Quotes About Good Friday for Sermons and Vigils
Scripture from the cross itself, plus two hymns whose words have carried Good Friday services for three centuries.
Good Friday preaches best in a minor key, and the strongest material for it is the words spoken from the cross and the prophecy that anticipated them centuries earlier. There is very little that needs adding.
Two hymns are included alongside scripture, Isaac Watts's "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" and Charles Wesley's "And Can It Be," because they were written specifically for this day and are as widely known, in their traditions, as any prose quote could be.
Quotes about good friday
Scripture is quoted from the World English Bible (public domain). Every non-scripture quote names its specific source so you can verify it before you preach it.
“But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed.”
Isaiah — Isaiah 53:5 (WEB)
“Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing.”
Jesus — Luke 23:34 (WEB)
“It is finished!”
Jesus — John 19:30 (WEB)
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Jesus — Mark 15:34 (WEB)
“Who his own self bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness.”
Peter — 1 Peter 2:24 (WEB)
“When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died, my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.”
Isaac Watts — "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" (1707)
“Amazing love! How can it be, that Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?”
Charles Wesley — "And Can It Be That I Should Gain" (1738)
Using these quotes in preaching
- 1The seven sayings from the cross (of which four are included here) are traditionally preached one at a time across a Good Friday service, a "Tenebrae" or "Three Hours" format, with a silence or extinguished candle after each.
- 2Mark 15:34 is the hardest text in this list to sit with, and the temptation is to resolve it too quickly. Let the silence after it be real before moving to Easter hope, which belongs to Sunday, not Friday.
- 3Isaac Watts wrote "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" specifically as a hymn of personal response to the crucifixion, not narration of it, useful if the sermon needs to move from the historical event to the congregation's own posture.
- 4Isaiah 53 predates the crucifixion by roughly 700 years. Naming that gap explicitly is often the single most effective thing a Good Friday sermon does with the text.
Frequently asked questions
What are the seven last words of Jesus on the cross?
Seven statements gathered from all four gospels: "Father, forgive them" (Luke 23:34), "Today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43), "Woman, behold your son" (John 19:26), "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34), "I thirst" (John 19:28), "It is finished" (John 19:30), and "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit" (Luke 23:46).
Why is Isaiah 53 read on Good Friday?
Isaiah 53 describes a suffering servant "pierced for our transgressions" and "crushed for our iniquities" in language Christians have long read as a direct prophecy of the crucifixion, written centuries before it happened.
What does "It is finished" mean?
In John 19:30, the Greek word (tetelestai) was a commercial term meaning a debt paid in full. Jesus's final words are widely read not as resignation but as a declaration that the work of atonement was complete.
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Related quote themes
Quotes about Sacrifice
Scripture on sacrifice: Christ's once for all, and the "living sacrifice" it asks of everyone who follows him.
Quotes about Sin
Scripture on sin honestly named, plus Augustine and Luther on the specific, personal shape it takes.
Quotes about Jesus
Jesus's own words about himself, plus C.S. Lewis's well-known argument that a merely good teacher is not on the table.
Quotes about Palm Sunday
Scripture on the triumphal entry, a king who comes on a donkey, into a city that will turn on him within the week.
Every quote theme
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