Good Friday: A Message from Pastor Andrew Thurber

Tonight is not a casual night. After watching what we just watched, it is hard to stand up here and speak, because that film is exactly why we are here. Passionate Life Church gathered tonight because God sent His only begotten Son, because He loved us so much, and He allowed Him to go through that brutality. It is one thing to read about it. It is another thing entirely to see it visually. The Passion of the Christ does a powerful job of depicting what Jesus went through, the hardship, the torment, the torture, and He did all of that for us.

I also want you to know that tonight is historically significant in a way that I do not take lightly. NASA has used their scientific instruments to pinpoint a partial lunar eclipse and an earthquake that occurred simultaneously on April 3rd of the year 33, events that coincide with a man being crucified on a cross. Tonight is April 3rd. It is a Friday night. We are here on the anniversary of the day that Jesus died. I believe there is a special significance to that, and I believe God wants to do something in our hearts tonight because of it.
Before I get into the message, let me pray.

Father, we thank you for this moment. I thank you for every person in this room tonight. They represent a promise. They represent purpose. Father, we thank you as a collective group of followers of you. We thank you for sending your Son, Jesus. Jesus, we thank you that you did something for us that we could never do. We thank you for living a sinless life. We thank you for choosing to come and walk among us so you could be a personal, relational God who knows exactly what we go through every single day. Jesus, we love you. We thank you. I come against every spirit of distraction tonight. I bind and rebuke every other spirit out of this room right now in the mighty name of Jesus. Every stress, every anxiety, every spirit of fear, you go right now in the name of Jesus. Holy Spirit, we welcome you. Have your way tonight. Jesus, get me out of the way. All of you and none of me, in Jesus name. Amen.

The New Covenant: Remember Me
Tonight I want to talk about the significance of what Jesus did on the cross and how that connects to the Passover. We are going to start in Luke 22:18-20, where Jesus has gathered His disciples together.

He says, "For I will not drink wine again until the kingdom of God has come." Then He took some bread, gave thanks to God for it, broke it in pieces, and gave it to His disciples, saying, "This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." After supper, He took another cup of wine and said, "This cup is the new covenant between God and His people, an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you."

We just went through a nine-week series on the names of God, and one of the things we learned is that God is a God of covenant. When He makes promises, He never breaks them. And here, Jesus is declaring something that changes everything. He says, "I have come to bring a new covenant." No longer do we have to operate under the old system where people would bring animals to priests, drain the blood, and receive forgiveness up to that point, only to fall right back under the power of sin the moment they had a bad thought. Jesus is declaring that because of His body and His blood, we enter into something entirely new.

And He says remember. Remember me in this moment. Do not forget what I have done for you. Because here is the honest truth about us: we have tendencies to forget. We have a bad day and we forget. Anxiety and stress and fear wash over us and we forget that Jesus already did everything on that cross two thousand years ago. That we are in a new covenant and everything has been broken and made new. Tonight we are here to remember. Remember Jesus and what He did for us.

The Passover Lamb: Is Jesus the Main Course?
Now let us go back further. Exodus 12:21-27. God's people are still in slavery. Nine plagues have already come down on Egypt and the tenth is about to happen. Moses calls all the elders of Israel together and says, "Go pick out a lamb or a young goat for each of your families and slaughter the Passover animal. Drain the blood into a basin. Take a bundle of hyssop branches and dip it into the blood. Brush the hyssop across the top and sides of the doorframes of your house and no one may go out through the door until morning. For the Lord will pass through the land to strike down the Egyptians. But when He sees the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe, the Lord will pass over your home."

Do you see the imagery here tonight? As death surrounds God's people, what are they doing? They are feasting on the Passover lamb. And here is the thing. Jesus is the Passover lamb. So as depression, anxiety, fear, or whatever destruction is surrounding your life right now, let me ask you a direct question. Is Jesus the feast of your life? Is He the main course? Because Jesus will not be a side dish. He will not be sweet potatoes. He will not be corn. He certainly will not be asparagus. He is not ketchup. He is not salt and pepper. Jesus must be the feast of your life. He must be the main thing.

