"He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him."

"O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"

" When they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs."

"As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good."

No horror surpasses what transpired on a hill outside Jerusalem almost two millennia ago. And yet we call it "Good" Friday.

"The hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners."

The hour has come. All history hinges on this hour. And it is utterly terrifying. Jesus must decide: will he turn to protect his own skin and soul, or will he stay the course and embrace his Father's perfect and painful will?

"Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?"

With the previous three days awash in drama—Sunday's triumphal entry, Monday's temple cleansing, and Tuesday's tense exchanges, with the silencing word from Psalm 110—now Wednesday comes like the calm before the storm. This is the day Judas made a deal with the religious officials to reveal to them Jesus’ whereabouts on the next day. Judas became a betraying spy within the inner circle of Christ’s disciples. 

"The LORD says to my Lord: 'Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool."

With each passing hour, Jesus drew nearer to thelion's jays. In just three days, he would be shamed and humiliated, tortured and executed. How did he keep going? On the inside he was singing.

" I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

"Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"

Branches are cut from trees, hands are raised in praise, and the most important figure enters the great city for his final week.

"Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe."

Jesus' body in which he died was not only restored to life but changed.

"After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high."

Imagine the moment when Jesus first sat down on heaven's throne.