“The Longest Day!” John 18:4-5

Evening turned into Friday morning for Jesus without any sleep or rest.

Now His interrogation ended with further cruelty and humiliation. Evil breed’s evil and a conquered defenseless target allows hatred and anger to take charge. The whip brought tearing of the flesh and the first blood. A crown of thorns was pressed on His head and droplets of red oozed onto His face. Exhausted, Jesus struggled to carry the cross to Golgotha. There the nailing began and the blood ran and dripped and slowly congealed, glistening as new blood seeped. It was 9:00 o’clock in the morning and the day had barely begun.

Question: What was inscribed on the sign on the cross of Jesus?

Answer: “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews”. This was the notice PontiusPilate put on the cross over Jesus as he hung dying on the cross. The Inscription above the cross of Christ was written in Greek, Aramaic, and Latin.  The initials INRI are the first letters from the Latin phrase, “Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum.”

                           Nail to the Cross

For the Good Friday service a large cross has been brought in and placed in front of us. We invite you to write on a provided note paper your fears or troubling thoughts or forgiven sins. Fold the paper and nail them to the cross. Later in the service as we recognize the salvation granted by Christ dying for us they will be confidentially taken off and then burned.