Table of Contents
Introduction Into Good Friday
Daniel 2:30-35,” But as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your mind. Daniel Interprets the Dream “You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening.
The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.
Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together, were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.“
Around 606 BC, King Nebuchadnezzar dreamt a dream that was interpreted by Daniel, who was a slave in Babylon by then.
According to Daniel 2:44–45, And in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”
This was the interpretation that Daniel gave, Then later on, there appeared a stone cut from the mountain without human hands, and it shattered the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold, statute. Then that stone started growing until it filled the world. The stone we see here is interpreted as Jesus.
Remember that on that good Friday Jesus was crucified at a spot outside Jerusalem called Golgotha in Hebrew (Mark 15:22), which in Aramaic means “place of the skull.” The Latin word for skull is calvaria, and in English many Christians refer to the site of the crucifixion as Calvary, where Jesus hanged on that good Friday. Golgotha seems to have been a known spot because of the look or form of the spot itself, which is bald, round, and skull-like. Inside the tomb is a 1300-year-old marking of a cross with the Byzantine words saying “Jesus Christ, the Beginning and the End.”
Emperor Constantine ordered in 325 AD the construction of a basilica, which became known as the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (one of the holiest sites in Christianity). This church is within the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. Over the centuries, it has been destroyed, rebuilt, and renovated several times.
The main purpose of Jesus coming to earth was to establish the Kingdom of God on earth, and this was done through his death on the cross on that good Friday. The main aim of Jesus coming to the earth wasn’t to die; although he died on that good Friday, his main aim was to come and preach the good news of the Kingdom of God, but through his death on that Good Friday his aim would continue through us who have accepted him.
Luke 4:43 says, “But Jesus told them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well, because that is why I was sent.”
Remember, that is why Jesus said in the book of Matthew 3:2, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” What Jesus was telling them was to change their minds, and even their altitude so they could benefit from the Kingdom of God. You can not expect to solve a problem at the level at which it was created.
Jesus was reminding them to change their thinking because He knew that their thinking was wrong, in the sense that they thought that the Kingdom of God was for the future. Most of them thought that they should suffer here on earth for most of their lives and then eventually die and go to heaven and be part of God’s kingdom.
Jesus was trying to make them understand that the kingdom that Daniel mentioned in Daniel 2:44, is here now because he has brought it with him from heaven to earth.
But remember that the Scribes and Pharisees, were not expecting the kingdom of God to appear in that format; they tried to fight it and even hinder it.
“How horrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. You don’t enter it yourselves, and you don’t permit others to enter when they try.” (Matthew 23:13).
How do the Pharisees prevent others from entering the Kingdom of God?
Matthew 23:15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.
Remember what is outside the Kingdom of heaven, “Outside are the dogs [the godless, the impure, those of low moral character] and the sorcerers [with their intoxicating drugs, and magic arts], and the immoral persons [the perverted, the molesters, and the adulterers], and the murderers, and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying (deception, cheating).” (Revelation 22:15).
Outside, the Kingdom of God is likened to :
A man who was living in the Kingdom of God, and when he stepped out of it, he found the devil waiting for him, and the devil and his agents robbed him of everything, leaving that person for dead if the devil doesn’t kill himself. (Luke 10:29–37)
We also read another case of the prodigal son who lost everything as a result of stepping outside the kingdom of his father: Luke 15:31–32, saying: “And he [the father] said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.”
Lastly, we see that Adam brought sin to all mankind, according to Romans 5:12, “When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.”
Then Jesus came and died on the cross and took away all our sins on a Friday, which we remember as good Friday: According to Philippians 2:9, “he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names,“
Brethren, remain blessed this good Friday and stay connected to the kingdom Jesus introduced to us before he died, and you will eat it’s fruits. Therefore, it is important to remember the true meaning of good Friday.
Pastor Nathaniel.
Recommended Good Friday Posts:
Why Has Good Friday Lost It’s Original Meaning Now? – 2024 (mtmchurch.org)
Good Friday: What You Need To Know Now – 2024 (mtmchurch.org)