God is showing us through this passage that His people were feasting while the whole world was falling apart around them. The whole world could be melting down, but God is going to take care of His people. And we get caught up in social media, the latest conspiracy theories, whatever the news cycle is churning out today. I know what podcasts some of you are watching. Listen to me. Focus on Jesus. Feast on Jesus. As long as He is the center of your life, you are going to be all right.

And I want you to notice something about those doorposts. How many doorposts do you walk through in a day? Probably a lot. And you probably do not think about the moment when the Israelites put blood over those doorposts. But here is what I want you to carry with you. Every day that you leave your house, you are leaving a doorpost. Do not leave Jesus at home. Bring Him with you. And once death had its day, once the death angel passed over, they could walk through the door into freedom. Who is the door? Jesus is the door. And when they walked through, they were set free to follow God into the wilderness and ultimately into the promised land. Jesus has set you free tonight because of the Passover lamb. Because Jesus was the spotless lamb of God.

The Veil Is Torn: You Have Access
Matthew 27:50-52. We watched this tonight in the film. Then Jesus shouted out again and released His spirit. At that moment, the curtain in the sanctuary of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Do not miss that it was not from bottom to top. It was God Himself ripping the veil. The moment Jesus gives up His spirit, the veil is torn.

The earth shook. Rocks split apart. Tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. Wild things were happening. But the most significant thing in that moment is what happened to the temple. Because at the moment Jesus is hanging on the cross, the spotless lamb of God is dying, the priests are getting ready to prepare for Passover. They are inspecting lambs, making sure they are spotless, getting ready to slaughter them. And Jesus cries out and the veil is torn.

Only one priest could go past that veil, and only once a year. And they were not even sure about that one priest. They would tie a rope around his foot just in case, because if he had any sin in him, he would be dead on the spot. These people had a genuine, healthy fear of God. And the significance of God tearing that veil is His statement to the world: I am open for business. No longer do you have to go through another person for repentance, for salvation. The old system is gone. The new has come. We are in the new covenant.
Hebrews 10:19-20 says we can now boldly enter heaven's most holy place because of the blood of Jesus. By His death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the most holy place.

What is amazing about this is that because of the Holy Spirit, the most holy place can be wherever you are. No longer is God subjected to a specific area behind a veil. We have access to the holy of holies wherever we go. You can experience the presence of God walking your dog, drinking your coffee, driving to work. I experience the Holy Spirit when I am coaching basketball. Several years ago when I started coaching my oldest son Jude, I felt guilty, not convicted, guilty, that I should be doing more for God rather than just coaching my kid. And the Holy Spirit spoke to me in that hallway and said, "Andrew, I want you to do the things you love. I want you to spend time with your son." God cares about your whole life. Not just the big events. Not just when you come to church or read your Bible. He wants to be invited into everything. But many times we have to invite Him because He is a gentleman. He will not force His way in. He waits for us.

Old Yeast and New Bread
First Corinthians 5:7-8. The Apostle Paul writes to the Corinthian church, which was a disaster, by the way. They thought they were being graceful and merciful by letting a wicked person hang around. Paul is like, "What are you doing? Get rid of the old yeast."
So many times we allow things, and allow people, to hang out in our lives that God is clearly asking us to remove. And we justify it by saying we are just trying to be nice. But here is what I believe. I would rather offend somebody to heaven than affirm somebody to hell. We have too many Christians today who just affirm sin. They let it hang out. They lower the bar. And Jesus never came to lower the bar. He raised it. Going from the old covenant to the new covenant means Jesus was given the authority to raise the standard. We are not talking about perfection. But we are absolutely talking about getting rid of wickedness and old yeast and stepping into sincerity and truth.

If you are real with people, if you speak truth, some will get offended. But if that offense leads them to salvation, do you know how thankful they are going to be when they see you in heaven? Thanks for telling me the truth. Thanks for not sugarcoating it.

I do not know how much time we have. Things are moving fast. Technology is moving fast. This could be our last Good Friday before the return of Jesus. I am not saying it is. But it could be. So let us not get caught up in the drama of this world. Let us remember Jesus. Let us remember what He has done and what He is constantly doing.

