THE STORYTELLER'S BIBLE
Act V - The Synoptic Gospels, Scene 12
Script by Bob Allen
For four voices

Scene12

1                      2                      3                      4

VOICE THREE: What is so “good” about Good Friday?

VOICE FOUR: Doesn’t it seem just a little strange to expect the entire world to pause once every year to commemorate a Man’s death?

VOICE ONE: On Good Friday, a corrupt king, the pawn of an oppressive army of occupation, passed an unjust sentence on an innocent man.

VOICE TWO: On Good Friday, an easily swayed populace called for the crucifixion of a man they had welcomed with hosannas earlier in the week.

VOICE THREE: On Good Friday, an angry mob cursed and ridiculed a helpless man as He struggled to carry His own cross through the streets of Jerusalem.

VOICE FOUR: On Good Friday, Roman soldiers sneered and jeered as they mocked Him with a crown of thorns and a purple robe.

VOICE ONE: On Good Friday, the bruised and broken body of the Son of God was impaled on a rough-hewn cross.

VOICE TWO: The Bible never minimizes the events of that Friday. It describes them in all their vivid detail. This was a literal, violent, bloody death.

VOICE THREE: Blood flowed when the soldier pierced his side.

VOICE FOUR: The Roman centurion in charge officially certified his death to Pilate.

VOICE ONE: Jesus was embalmed and placed in a borrowed tomb.

VOICE TWO: There is no way to escape from the stark, ungarnished truth that the church around the world commemorates a death. Celebrates a death. Rejoices in a death. And calls the date of that death—Good Friday.

VOICE THREE: For three hours Christ had suffered in silence on the cross. At noon, darkness had settled over the entire land, as if nature herself sought to shield in some small way the Son of God from those who mocked and reviled Him. For three hours He was afflicted, yet he opened not His mouth. For three hours He bore the pain of the cruel thorns and nails, the excruciating pain of crucifixion.

VOICE FOUR: But it was the pain that caused Him to break His silence. He had known before the world began that He would bear our sins in His body on the tree.

VOICE ONE: Christ had never known a time when He was not One with the Father. From eternity past the relationship within the Trinity had been one of absolute and complete union. At no time had their perfect communion ever been broken. Until now. As the millstone of sin was hung around the neck of our Savior, He was separated from the One He loved with a perfect love. As the darkness lifted from the earth, it settled on Him, and He cried in the anguish of despair, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

VOICE TWO: And the answer came back, echoing from the halls of eternity and resounding on every page of the sacred writings, “To make you the Hope of a sin-cursed world.” And Christ was satisfied.

VOICE THREE: What is so “good” about Good Friday?

VOICE FOUR: The answer lies in the first Easter message ever heard by men.

VOICE ONE: Very early on Sunday morning, three days after the Friday events, an angel appeared to three women with that very first Easter message.

VOICE TWO: (STAND) He is risen!

VOICE THREE: He!

VOICE FOUR: This was a very personal triumph for Jesus Christ. He is the reason we celebrate. He is the focus of Easter—not the cross or the tomb or the lilies or the advent of spring. Christ is the One who puts the “good” into Good Friday. None of the events of that day brought hope or joy to anyone until they saw the risen Christ.

VOICE ONE: He is—

VOICE TWO: The triumph over death had already taken place. It was a completed action and the results would continue on throughout eternity. Christ had conquered death in every possible way. His bodily resurrection showed His victory over physical death. His resurrection in holiness demonstrated His victory over sin. It showed that death as a result of sin did not have an eternal claim upon the soul. His resurrection demonstrated the unlimited power of God who holds the keys of hell and death. Good Friday became “good” because Easter transformed defeat into victory.

VOICE THREE: (STAND) He is risen!

VOICE FOUR: This was a unique triumph for Jesus, the Son of God. Other men had been resurrected, but only to die again. He rose triumphant over death, and sin, and hell, and the grave. It was a complete vindication of His entire teaching and all of His claims to be one with God. Without the resurrection, the gospels would simply record the life of a good man who was willing to die for what He believed. “He is risen” changed all of that. He had promised to rise on the third day—and in keeping that humanly impossible promise He assured us that we can trust every other promise He has made as well.

VOICE ONE: (STAND) We can trust Him when He says, “because I live, you shall live also.”

VOICE TWO: We can trust Him when He says, “I will come again and receive you unto Myself.”

VOICE THREE: We can trust Him when He says, “He that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.”

VOICE FOUR: (STAND) We can trust Him when He says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”

VOICE ONE: What’s so “good” about Good Friday?

VOICE TWO: Without Good Friday we would never have known Easter Sunday.

VOICE THREE: Without death we would not have resurrection.

VOICE FOUR: Without the cross we would not have the empty tomb.

VOICE ONE: Without the sacrifice on Mount Calvary we would not have the ascension from the Mount of Olives.

VOICE TWO: Yes, it is strange to celebrate death—until we realize that His death made possible our life—eternal life. It was a “good” Friday, after all.