Good Friday at CityBridge
Sermon Notes
Good Friday is one of the most important moments in the Christian calendar, and Matthew 26 puts us right in the middle of it. In this passage, we see the events leading up to the cross: a woman who anoints Jesus for burial, a disciple who betrays Him for thirty pieces of silver, a final meal where Jesus holds up bread and a cup and says these are His body and blood given for us, and a garden where Jesus prays knowing exactly what is coming. Brad Kirby opens this passage during CityBridge's Good Friday service and lands on a truth that changes everything: Jesus went instead of us. If you have ever wondered what Good Friday is really about, this is a good place to start.
Key Takeaways
Jesus knew exactly what was coming, and He went anyway. From the opening verses of Matthew 26, Jesus tells His disciples plainly that He will be handed over and crucified, and nothing that follows catches Him off guard.
The Last Supper reframes everything we thought we knew about sacrifice. When Jesus breaks the bread and pours the cup, He isn't introducing a new idea. He is fulfilling the Passover itself, pointing to His own body and blood given for the forgiveness of sin.
Gethsemane is where we see the full weight of what Jesus carried. Jesus prays, "Not as I will, but as you will," and in that moment we catch a glimpse of what it cost Him to go to the cross instead of us.
Betrayal and beauty exist in the same story. A woman anoints Jesus in an act of extravagant love while a disciple plots to hand Him over for coins, and Jesus receives both, moving toward the cross through all of it.
Good Friday is not the end of the story, but it deserves to be felt. Before we get to Sunday, Jesus invites us to sit with the weight of what He did and to let the words "instead of me" land somewhere real.
Discussion Questions
When you hear the phrase "Jesus went instead of me," what is your honest first reaction?
In Matthew 26, Jesus tells His disciples what is coming before it happens. How does it change how you read the crucifixion to know He chose it fully aware?
The woman who anointed Jesus gave something extravagant and was criticized for it. When have you held back from an act of worship or generosity because of how it might look?
Judas had been with Jesus for three years and still chose betrayal. What does that tell us about the difference between proximity to Jesus and genuine trust in Him?
Jesus prays in Gethsemane, "Not as I will, but as you will." Where in your own life is it hardest to pray that prayer and mean it?
What would change about the way you live tomorrow if you spent time tonight actually sitting with what it cost Jesus to go instead of you?
This Week's Challenge
Set aside ten quiet minutes this week to read Matthew 26:36–46 on your own and simply let the weight of Gethsemane land before you move on to Resurrection Sunday.
Transcript
He Knew What Was Coming
Matthew 26 opens with Jesus saying something His disciples probably didn't know how to hold: "You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified." No mystery. No confusion. He knew exactly what was ahead of Him.
While the religious leaders were secretly plotting to arrest and kill Him, Jesus was already naming it. He was not a victim of circumstances. He was walking toward the cross with full knowledge of what it would cost Him.
A Beautiful Thing
In the middle of the tension, a woman walks in and does something extraordinary. She breaks open an alabaster flask of expensive ointment and pours it on Jesus. The disciples are indignant. What a waste, they say.
Jesus stops them. "She has done a beautiful thing to me." He tells them she has anointed His body for burial. In a moment that looks like extravagance to everyone else, Jesus sees preparation. He sees someone honoring what is about to happen.
Thirty Pieces of Silver
Judas goes to the chief priests and asks a simple question: "What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?" Thirty pieces of silver. The price of a slave under the law. That is what someone in His own circle decided He was worth.
There is something sobering about this moment. Judas had walked with Jesus, heard Him teach, watched Him heal. And still. Being near Jesus is not the same as trusting Him. Proximity is not faith.
This Is My Body
Jesus gathers His disciples in an upper room for Passover. He takes bread, breaks it, and says, "Take, eat. This is my body." He takes the cup and says, "This is my blood of the covenant, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."
The Passover was always pointing here. The lamb, the blood on the doorposts, the meal eaten in haste before deliverance. All of it was a shadow of this moment. Jesus is the Lamb. The cup is the covenant. And it is poured out for many. For you. Instead of you.
Not As I Will
In Gethsemane, Jesus falls on His face and prays a prayer that should stop every one of us. "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will."
He prays it three times. Three times the disciples fall asleep. Three times Jesus rises and goes back. He is not pretending this is easy. He is choosing it. The cross was not forced on Jesus. It was accepted. And in that acceptance, He went instead of us, carrying what we could never carry so that we would never have to.
