The Lord is far more concerned with our salvation than we are. I believe the gospel accounts of the Lord’s crucifixion clearly show this. As I read through a Harmony of the Gospels, a side-by-side view of all four gospels, the simplicity of God’s goodness and grace stood out to me.
Consider all that leads up to Jesus hanging on the cross between two criminals.
When Jesus began His public ministry, enormous crowds followed Him, as He preached, taught, and did miracles (Matthew 4:23-25). But as His teaching became more pointed, the Jewish leaders opposed Him, and the crowds diminished (John 6:60-66).
Yes, there was a great crowd who welcomed Him with shouts of “Hosanna” when Jesus entered Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey, but later that week many of these same people joined in the crowd who condemned Him with shouts of, “Crucify Him!”
What led up to this condemnation? One of Jesus’ chosen twelve agreed to betray him. He did so with a kiss. This kiss of betrayal set in motion a sequence of demeaning events leading to His crucifixion. Jesus was betrayed by one of His followers and then abandoned by all.
His three closest followers were to stand watch while Jesus travailed in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. They fell asleep. Their bravado at His arrest soon wilted into abandonment, culminating in Peter’s three shameful denials, as foretold by Jesus.
Following unjust and humiliating treatment from Jewish leaders and Roman soldiers—false accusations, a brutal beating, and a torturous march to Golgotha—Jesus was crucified between two thieves.
Although the pagan Roman governor Pontius Pilate recognized Jesus’ innocence and unjust condemnation, his testimony proved ineffective. His own people, the Jews, turned their backs on Jesus, the Messiah they had awaited.
This illustrates humanity’s dilemma. We need salvation. We cry out for God’s mercy, often claiming to be victims of injustice. But when God extends His mercy, grace, and truth to us, we reject it. At best, we ignore it.
Just like the self-righteous Jewish leaders and the riotous rabble, we turn our noses up in disdain. Why? Because what God offers is not to our liking. It’s not how we think it should be. Many people object to the idea of eternal judgment because they think people are intrinsically good.
Somehow, the graciousness of God offends our sensibilities. Yet, sensibility is what we lack, just like the criminal hanging next to Jesus, who joins the chorus of condemnation to rail against Him. This unnamed criminal doesn’t take stock of what brought him to be condemned to death.
This criminal, who is justly condemned to death, is you and me.
It’s at this point I’m startled by the great, gracious goodness of God—
Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” (Luke 23:34)
This is not what we typically say when we are wronged, insulted, hurt, or mistreated in some way. We want to retaliate, lash out, or at least seek some form of justice. Yet, this is exactly the nature of Jesus, whose gracious, forgiving nature is displayed in the face of irrational scorn. It’s hard to reconcile the contrast. It defies reason when you stop to ponder this scene.
And then, we come to a person who shows good sense. By his own admission, this man knows he deserves his criminal death. He knows to rebuke his fellow criminal and appeal to Jesus for mercy—
“Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward for our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
Here again, I see the great, gracious goodness of Good Friday. Jesus extends grace to this undeserving man.
“Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise,” (Luke 23:43)
What did this man do to warrant this grace? Nothing. This is the amazing goodness of God’s grace displayed on the cross that we celebrate on Good Friday. This is what makes Good Friday so good. It is the gracious essence of the gospel. God became a man to take upon Himself the judgment of humanity’s sin once and for all. The Just for the unjust.
We, all humanity, are the unjust, and there is nothing we can do to deserve or earn God’s grace. It is only because of God’s goodness that we can be free from condemnation and shame.
Jesus still extends grace to the undeserving, as He did hanging on that cross two thousand years ago. Here is a question every person must ask and answer for themselves.
Will you admit your need for God’s mercy and ask the Lord to extend His grace to you?
I did long ago. I came to my senses, seeing my eventual destination. I moved out from under the ominous cloud of condemnation and the foolish shame of walking in ignorant darkness, and into the forgiving light of God’s grace.
This is why Good Friday is so good for me.
Trip planted a church in the US and established two ministries overseas, along with many other ministry experiences. His ministry now focuses on discipleship and leadership development, while serving as a mentor to pastors and leaders with Poimen Ministries. Along with writing devotionals and simple Bible studies, he’s written books, Bible study guides, and training materials. Trip’s material can also be found at
@tkbeyond (on X)
@tripkimball (on https://substack.com/)
