The darkest day…
the most sorrowful of all days.

What began with shouts of “Hosanna!” just a few days prior now echoes with cries of “Crucify Him!”

The same city.
The same people.
A different voice.

Through the night and into the early morning, everything unfolds quickly.

Jesus is betrayed with a kiss. Arrested. Led away. While Judas—overcome with remorse—cannot bear what he has done.

Jesus is brought before the high priest, Caiaphas. False witnesses come forward. Accusations are twisted. Truth is ignored.

And then— the first blows fall.

“They spit in His face and struck Him…” (Matthew 26:67)

From there, He is taken to the Roman governor. Pontius Pilate listens. Questions. Examines. And declares in all honesty: “I find no guilt in Him.” (John 18:38)

But truth does not quiet the crowd. It fuels them. And so Pilate relents.

Jesus is scourged— His body torn by the whip or flagellum. Not just any whip– one designed to inflict the most pain imaginable.

A crown of thorns is pressed into His head. A robe was placed on His shoulders in mockery. “Hail, King of the Jews!”

He is mocked. Struck. Rejected.

By leaders. By soldiers. By the crowd.

And then He is led away.

He carries the cross. Step by step. Toward Calvary. They nail Him to it. Hands and Feet. Lifted between heaven and earth— the One who came to reconcile both.

And from the cross, He speaks.

“Father, forgive them…”
“Into Your hands I commit My spirit.”

At about the ninth hour, He breathes His last.

And in that moment, what had been building all week reaches its fulfillment.

The Lamb has been slain. The sacrifice made. The weight of sin—borne.

And the veil is torn.

Not gently. Not partially. But completely. From top to bottom.

The Presence was now accessible to all. No barriers. No hindrances. What was once unclean has now been made clean. Washed in the blood. Purified.

A way was made for all.

🌿 What This Day Reveals

Rejected. Wounded. Crushed. So we might be forgiven. Restored. Brought near.

🌿 Reflection

Don't be tempted to rush through this day—to take it for granted or to pass up the opportunity to meditate on the enormity of the price paid for your freedom. It was huge.

Good Friday asks us to pause.

No matter your plans for Sunday, forget about the Easter bunnies, the baskets filled with candy and treats. Center your focus on what it cost to purchase your freedom.

Feel the weight.

Understand that Good Friday was the greatest act of love; you were ransomed with the purest blood of the Spotless Lamb.

🙏 Prayer

Lord, let me never grow numb to this day. To the cost… to the suffering… to the love poured out, not in partial but in full. You were not overcome. You were not defeated. You gave Yourself. And you did it for me. Let me live in the shadow of that truth— and in the light of what it has made possible. Amen.

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© 2026 Jan Ross
All Rights Reserved

“Sit often under the influence of God’s Word.”🌻
www.janross.org/devotions/

Important References

Isa 53 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul, he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors. 

Psalm 22 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts. On you was I cast from my birth and from my mother’s womb you have been my God. Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help. Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. I am poured out like water and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet— I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. But you, O Lord, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid! Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog! Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen! I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him. From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him. The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord! May your hearts live forever! All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive. Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.

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© 2026 Jan Ross
All Rights Reserved

“Sit often under the influence of God’s Word.”🌻
www.janross.org/devotions/

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