Latest / REZ CHURCH Podcast / The Worst Day In History Was The Best Day Of Your Life - April 3, 2026

Transcript

The Worst Day In History Was The Best Day Of Your Life - April 3, 2026 · REZ CHURCH Podcast

0:00
Good evening. Welcome to Good Friday.
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I want you to feel the weight of where we are.
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Jesus has already been arrested, dragged through multiple trials.
0:19
It's around 6:00 AM. He hasn't slept.
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All his disciples ran away. Peter has denied him three times
0:32
and now he's standing in front of the Roman governor and things
0:36
are about to get a lot worse. Pilot has flogged him with a
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whip designed to shred skin, leather strands with bone and
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metal woven in. People died from flogging alone.
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Then the soldiers drama jammed a crown of thorns into his skull,
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put a purple robe on him and slap him in the face and mock
1:03
him. The king of the universe takes
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it, every bit of it and says nothing.
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Isaiah 53 and Isaiah 53 was predicted 700 years before it
1:21
happened. He was oppressed and afflicted,
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and yet he did not open his mouth.
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And like a lamb led to the slaughter.
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And like a sheep, like a sheep silent before her shears, he did
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not open his mouth. Pilot drags him out, bleeding
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thorns, purple robe and says 3 words.
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Behold, the man John wants us to stop and see what's actually
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happening. Who this actually is.
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The Word of God who existed before a creation, The one who
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raised the dead, healed the blind and the lepers, fed the
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thousands standing there covered in blood and spit, letting it
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happen on purpose for you. Why does he lose his dignity?
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Because of what we lost in the garden, the moment Adam and Eve
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sinned, they felt shame and they hid.
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And we've been hiding ever since.
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I know what it's like to carry shame.
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I used to hide my drinking. I was ashamed that I was an
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addict. But when I was honest about it
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and I surrendered it to God, I was free from the shame because
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I realized what Jesus did for me.
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Jesus, who never did anything wrong, steps in and wears the
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crown of shame so we don't have to.
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Isaiah 53, five says he was pierced for our transgressions,
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crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us
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peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
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Whatever you're carrying shame about tonight, Jesus already
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knew about it when he let them put that crown on his head.
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He saw you. The cross says your shame
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doesn't get the last word. Jesus does.
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It's covered. That's why the worst Day in
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History was the best day of your your life.
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Then Pilate hands him over, and this is the one of the most
4:03
uncomfortable scenes in the New Testament because it's familiar.
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Pilate's not confused about Jesus.
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Pilate found Jesus not guilty three times.
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He knew he was a righteous man and he still hands him over.
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This is a man who knew the right thing and chose the easier
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thing. The crowd shouts.
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If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend.
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That one line breaks him because Pilot's whole identity is
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wrapped up in his position. The second he feels that
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threatened, he folds. To not be Caesar's friend would
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have cost him everything. Position, status, and ultimately
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his life. He folds because of the crowd.
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We do this all the time. We know what the right call is
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and instead of making the right decision, we delay, we deflect.
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We hope the problem goes away. Avoiding the decision is still a
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decision. I can relate.
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When I first started working in the high school district, there
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was an incident between a staff member and a student and they
5:26
have been arguing in the. The student was about to leave
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the classroom and the staff member just popped off and said
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some very unchoiced words, very inappropriate words to that
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student, antagonistic. And that student turns around
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him, hits that staff member. And because I saw the whole
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thing, I had to fill out the statement, the witness
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statement, and I filled it out. And but I was afraid to include
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what the staff member said because I thought the other
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staff members wouldn't see me as a team player, that I wasn't on
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their side. I sided with the crowd instead
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of doing what was right. That's Pilot's move and I did it
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too. He calls for a bowl of water and
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washes his hands in front of everybody.
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But think about it, you don't wash your hands of something you
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weren't involved in. The hand washing was his
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confession. The crowd is a different kind of
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tragic. Some of these people were just
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waving palm branches 5 days earlier shouting Hosanna which
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means save us and now they're screaming crucify him.
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What happened? Unmet expectations.
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Jesus didn't show up the way they wanted so they trade him in
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for Barabbas, a man literally imprisoned for murder.
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Pilate says shall I crucify your king?