Isaiah 53: Written Seven Hundred Years Before the Cross
I want to end tonight with Isaiah 53. We support an organization called One for Israel that specifically goes and tries to share the gospel with Jewish people, particularly young people in Israel. And they always read Isaiah 53 to them and ask if they can identify the passage. Every single time, the response is that it sounds like a New Testament passage. And when they find out it is Isaiah 53, they are shocked, because this passage has been removed from many Jewish Bibles. And no wonder. Because Isaiah wrote these words seven hundred years before Jesus hung on that cross, and they are so specific, so prophetic, that they are impossible to explain away.

Listen to this. Who has believed our message? I love that he starts with this, because from time to time every preacher goes through this. Is anyone listening? Am I having any impact? Then Isaiah writes: My servant grew up in the Lord's presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about His appearance, nothing to attract us to Him. Jesus did not look like a movie star. He was not outwardly attractive, and that was intentional.

He was despised and rejected. A man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. Have you ever been rejected? I think I am going to preach a whole message on the spirit of rejection at some point, because it affects everybody. And if you find yourself being triggered constantly, the root of it is probably rejection. But here is what I want you to understand. If you want to talk about someone who experienced rejection at the highest level possible, it was Jesus. His own people killed Him. The very people He came to save.

One moment they were shouting Hosanna, the next they were shouting kill Him. Jesus understands your rejection. He has been there at the highest level. This is the God we serve. He has been through everything we have been through, at the highest level, so when we cry out to Him, He actually understands what we are talking about.

We turned our backs on Him and looked the other way. He was despised and we did not care. I am going to be honest with you right now because this was me. I was raised in the church, a pastor's kid. I started drinking at fourteen. Started doing drugs at fifteen. God was there. Jesus was available. And I turned my back on Him. I partied for seven years. I walked away. I did not care about the purpose and the plan He had for my life.

Church, do not wait a moment to get right with God. Because we have all turned our backs on Him at some point. And what I have been thinking about tonight is that all those times I was making terrible choices, Jesus was there with me. Waiting. Just waiting for me to say I have had enough. I need you. And the moment I did, He showed up. Not just a little. When I surrendered all, He took every desire to drink or do drugs ever again. Gone in an instant.

Because that is the God we serve.

Yet it was our weaknesses He carried. It was our sorrows that weighed Him down. He was pierced for our rebellion. Crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be made whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.

I want to stay on that word whole for a moment because it matters. God is a covenantal God. When He says you can be whole, He means whole. Not partial. Whole. I looked it up in the Hebrew and it means exactly that. So when you say you have always struggled with anxiety or you have always been depressed, I want you to hear this. He can heal you and set you free. And it is not just physical healing. Yes, Jesus does physical healings and He still does them today. But He also wants to heal your emotions. Your mind. Everything. Not just one part. He came to make you whole. But many times He is just waiting for us to let Him into that place. That place you have never told anybody about. That is exactly the place Jesus wants to be invited into. He wants to touch you there. He wants to heal you there.

All of us like sheep have strayed away. We have left God's path to follow our own. Guilty. I thought I could make my own path and God and I would be fine. We were not fine. God did not want me destroying my life with drugs and alcohol. That was my path, but it was not His plan for me.

And if you are a young person here tonight, I want to speak directly to you. Come to youth group. Get yourself into that community. Parents, get your students there. Our youth are being attacked from every direction, in the public school system, in universities, everywhere. Statistics show that if a young person cannot defend their faith by the time they are a sophomore in college, there is a ninety-seven percent chance they will walk away from it. Your student needs to know what they believe and why. It cannot just be mom and dad's faith. It has to become their own. I was dragged to church on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and twice on Sundays. I did not love it. But the word of God was hidden in my heart. And when I strayed, I came back. Because of that foundation.

He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and He never said a word. Just think about the restraint of Jesus. In a single moment He could have called on a legion of angels, and it would have been over. He had that power. But He knew exactly why He was here. He had to complete His Father's will. He had to die for us.

He had done no wrong. Never deceived anyone. But He was buried like a criminal. He was put in a rich man's grave. But it was the Lord's plan to crush Him and cause Him grief. Yet when His life is made an offering for sin, He will have many descendants. If you are a descendant of Jesus tonight, come on. The family of God. He will enjoy a long life and the Lord's good plan will prosper in His hands.

