Next Friday is Good Friday and is celebrated by Christians around the world because it is a remembrance of the death of Jesus Christ. We know now that Jesus' death on the cross was necessary. Today I want us to revisit the account of the crucifixion, death, and burial of Jesus. May this reminder help us to live as people who have received mercy and grace because of what Jesus did for us. May we take to heart what the writer to the Hebrews stated: Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him (Hebrews 9:27-28, NIV2011) .