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And they say the most devastating line in the whole
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chapter. We have no king but Caesar.
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Their entire identity was built on God alone being their king.
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And at this moment, they throw it all away to get what they
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want politically. Pilot tried everything to avoid
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this decision. The crowd ran straight toward
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the wrong one. 2 completely different paths, same
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destination. Both walked away from Jesus.
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And the question tonight is, which one are you?
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Are you avoiding the decision, hoping it resolves itself?
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Or have you been freely choosing something that looks like it
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will satisfy you and it doesn't? Both Pilate and the crowd are
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physically close to Jesus and both of them walk away.
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One because of fear and 1:00 because of disappointment.
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But the outcome is the same. Being close to Jesus is not the
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same as being surrendered to Jesus.
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Proximity is not the same as commitment.
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Pilot was close, the crowd was close, but close wasn't enough.
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Maybe you came tonight and you're not sure what you believe
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yet. You don't need to have it all
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figured out. Just follow the story before
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Jesus even gets to the cross. There's this moment that I think
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is one of the most Lotus scenes in all the scripture.
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And it happens fast. Pilot trying one more time to
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get Jesus released, offers the crowd a choice.
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There was a custom at Passover where the governor would release
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1 prisoner, a good as a goodwill gesture, a way of easing the
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tensions during this chaotic Holy Week.
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Pilot figures this is his out. He puts two men in front of the
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crowd. It says you choose.
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On one side you have Jesus, the man who never committed a single
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crime, a teacher, a healer, someone who has spent three
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years giving everything to people who needed it.
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And on the other side, you have Barabbas.
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And John's gospel is clear who this man was.
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He was an insurrectionist, a rebel, a murderer.
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He had done the very thing that Jesus is being falsely accused
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of, stirring up the crowd, threatening the peace.
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Barabbas. He was in a Roman prison waiting
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to die. His execution date was set.
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Here's what's crazy. The name Barabbas in Aramaic is
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2 words Bar and ABBA which means bar which means son and ABBA
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which means Father. Barabbas literally means son of
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the Father. So the crowd is standing looking
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at two men. One is actually the Son of the
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Father, the eternal Son of God standing there innocent, and the
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other is a man whose name just means Son of the Father, a
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guilty murderer who deserved everything that was coming to
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him. And the crowd chooses Barabbas.
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They choose the counterfeit Son of the Father over the real 1.
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But the camera doesn't stay on Barabbas.
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It follows the one walking towards the cross in his place.
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They all cried out. Take this man away.
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Release Barabbas to us. Release Barabbas to us.
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Think about what's actually happening in this exchange.
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A guilty man goes free and an innocent man takes his place.
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Barabbas walks out of that prison and Jesus walks toward
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the cross. That's not just an interesting
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historical detail. That is the entire gospel in one
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scene. That's exactly what happens to
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every one of us when we put our faith in Jesus.
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The guilty one goes free, and the innocent 1 takes our
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punishment. There's a reason this scene is
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in all four gospels. Barabbas is not a minor
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character in a courtroom drama. We are the ones who are guilty.
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We are the ones who deserve the sentence.
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We are the ones who, by every standard of justice, should have
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been handed over. And instead, something happens.
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Something happened that makes no logical sense.
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Jesus took our place. The crowd chose Barabbas, and in
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doing so they acted out the gospel without even knowing it.
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They released the guilty and condemned the innocent.
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And that is precisely what the cross is about.
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Well, Pilate stalled and the crowd shouted.
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Jesus stood there and he chose every second of it.
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Barabbas woke up that morning on death row.
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He had no idea what was about to happen.
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Somewhere in that prison, he could probably hear the noise
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and the crowd outside, the shouting and the chaos getting
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louder and louder. Then the door opens and someone
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tells him you're free, that it's over, that another man was
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taking his place. I don't know what Barabbas did
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next, the Bible doesn't tell us. But I wonder if he understood
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what just happened to him. I wonder if you ever found out
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who that other man was and what he had done.
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I wonder if the weight of it ever landed on him.
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Because the weight of it is supposed to land on us.
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If you're in Christ, you are free tonight because someone
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took your place. Not because you earned it.
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Not because you deserved it or you were better than Barabbas.
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Not because you have something to offer.
