April 3, 2026
I want to begin this Good Friday the way I always do, with gratitude. Biblically speaking, the crucifixion has already happened. Gregorian speaking, today is the day many people mark as the moment the victory was sealed for us. And if there was ever a day to come out and declare, “This is a day the Lord has made, and I will be glad and rejoice in it,” let it be today.
Because this day is not just an emotion. It is not just history. It is covenant. And when covenant gets into you, it changes what fear can do to you.
Good Friday is already a victory, not a waiting room
Jesus won. That is the essence of Good Friday. We do still fight, yes. But we fight from a place of defending a victory the enemy cannot take back. The whole strategy of the enemy is to trick you into believing you have no victory, that your situation has the final word, or that you are alone in the battle.
So today, the message is simple and direct: stare down what you are staring at, and do it as a child of God covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. When you keep your eyes on what Jesus secured, the “roaring lion” becomes what it really is, a toothless fiend that only has threats and lies.
You can hear the themes running through every testimony, every scripture, every prayer. The enemy tries to make you focus on the temporary. God keeps reminding you of the permanent.
The connection: Isaiah 53 explains the cross from the inside
On this Good Friday, I started in Isaiah 52, and then carried the message straight into Isaiah 53. Because the Old Testament does not leave Good Friday as a mystery. It foretells what Jesus would endure and why.
Isaiah does not present Jesus as “fine.” It presents Him as disfigured, so disfigured that “one would scarcely know he was a man.” That matters because the cross is not sanitized in God’s Word. It is not pretending suffering is small. God is telling the truth about what the Messiah went through.
The cross did not happen because Jesus deserved it
Isaiah 53 is where we get the “why” behind the suffering. The prophet writes that many would assume the suffering was punishment, but God corrects that assumption:
- He was pierced for our transgressions.
- He was crushed for our sins.
- He was beaten so we could be whole.
- He was whipped so we could be healed.
That is the heart of it. The cross is not just a payment. It is also a rescue. It is restoration, healing, and wholeness for your spirit, your soul, and your body.
“He never said a word” meets the reality of being betrayed
Isaiah says He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet “He never said a word.” That line hit hard. Because many of us do not just have physical battles. We have betrayal battles, accusation battles, “religious” opposition, and moments where your heart wants to retaliate.
But the point is not that injustice never happens. The point is what Jesus did with it. He absorbed it, bore it, and still moved us toward freedom.
I talked about how, in earlier seasons of establishing ministry, there were seasons of lies and accusation and even a “showdown” with what the speaker calls the spirit of religion. People who should have been friends went cold. Doors closed. Words were spoken that sounded spiritual, but were actually death threats designed to intimidate.
Then came a lesson that has repeated in many forms since then: you cannot fight what you have never seen. And if you have learned anything from the walk, it is this. What looks like defeat on the surface can become training under the surface. What seems like it almost took you out often becomes the very storm that launches you higher - as on wings of eagles.
From disfigured to glorious: the meaning of “final sacrifice”
Good Friday is not the end of the story. Isaiah points to a Messiah who is despised, rejected, and wounded, but also to a servant who will prosper, be greatly exalted, and bring many to righteousness.
This is why this day is more than sadness. This is why we don’t treat Jesus like a tragic figure who barely got through history. He is God. Jesus is our God. And He fulfilled the law and the prophets.
If you have ever tried to earn righteousness by regret, by self-punishment, or by trying to “make up for it,” Isaiah 53 confronts that. It says the Messiah bore the sin, carried the burden, and opened a path for many to be counted as righteous.
Luke 24: the empty tomb makes faith practical
After Isaiah 53, the message moved into Luke 24. Because if Isaiah explains what happened on the cross, Luke shows what happened immediately after, and why it matters right now.
Start with what the women actually found
Luke says that on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women went to the tomb with spices they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away. And the body was gone.
And then comes the moment that launches the Easter story into your life: suddenly, two men stand beside them, and the message is not “He might be gone.” It is not “Maybe.” It is not “Try harder.” It is:
- “He has risen.”
