Good Friday

Isaiah 52:13-53:12; John 19:17-30

As I look at the accounts concerning the crucifixion of our Lord, and as I have read various commentaries upon these scripture passages, I realize that if I preached everything I could preach, today, about the crucifixion of Jesus, Pastor Johnson would probably get a little impatient with me tonight as I continued to preach into the wee hours of the morning. Most of you would have gone home much earlier, I'm sure, no doubt muttering things about ministers who don't know when to stop.

So, rather than beginning a sermon, today, which could go on for hours, covering every angle and every teaching that may be gleaned from the scriptures concerning the last hours of our Lord, I have decided, instead, to tackle only three of the most striking elements. I'm sure that most of you will agree that this is probably a more sensible tactic than the other alternative. Besides, there is always next year. Perhaps next year's preacher will decide to cover some other points, or perhaps he or she may even take the more daring option of preaching on them all.

But, I'm only going to preach on three of what I consider to be the most striking facets pertaining to the crucifixion of our Lord. What are they? First, there is the irony that although he was being crucified, the whole world called our Savior a King. Secondly, there is the irony that what looked like the strongest of Jesus' disciples deserted him while what seemed to be the weakest stayed with him, at the foot of the cross. And, finally, there is the irony of Jesus becoming the Passover Lamb of God.

Indeed, I believe it to be one of the greatest and most mysterious of ironies that although Jesus was being crucified upon a cross, a sign was posted above his head which read, "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews."

The inscription on the sign was in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. These were the three great languages of the ancient world, and they stood for three great nations. In the economy of God every nation has something to teach the world; and these three great nations stood for three great contributions to the world and to world history. Greece taught the world beauty of form and beauty of thought; Rome taught the world law and good government; the Hebrew nation taught the world religion and the worship of the true God. The consummation of all these things is seen in Jesus. In Him was the supreme beauty and the highest thought of God. In Him was the law of God and the Kingdom of God. In him was the very picture and image of God. All the world's seekings and strivings found their consummation in Him. It was symbolic that in the three great languages of the world, humanity called him King.

Isn't it amazing that in an effort to be sarcastic, in an effort to be insulting, a sign was put above our Savior's head which actually told the truth? But, when you think about it, the crucifixion of our Lord was so powerful that even the powers of Hell had no choice but to acknowledge who Jesus was!

I once heard a sermon where the preacher, obviously somewhat inexperienced, perhaps even a bit shallow in his outlook, stated that he couldn't understand what was so good about Good Friday. "What could be so good about the death of Jesus upon a cross?" he asked. I felt like getting up and preaching the rest of his sermon for him to answer his question (which he never did). Because, of course, one of the answers to his question is that Good Friday is good because even during what appeared to be the darkest hour for the Son of God, at what seemed to be the moment of our Savior's greatest weakness, not even the powers and principalities could deny the truth of who Jesus was: "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews"

To be sure, Pilate put this inscription on the Cross of Jesus to irritate and to annoy the religious leaders of Israel. The religious leaders asked Pilate to take the sign down, or at least to change it to read, "This man said he was the King of the Jews." But, Pilate wouldn't do it because Pilate wanted to show them who was boss.

You know, that inscription above his head, written in three languages so that everyone who passed by could understand is a marvelous example of how God is able to get his point across.	I am reminded of the story about how, when searching for David Livingstone, Henry M. Stanley had a most unusual reception from the king of Uganda. The queen of Uganda had had a strange dream about the white man's God and His Son Jesus Christ shortly before Stanley's arrival. She told her husband about the dream shortly after the arrival of Stanley at the royal house.

The king and queen pleaded with Stanley to send a letter to England and ask for a missionary teacher to be sent to them. He wrote the letter and sent it out by a young Frenchman who was leaving Stanley's expedition.

But, before the Frenchman could get out of Africa he was murdered. Several months after his murder, his body was found by some British soldiers. Searching through his clothing, they found Stanley's letter in one of his boots. They sent the letter on to England where it was printed in a prominent newspaper.

Such great interest was aroused that when the invitation came for missionary volunteers to go to Uganda, several persons responded.

Isn't it amazing how God's message gets through? It doesn't matter where we are, or what may be plaguing us, or tempting us, or goading us, or distracting us. God's message is continuously being sent our way. It's being written in places that we can't miss. It's coming at us when we least expect it. God's message gets through in spite of the obstacles the world may try to put up. God's message gets through. And he's telling us that he loves us. And he loved us so much that he gave his Son, Jesus, to die for us.

But, there's something else that's important for us to consider as we think about the crucifixion of our Lord. Isn't it amazing that in our Savior's hour of greatest need those who looked the strongest deserted him while those who looked like the weakest stayed with him at the foot of the cross? The scriptures tell us who these faithful ones were: His mother, His mother's sister, and Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary from Magdala, along with a young disciple He loved, probably John. And that's all. The rest had locked themselves into a room, fearful of what might happen to them.