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The door open, the sentence transferred.
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Jesus walked toward the cross so you could walk out.
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Barabbas walked out of that prison a freeman.
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The question is whether he lived like 1.
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Jesus was already beaten, bleeding, and he carries his
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cross toward Golgotha. Correction, Crucifixion was not
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just execution, it was a carefully designed system to
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deliver as much pain as possible, for as long as
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possible. Nails through your wrists and
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feet, and in order to breathe, you had to pull up and press on
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those very wounds just to get a breath in.
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All of that in public for everyone to see.
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The shame was built into the design.
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Jesus went through it all, all of it.
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Not because he had no choice, because He chose it for you.
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Jesus didn't just die for our sins.
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He didn't just die as a symbol of His love for us.
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He took every sin you ever committed and every sin you ever
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will commit. Every wrong word, every evil
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thought. Some of us are still beating
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ourselves up about things we've done.
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Just for a moment, I want you to think about the worst thing
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you've ever done in your life. I want you to think about that
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radically evil thought you had that you would never share with
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another human being. Think about it.
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And if that thought or that thing you've done, that if
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someone found out you'd run out of here with embarrassment and
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never show your face again, Jesus paid for that 2000 years
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ago on the cross so you don't have to carry it.
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The thing you did last week, that thing on your phone you
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don't want anyone else to see the way you treated someone, the
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version of yourself you've been hiding.
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Jesus paid for that. Your whole guilty record was
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laid on Jesus. There was a legal transaction,
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just like in a courtroom. Guilt was moved from you to Him.
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The Bible says He made the one who did not know sin to be sin
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for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
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He didn't just die for our sins. His righteousness was put on us.
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His perfect record before God, His complete obedience, His
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sinless life transferred to your account.
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We didn't earn it. We didn't deserve it.
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He went to the cross and offered us the exchange.
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It says in John 1930 when Jesus had received the sour wine, he
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said it is finished. Then bowing his head, he gave up
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his spirit. Some of us are still trying to
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to be good enough for God, still thinking if I just read my Bible
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more, if I mess up a little less, get our if I just get my
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act together, then maybe God will be OK with me.
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That's not the gospel, that's exhausting and it's a lie.
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When Jesus said it is finished. In the Greek that one word is to
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talisdai, which means the account is settled, paid in
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full. You don't owe what you can't
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pay. Because Jesus already paid it.
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The question is whether you received it.
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Here's what that looks like on Monday morning.
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When the guilt comes back, and it will, you don't fight it with
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willpower or trying harder. You say the account is settled.
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I don't owe what I can't pay. Jesus already paid for it.
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You fight guilt with the truth of what happened on the cross.
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That's why the worst Day in History was the best day of your
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life. The account is settled, paid in
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full, and now, in the quiet, it's all over.
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Two men step forward, out of the shadows.
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After Jesus died, two men who had been following him in secret
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finally step out. Joseph of Arimathea and
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Nicodemus both believed. Both were too afraid to say it
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publicly. But now Jesus is dead and both
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of them come forward. Joseph goes to Pilate and asks
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for the body. Jesus is dead.
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There's nothing left to gain and everything to lose.
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And they showed up anyway. These two men who spent years in
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the shadows finally step into the light at the moment everyone
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else ran away. I understand that pool to try to
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stay in the shadows. A couple years ago I was
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interviewing for another position in the district I
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interviewed. Seemed like it went well.
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Couple weeks later I get a phone call, one of those off the
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record phone calls and the administrator goes, hey, I need
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you to convince me why you're my guy, why you're my pick.
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So I start going in all the work I've done with youth counseling,
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guiding, mentoring, and then somewhere in the conversation it
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came out that I knew her husband.
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So I go, Oh yeah, I love him. Awesome guy.
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I used to work with him, man, We always used to talk about Jesus.
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It slipped and I thought I'm not getting this job.
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Joseph and Nicodemus kept Jesus quiet for years trying to
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protect something. I almost did it in a phone call.
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I end up getting the job. Sometimes it takes the cross to
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finally breakthrough what's been holding you back.
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They lay him in a borrowed tomb belonging to Joseph.
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Jesus, the one through whom everything is created, is buried
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in a tomb that doesn't belong to him.