That word “suddenly” is not just a timeline marker. It is a faith marker. Deliverance can be suddenly. Healing can be suddenly. Provision can be suddenly. When God moves, fear does not get a vote.
Disbelief looks like “nonsense” until eyes are opened
Luke 24 shows something painfully realistic. The women told the apostles, but the apostles did not believe them. It is written "Their words seemed like total and utter nonsense.”
That is human. That is also spiritual. Sometimes the breakthrough is right there, but the mind refuses to accept it yet. The solution is not to dismiss the Word prematurely. It is to pray for discernment. It is to keep your heart aligned with what God has promised.
Emmaus: Jesus walks with discouraged people
Luke then shifts to the road to Emmaus. Two disciples are walking seven miles from Jerusalem and talking about what happened. They are downcast. Their hopes have been wounded.
Jesus joins them, but they do not recognize Him at first. They are still processing. They still think the story ended in crucifixion.
Then Jesus opens the scriptures. He does not only comfort them with feelings. He gives them truth. He explains that the Messiah had to suffer and then enter glory, and that repentance and forgiveness would be preached in His name.
Communion is not only remembrance, it is recognition
In the Emmaus passage, the disciples do not just learn information. Their eyes are opened when Jesus breaks bread.
And that becomes a model for us. When we take communion, we are not simply repeating a religious ritual. We are stepping into the recognition of Christ’s victory. The bread becomes a reminder. But more than that, it becomes a moment where the Holy Spirit opens perception.
That is why the message keeps circling back to this: the Word is alive. Scripture is not flat. It is living. And when it gets inside, it ignites faith.
“Why are you so troubled?” Fear has an answer: presence
Luke’s narrative continues and culminates with Jesus appearing to the disciples. They think they are seeing a ghost. Jesus responds with the same kind of directness that cuts through panic:
- “Why are you troubled?”
- “Why do doubts rise up in your mind?”
This is the spiritual posture of Good Friday. It is not denial. It is defiance. When you realize Jesus is standing in your midst, your doubt stops being “helpful” and becomes “harmful.” It loses its permission to lead you.
And then Jesus anchors it even more, because He is not a ghost. He has flesh and bones. He even asks, “Do you have anything to eat?” He shows them, with physical reality, that resurrection is not a metaphor. It is power.
Passover fulfillment: covenant blood invites God into your life
One of the strongest parts of this message is how it frames the Last Supper through Passover.
Passover in Israel included blood on the doorposts and threshold as an act of inviting God to come. Not to keep Him out, but to let Him in. And then the message turns that picture around: Jesus is now the covenant fulfillment. The blood poured out is His own blood, and it is poured out at the threshold, the place of entry.
The invitation is not complicated:
All I have and all I am is yours.
Covenant language changes everything. It means you are not just “hoping for God.” You are stepping into relationship where provision, protection, and presence belong to you by promise.
What to do today: give Him what you have withheld
So here is the practical response for today, not tomorrow. This is the question I believe Jesus is putting in your heart:
What is there in your life that you have not fully given over to Him?
Is it healing you need? Restoration in a relationship? Health? Finances? Emotional wounds? Forgiveness? A burden you are carrying that you were never meant to carry?
If covenant is true, then today is a good day to stop negotiating with fear and start agreeing with God.
Lay it down. Give it to Him. Let Him bear what you cannot.
Keep the message simple: “He has risen”
This Good Friday message is not designed to inflate your head. It is meant to strengthen your faith. Isaiah 53 says the Messiah carried our suffering and opened the path to righteousness. Luke 24 says the tomb is empty and resurrection power is real. And communion becomes the moment where recognition deepens.
So when you wake up in the morning, when you face decisions, when you encounter opposition, and when you stare at fear, return to the center:
- The cross bought healing and wholeness.
- The resurrection proves victory is not imaginary.
- Fear is a liar with a loud voice and no real authority.
And the invitation is still open. Step across the threshold. Enter covenant. Then watch God turn “sudden” into your testimony.
Blessings, Howard Olsen
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