Friday of Holy Week
”Is there any hope?”
Even in our darkest hour we can trust God.
Key Verse: 1 Thessalonians 4:13 (NASB)
We do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
Bible Passage: Matthew 27:57-66 (NASB)
And when it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had become a disciple of Jesus. This man came to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given over to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away. And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the grave. Now the next day, which is the one after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered to together with Pilate, and said, “Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I am to rise again.’ Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, lest the disciples come and steal Him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.” And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone.
Lesson Thought
A group of miners were trapped by an explosion deep down in a coal mine. Rescuers worked around the clock, trying to reach them. After several days the rescuers heard a tapping on the air pipe drilled down for the men. They heard a Morse code message being tapped out. This was the message from below: “Is there any hope?” Jesus was crucified, nailed to a cross on Good Friday at 9:00 AM. After a period of darkness from 12 noon until 3:00 PM, Jesus died. The Bible says He gave up His Spirit. He laid down His life for our sins. According to Jewish law, a dead person had to be buried before the Sabbath began, which would have been sundown on Friday night. A disciple of Jesus, from the town of Arimathea, named Joseph, went to Pilate, the Roman Governor, and asked if he could bury the body of Jesus. When Pilate determined that Jesus was indeed dead, he granted Joseph’s request. Joseph, with the help of another disciple named Nicodemus, took Jesus’ body down from the cross and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth. They placed His body in Joseph’s own tomb and rolled a large stone over the opening to the tomb, a cave cut out of a large rock cliff. It was a sad day for Joseph and Nicodemus and Mary and all the other disciples. They had believed Jesus was the promised Messiah. But now he was DEAD. Buried in a borrowed tomb. They were all fearful and sad and disheartened. They had lost all HOPE!!!!
Application: what does this lesson say to us today?
1) Had the disciples forgotten that Jesus had promised that he would rise from the dead? Why do you think they forgot His promises?
2) Had the disciples forgotten that Jesus had claimed to be the Son of God? Why do you think they forgot who Jesus was?
Family Activities: putting the lesson into action
Have each family member share one thing or experience that made them sad. Talk about why it made them sad. Talk about how sad the disciples must have felt on the first Good Friday.
Suggestions for further study
John 19:30, 39, 40
John 2:19
Mark 8:31; 9:31, 10:34
John 10:36; 5:17, 18
Luke 22:69, 70
1 Corinthians 15:20-58.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
1 Corinthians 5:1-9
Jim Bates
