St John 18:1-19:42/Isaiah 52:13-53:12/2 Corinthians 5:14-21
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
Outside the City of Peace a war wages. It is an epic battle and the hour of greatest evil: man murders his God. Everywhere we look is it just wrong. Creation is fallen and is being abused by demons. Murders and terrorists go free. Friends betray and deny their Lord and Master.
St Mary has the worst of all worlds. A widow and now watching the horror unfold before her: she sees her Son mocked, tortured, and executed for crimes he did not commit. It is noon and the sun is blazing in the sky, but it gives no light.
Strangest of all, the innocent Man is rightly condemned. This is what His Father, who loves Him and is well-pleased with Him, wants. It must take place. For His Father, the jealous God of Moses, is pleased to see Him become sin, to cut Him off from heaven, to not send the angelic host.
The Lamb’s limbs are stretched in cruel torture and pinned to crossbeams with vicious, tearing nails. His bones ache with guilt not His own. His soul suffers agony, melting like wax within Him. His heart ceases to pump and His side is split open and His life poured out upon the ground.
There, in the shadow of Mt Zion, He who is Life, died. The Father gives up the Son. And Mary, the Mother of our Lord, finds her heart pierced through and through. She knows sorrow that no widow, no mother should ever know. Behold her Son! Behold God! Beaten and bruised, covered in blood, suffocating under His own weight and the burden of sin! Everything is wrong at the Cross. Everything is broken. It is the reversal of creation. Order is breaking apart. Virgins do not have children. Innocent men are not rightly condemned. God does not die.
As the Passover lambs were slaughtered in the Temple, chaos threatened to plunge all creation into disorder, into opposites, into perversions of what it once was. This is exactly as Satan had hoped in the eating of the fruit! His tyranny is seen. We are culpable. Do not push it off on another. This is your heritage. This is the cost of your rebellion, of your lust and greed and selfishness. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
This is the heart of the Christian faith: we preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified. For in His dying, death itself was consumed. Chaos was turned inside out. What man meant for evil, God meant for good. And the Temple veil no longer hides the mercy-seat of God. With water and blood, by His very life, Christ puts the universe back in order once more. He made it good again.
He yields up His spirit to His Father, ever trusting in Him. His Body was returned to broken-hearted Mary, for a time; and Nicodemus, no-longer-afraid, and Joseph of Arimathea lay God to rest in the grave.
It is finished. The sacrifice is complete. Justice is satisfied. Hell’s fires are quenched. The serpent’s head lies crushed in the Place of the Skull. And there is no one left to accuse you, or anyone. Surely this Man is the Son of God. In the borrowed tomb the Lion of the Tribe of Judah sleeps. Things are at the Cross are not what they seem to the failing wisdom of man.
But for one restless Sabbath, Mary’s heart stayed broken that the hearts of many might be revealed. To all the world, to the Law, what has happened at Golgotha looks evil. It was not just. It was a defeat. It was the devil’s hour. This is all true on the surface.
Yet never forget that this foolish devil has no free will. He is God’s devil. And the good and gracious will of the Father is always done. The Cross is no accident. It was by design. It is the good and gracious will of the Father for you.
Jesus sweated blood and then drained the cup of wrath and there is no more. It is finished. In faith we call this day “Good Friday.” Hearts that have fallen on the Stone rejected by the builders rejoice this night. Those who have been drowned and raised again to life give thanks. For remember the Words of Jesus, of Job, of David, of Isaiah, of Moses, and know that the Lion sleeps only that He may rise.
Thus do we, by grace through faith, give thanks and praise to God for the Cross of Jesus Christ, by which we are crucified to the world and the world to us. We are not ashamed. We are not afraid. We are not sad. We rejoice in the death of Jesus; for in this way God has loved us to the very end. The Cross is the foundation of our Life. It is the security and restoration of the entire universe. It is the fountain for those who thirst, bread for those who hunger, comfort for those who mourn; the Cross is our one hope and future. This is the Day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. This is the greatest day, the best day, the day of grace and of sacrifice, of redemption and hope, of love and immortality.
Let your pierced heart be mended and healed. You know the rest of the story. The Lion of Judah is not dead. He sleeps. And that sleep has come to an end. Creation is restored. Jesus lives. He is no longer in Joseph’s barrowed tomb. He is risen. He ascended to the Father for you and reigns at our Father’s side as a Man. He has opened heaven to all believers.
And know this tonight: you were worth it all to Him, you were worth every thorn, every lash, every nail, and every mocking He endured. You were worth it all. He loves you and is glad to forgive you, to welcome you back, to be your God. The earth is ripe now with “Alleluias.” They will not be suppressed much longer.
It is finished. The Lamb of God, the Lion of Judah is awake. Our Lord lives and is coming back. Until then, let us do as He has called us to do. Let us proclaim Jesus Christ and Him crucified for the sins of the world. And let us pray all the more: “Come, Lord Jesus. Come quickly.”
