Good Friday—Jesus’ Humble Self-Offering
Voiceover by: Julie Frantz – Cincinnati, Ohio, US
The weight of the moment is almost unbearable. A man stands in the garden, knowing that the soldiers are coming. He doesn’t run. He doesn’t resist. Instead, He steps forward. He allows Himself to be captured so that we might be free. The next day, He will stand silently as false accusations fly, willingly bearing guilt so that we might be declared innocent. He walks a road of suffering, carrying a cross meant for criminals, so that we might one day rejoice. And then, as nails pierce His hands and feet, He willingly gives Himself over to death so that we might live forever.
This is Good Friday. It is the day we remember Jesus’ humble self-offering — a profound act of love that changed everything. Jesus didn’t resist the Cross; He embraced it. He gave Himself completely, not out of weakness but out of divine love. Every step, every moment, was an intentional choice to fulfill God’s plan to save us.
On the Cross, we see the fullness of Jesus’ love. He endured pain and shame so that we could know freedom and hope. His willingness to suffer wasn’t forced upon Him; it was His choice, driven by His desire to reconcile us to God. Jesus chose to humble Himself, to bear the sins of the world, and to open the way for us to draw near to God with confidence.
Hebrews 10 reminds us of this: through Jesus’ sacrifice, a new covenant was established. His body became the curtain that opened the way into God’s presence. His blood became the cleansing that allows us to stand before God without fear or shame. This is the power of Good Friday — not just the suffering of Jesus, but the love and purpose behind it.
Good Friday also calls us to respond. Jesus’ humble self-offering invites us to approach God with confidence, to hold fast to the hope we have been given, and to encourage one another as we walk this journey of faith. It is a day to reflect on the depth of Jesus’ love and to recommit ourselves to live in the light of His sacrifice.
As we stand at the foot of the Cross today, let us remember that Jesus’ act of love was not the end of the story. It was the beginning of a New Covenant, a new relationship with God. He chose to be captured so that we might be free. He chose to be found guilty so that we might be declared innocent. He chose to suffer so that we might rejoice. And He chose to give His life so that we might live forever.
This is the covenant I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds,”
and he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”
Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Hebrews 10:16–25
On this Good Friday, may we remember, reflect, and respond to Jesus’ humble self-offering. His love has made a way for us to be free, to rejoice, and to live forever in the presence of God.