There are some commentators who explain that the presence of those women and this young man at the cross wasn't due to any bravery on their part. They suggest that in those days women were so unimportant and so despised that no one ever took any notice of women disciples, and that therefore these women, escorted by that one young man, were running no risk at all by being near the Cross of Jesus. But, most of us would probably disagree with this.

Indeed, it was always a dangerous thing to be an associate of a man whom the Roman government believed to be so dangerous a criminal that he deserved a Cross. It is always a dangerous thing to demonstrate one's love for someone whom the orthodox regard as a sinner and a heretic. The presence of these women at the Cross was not due to the fact that they were so unimportant that no one would notice them; their presence was due to the immortal fact that perfect love casts out fear.

They were there, they had to be there, not because they were insignificant, not because they were foolish, not even because they were brave. Rather, they were there because, more than anything else, they loved our Lord. And they loved our Lord because they knew him and were keenly aware that he loved them.

And this leads us to ask, "How far will we go out on a limb for Jesus?" If we knew that God wanted us to share our faith with the people we work with (which he does), would we do it? Or would we be afraid of getting fired? Would we be afraid of getting ridiculed? Would we be afraid of looking like an idiot? Would we be like Peter, who told Jesus that he would die with him before he would deny him, and yet denied him three times before the cock crowed? Would we be like the rest of the disciples who said they would fight for Jesus and, yet, disappeared when the real testing came? Or, would we be like those who stayed with Jesus at the foot of the cross because they loved him so much?

Why did they love him so much? Perhaps they loved him so much because they were acutely aware of the fact that they were the least of his disciples. For people of such humility, to have the awareness that they were loved by the Son of God gave them a love for him that would not allow them to be driven away by fear.

In his ministry Jesus was always talking about humility; about the least having the greatest place in his kingdom. Certainly, this great truth was spelled out, not only in his life, but in his death, as well.

The simple children's song, "Jesus loves me, this I know," displays one of the most powerful and deepest theological messages known to Christianity. Our salvation, you see, our place in God's kingdom, our loyalty to Jesus doesn't start with our love of him. Rather, it starts with our realization of his love for us. And the humbler we are, the greater our awareness of our unworthiness, the greater will be our appreciation of Christ's love for us.

I found an interesting poem the other day that goes like this:

I used to think that God's gifts were on shelves

one

above

another

and the taller we grow,

the easier we can reach them.

Now I find, that

God's gifts are on shelves

one

beneath

another

and the lower we stoop,

The more we get.

But, finally, as we consider the crucifixion of our Savior upon the cross, one of the astounding things that we encounter is that in dying upon the cross Jesus became the Passover Lamb of God.

The gospel of John tells us that it was on a hyssop reed that they put a sponge to give Jesus a drink of vinegar. Now, even the thought that it was a hyssop reed that was used for this purpose has caused some problems with some biblical scholars. Why? Well, its because a hyssop reed was only a stalk, like strong grass, at the most two feet long. Nevertheless, it was hyssop that John wrote and, probably hyssop that John meant.

When we go away centuries back to the first Passover on that night when the children of Israel left their slavery in Egypt, we remember how the angel of death was to walk abroad that night and how he was to slay every first born son of the Egyptians. We remember how the Israelites were to kill the Passover lamb and how they were to smear the doorposts of their houses with the blood of that lamb, so that the avenging angel of death would pass over their houses. The actual instructions given to them was, "And you shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two door posts with the blood that is in the basin." It was the blood of the Passover lamb which saved the people of God. Likewise, it was the blood of Jesus which was to save the world from sin.

The very mention of hyssop would take the thoughts of any Jew back to the saving blood of the Passover lamb; and this is John's way of saying that Jesus was the great Passover Lamb of God whose death was to save the whole world from sin.

Jesus died that Good Friday, and because he did, those who allow themselves by faith into the shelter of his blood are saved.

I'd like to leave you with one more story: In the market place of Rotterdam, Holland, stood for many years an old corner house known as "The House of a Thousand Terrors."

During the 16th century, the Dutch people rose in revolt against the cruel King Philip II of Spain. Philip sent a great army under the Duke of Alva to suppress the rebellion. Rotterdam held out for a time but, finally, was defeated.

From house to house the victors went, searching out citizens and then killing them in their houses. A group of men, women, and children were hiding in a corner house when they heard soldiers approaching. A thousand terrors gripped their hearts. Then a young man had an idea. He took a goat in the house, killed it, and with a broom swept the blood under the doorway out towards the street.

The soldiers reached the house and began to batter down the door. But, noticing the blood coming out from under the door, one soldier said: "Let's go, the work is already done here. Look at the blood beneath the door." And the people inside the house were saved.

The blood of Christ is the same for us. His sacrifice means that the work has already been done. The powerful blood of Jesus flows from beneath the cross, down Calvary's hill, and into every accepting heart.

And, my friends, if that isn't good news on a Good Friday, I don't know what is! Amen.