I will give Him the honors of a victorious soldier because He exposed Himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. And He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.
That word rebels is where I want to land for a moment before we take communion. There is this moment where Pilate understands that Jesus is innocent. And so he brings out a man named Barabbas. A rebel. A murderer. An insurrectionist. A genuinely bad person. And Pilate puts him right beside Jesus and says, who do you want me to release? The king of the Jews, or Barabbas? And the same crowd that was shouting Hosanna just days before shouts, give us Barabbas. Give us the rebel. Give us the murderer.

Why is this in the Bible? Why does this happen? It happens because church, we are Barabbas in the story. We deserved what Jesus got. We deserved to stay in our chains, in our sin, in our death. Yet Jesus takes our place.

Communion: A Moment of Repentance and Remembrance
As we get ready to take communion tonight, I feel like I need to stop and lead us in a time of repentance first. I am going to get on my knees, and you can join me if you are able. Because every time I get on my knees, I visualize being in the throne room of heaven.
Holy Spirit, I ask that you transform this room into the throne room of heaven right now. Your throne room is filled with grace and mercy. God, we receive your mercy tonight. We receive your grace. We did not earn it by showing up tonight. You freely give it. And so we receive it. Jesus, forgive me for every thought, every word, every action that was not pleasing to you. I submit and surrender to you tonight. If there is any wickedness in me, pull it out. I do not want it.

Purify our hearts and our minds tonight. Father, if there is anyone in this place dealing with a spirit of rejection, I bind and rebuke that spirit right now. I pray that every person in this room knows they are accepted, loved, and seen by you tonight. Amen.

Jesus broke bread and gave it to His disciples and said, this is my body which is given for you. We saw the beatings. We saw the brokenness that Jesus went through. And so many times in life we go through brokenness and suffering and struggle, and it does not feel like God is there. But He is there. David wrote that God collects all of our tears in His bottle, which means God is so close He is collecting your tears. David also wrote that God is close to the brokenhearted. He is actually closer to us in brokenness than at any other time. The promise is not that we will not go through hard things. The promise is that He will never leave us or forsake us. And when our hearts are broken, we do not have to stay broken. Jesus came to make us whole. As we take the bread tonight, let us thank Jesus for wholeness.

Then Jesus took the cup and said, this represents my blood that will be shed for you. One sacrifice, one time, once and for all on that cross. The blood of Jesus is the most powerful thing in the universe. It forgave all of our sins, past, present, and future. It allows us access into eternal life. It gives us true freedom from the power of sin and death. As we take the cup tonight, let us thank Jesus for true freedom and eternal life.

Respond Tonight
We are now going to move into our response time, and I do not want to rush through this. God wants to do something in hearts tonight. We have three stations available to help you connect with Him.

The first is the station of the cross. There are pieces of paper up here. Write whatever is on your heart, whatever He is convicting you of, and stick it to the cross. Jesus said it is finished. There are things in your life that you need to let Jesus finish. Anger, bitterness, resentment, unforgiveness, addiction. Whatever it is, write it down, give it to Him, and say it is finished. Some of you are thinking, people are going to know I have problems. Everybody has problems. We are all in the same boat tonight.

The second station is the altar. If you just want to get alone with God, come. The third station is the prayer cove. We have prayer partners ready to stand with you. Maybe you need healing tonight. Your miracle could literally be a moment away. We have seen God do extraordinary things through prayer. Maybe you just need encouragement. Come and get prayer.

God is showing me a table right now. He has already prepared it. Everything is already done. But you have to come and receive it. So many of us have promises over our lives, purpose, a future He has already planned, and we are not receiving it. We are not taking what He has freely given. So tonight I pray that not one person leaves this place without receiving exactly what they need, because God is a good God and a good Father.

Watch the full Good Friday message on the Passionate Life Church media page. If this message stirred something in you, you can submit a prayer request and let the church community stand with you in prayer. Connect with others who are walking out their faith through a life group, explore what we believe, or take your next steps. You can also reach us through the contact page or call (303) 835-7968. Services are held every Sunday at 9:00 AM and 10:30 AM at 10393 W Alamo Pl, Littleton, CO 80127. We would love to see you.