news here, in this bloody scene of insults and execution? Move closer in and you can hear it in the words that Jesus speaks. Words of warning and compassion to the mourning women: don’t grieve for me, grieve for what happens when people reject my Kingdom. Words of forgiveness for the very people who have enacted his arrest, trial, torture, and death: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. And words of welcome to the criminal who knows what he deserves, but dares to ask for a place in the Kingdom anyway: Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.

What makes today Good News Friday? The Wounded One saying don’t grieve for me, grieve for yourselves. The Innocent One praying forgiveness for those who have sinned against him. The Mocked Messiah assuring a criminal that he belongs in the Kingdom of heaven.

To each person in this scene, and to every tribe and nation today, those words of welcome into the Kingdom are extended: Be With Me Today. If joy is relational then here it is again, in full color, in the dying words of Jesus: paradise is eternity with me.

With. Me.

Could there be better news? Could there be greater joy? 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Darren and Pam Prince live in Whitechapel, London where they have served among asylum seekers, immigrants, and twelve-step recovery communities with London’s InnerCHANGE Team since 2007. Prior to that, they directed a ministry to homeless young people in San Francisco, California. Darren served as the InnerCHANGE General Director from 2014 – 2022 and is currently Novo’s Senior Vice President, shaping internal communications and organizational culture. Darren is passionate about making disciples, teaching the Bible, reading good books, befriending people on the margins, and sipping high quality coffee.