Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”
From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.
So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” | John 19:11–19
Can you name all the days of the week? Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday.
There is one Friday that is called Good Friday. It comes once every year, just before Easter Sunday.
On Good Friday we remember something very sad. Jesus died on Good Friday. He died on the cross.
Where Jesus went, He was always doing good. But some people hated Him. Do you remember who God’s great enemy is? Yes, Satan is God’s enemy. Satan hates God. And he tries to make people hate God. When Jesus was on earth, Satan worked hard to make people hate Jesus.
One day theses people who hated Jesus took Him to Pilate, the governor. They said to Pilate, “This Jesus is a bad man. He makes trouble. He even wants to be king. We should get rid of Him.”
Pilate said, “What bad things has He done?”
Nobody could think of even one bad thing Jesus had done. But they said, “He ought to die anyway. You must crucify Him!”
Pilate was afraid of these people. He knew that Jesus was a good man. But he let them take Jesus. He said, “You take Him and crucify Him.”
And that is what they did.
They took Jesus to a hill called Golgotha. They nailed Him to a cross. And they set the cross up in the ground.
Jesus hung there on the cross in the hot sun. The nails in His hands and feet hurt Him very much. After a while He died.
You can read all about this in your Bible, or in your Bible storybook. It is the story of Good Friday.
Was that sad Friday really a good day?
Yes it was! It was the very best of all Fridays. It was a good day because Jesus died for us. He died so that our sins could be forgiven, and we could go to heaven and be with Him forever.
God the Father sent Jesus to die for us. And Jesus gave His life for us.
Something to talk about
- What day is Good Friday?
- What makes it a good day?
Memory verse
I lay down my life for the sheep. | John 10.15b