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
Outside the City of Peace a war wages. It is an epic battle and the hour of greatest evil: man murders his God. Everywhere we look is it just wrong. Creation is fallen and is being abused by demons. Murders and terrorists go free. Friends betray and deny their Lord and Master.
St Mary has the worst of all worlds. A widow and now watching the horror unfold before her: she sees her Son mocked, tortured, and executed for crimes he did not commit. It is noon and the sun is blazing in the sky, but it gives no light.
Strangest of all, the innocent Man is rightly condemned. This is what His Father, who loves Him and is well-pleased with Him, wants. It must take place. For His Father, the jealous God of Moses, is pleased to see Him become sin, to cut Him off from heaven, to not send the angelic host.
The Lamb’s limbs are stretched in cruel torture and pinned to crossbeams with vicious, tearing nails. His bones ache with guilt not His own. His soul suffers agony, melting like wax within Him. His heart ceases to pump and His side is split open and His life poured out upon the ground.
There, in the shadow of Mt Zion, He who is Life, died. The Father gives up the Son. And Mary, the Mother of our Lord, finds her heart pierced through and through. She knows sorrow that no widow, no mother should ever know. Behold her Son! Behold God! Beaten and bruised, covered in blood, suffocating under His own weight and the burden of sin! Everything is wrong at the Cross. Everything is broken. It is the reversal of creation. Order is breaking apart. Virgins do not have children. Innocent men are not rightly condemned. God does not die.
As the Passover lambs were slaughtered in the Temple, chaos threatened to plunge all creation into disorder, into opposites, into perversions of what it once was. This is exactly as Satan had hoped in the eating of the fruit! His tyranny is seen. We are culpable. Do not push it off on another. This is your heritage. This is the cost of your rebellion, of your lust and greed and selfishness. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
This is the heart of the Christian faith: we preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified. For in His dying, death itself was consumed. Chaos was turned inside out. What man meant for evil, God meant for good. And the Temple veil no longer hides the mercy-seat of God. With water and blood, by His very life, Christ puts the universe back in order once more. He made it good again.
He yields up His spirit to His Father, ever trusting in Him. His Body was returned to broken-hearted Mary, for a time; and Nicodemus, no-longer-afraid, and Joseph of Arimathea lay God to rest in the grave.
It is finished. The sacrifice is complete. Justice is satisfied. Hell’s fires are quenched. The serpent’s head lies crushed in the Place of the Skull. And there is no one left to accuse you, or anyone. Surely this Man is the Son of God. In the borrowed tomb the Lion of the Tribe of Judah sleeps. Things are at the Cross are not what they seem to the failing wisdom of man.
But for one restless Sabbath, Mary’s heart stayed broken that the hearts of many might be revealed. To all the world, to the Law, what has happened at Golgotha looks evil. It was not just. It was a defeat. It was the devil’s hour. This is all true on the surface.
Yet never forget that this foolish devil has no free will. He is God’s devil. And the good and gracious will of the Father is always done. The Cross is no accident. It was by design. It is the good and gracious will of the Father for you.
Jesus sweated blood and then drained the cup of wrath and there is no more. It is finished. In faith we call this day “Good Friday.” Hearts that have fallen on the Stone rejected by the builders rejoice this night. Those who have been drowned and raised again to life give thanks. For remember the Words of Jesus, of Job, of David, of Isaiah, of Moses, and know that the Lion sleeps only that He may rise.
Thus do we, by grace through faith, give thanks and praise to God for the Cross of Jesus Christ, by which we are crucified to the world and the world to us. We are not ashamed. We are not afraid. We are not sad. We rejoice in the death of Jesus; for in this way God has loved us to the very end. The Cross is the foundation of our Life. It is the security and restoration of the entire universe. It is the fountain for those who thirst, bread for those who hunger, comfort for those who mourn; the Cross is our one hope and future. This is the Day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. This is the greatest day, the best day, the day of grace and of sacrifice, of redemption and hope, of love and immortality.
Let your pierced heart be mended and healed. You know the rest of the story. The Lion of Judah is not dead. He sleeps. And that sleep has come to an end. Creation is restored. Jesus lives. He is no longer in Joseph’s barrowed tomb. He is risen. He ascended to the Father for you and reigns at our Father’s side as a Man. He has opened heaven to all believers.
And know this tonight: you were worth it all to Him, you were worth every thorn, every lash, every nail, and every mocking He endured. You were worth it all. He loves you and is glad to forgive you, to welcome you back, to be your God. The earth is ripe now with “Alleluias.” They will not be suppressed much longer.
It is finished. The Lamb of God, the Lion of Judah is awake. Our Lord lives and is coming back. Until then, let us do as He has called us to do. Let us proclaim Jesus Christ and Him crucified for the sins of the world. And let us pray all the more: “Come, Lord Jesus. Come quickly.”
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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