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He came into this world at a borrowed Manger, spent his
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ministry with no place to lay his head, and he leaves this
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world in a borrowed grave, complete loss.
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He lost his dignity, his freedom, his friends, his
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strength, his life, and now even his burial place, the one who
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had everything, gave up everything.
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The borrowed tomb is the final picture of that complete giving.
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Good Friday is 1 is the one day we sit with the loss before we
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move to victory. Sunday is coming, but tonight,
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let's stay here for a moment after the borrowed tomb in the
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garden, in the quiet, because here's what I keep coming back
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to. Barabbas was a dead man walking,
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but he walked out of that prison of Freeman.
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Someone told him the door was open, another man had taken his
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place, and he walked out. We don't know what he did with
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that. We don't know if the weight of
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it ever landed on him. But it should land on us.
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Just like Barabbas. We were all dead in our sins and
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our trespasses, lost in this world without hope, Dead men
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walking. You walked in here tonight,
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maybe carrying something. Maybe it's shame, like the crown
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Jesus wore. Maybe it's guilt, the debt that
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Jesus says is already paid. Maybe you've been like Joseph
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and Nicodemus, believing something about Jesus but
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keeping him quiet, staying in the shadows, calculating the
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cost. Or maybe you've never met Jesus.
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Maybe you've been sitting in church your whole life and
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you've never actually surrendered to Jesus.
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Maybe you walked in here carrying something you never
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told anyone. You were invited tonight and
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you're not even sure you believe any of this.
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Or maybe you walked away from your faith years ago and
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something brought you back tonight.
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Maybe you're exhausted from trying to hold everything
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together on your own. It doesn't matter where you're
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coming from, the door is open. The Creator stepped into his own
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creation, born into this world by the very creation He made.
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He lived among His creation. He was rejected by His creation
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and judged by His creation and died for His creation, hanging
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on a cross made from a tree that he created so he could redeem
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everything in creation. Complete loss, complete love for
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you. Jesus didn't come to make bad
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men good. He came to make dead men live.
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That's why the worst Day in History, it's the best day of
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your life. So the only question left is the
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same one Barabbas had to answer when the door swung open.
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So what are you going to do with it?
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I asked myself daily. Is the life I'm living worth
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Christ dying for? I want to give everyone in this
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room a chance to respond tonight.
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None of us are good people who just need a little help from
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God. You are Barabbas, We all are
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guilty, deserving of the sentence, and Jesus went to the
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cross in your place so that the door could be open for you.
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The door is open right now. The only question is whether
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you're going to walk, whether you're going to walk through
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that door. 2000 years ago, God sent his Son Jesus to walk this
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earth, to live a perfect life, to live the life we couldn't,
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and then he died the death that we deserve to pay for our sins.
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He died, was buried and rose on the third day, defeating sin and
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death, giving us assurance that if we put our trust in Him as
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Lord and Savior that we will rise and have eternal life and
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we walk. When we walk out of this life,
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we will be with God for eternity.
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The Bible says that you can be saved if you declare with your
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mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord.
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If you're willing to ask Him for forgiveness and salvation
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tonight, would everyone just bow your head and close your eyes
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for a minute? That's you tonight.
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You want to ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, to make you
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new. Would you quietly or even
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silently repeat this prayer after me?
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Jesus, I know I'm a Sinner and I'm lost on my own.
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I can't save myself. I know I'm incapable of living
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perfectly. I want you to save me.
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I want to be part of your family.
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I surrender everything to you. I receive your promise of
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relationship, of adoption as your child, of the forgiveness
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of sin, the promise of the Holy Spirit, and of eternal life.
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Be my Lord, Please, Jesus, with every eye closed.
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Still, if you said that prayer tonight for the first time,
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would you just be brave and raise your hand for me to see?
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Thank you, Amen. You couldn't open your eyes if
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you prayed that prayer tonight. Welcome to the family of God.
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Our prayer team is going to be coming up right now and we'd
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love to pray with you. And if you raise your hand
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tonight to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, we have two
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tables in the back. Let's say I raised my hand.
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We have a gift for you and we'd love to talk with you.
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Talk with you about what it looks like to follow Jesus and
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how we can walk with you on this journey.
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Please stand and move as the Lord leads.