Friday 04/18/14 Freeville/Homer Ave
UMC’s
Sermon Title: “It is finished”
Old Testament Scripture Lesson: Psalm 22
New Testament Scripture Lesson: Hebrews 10:16-25
Gospel Lesson: John 18:1-19:42
Brothers and sisters,
welcome once again on this “Good Friday,” of this our “Holy Week.” On this day,
we come together to observe and to remember the arrest, the trial, the crucifixion,
and the death of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. This is the day then, that
Jesus will give up his life for us all us. This day is also known as “Holy Friday,” “Great Friday,” “Black Friday,”
or also known as “Friday in Easter week.”
The
big question to ask ourselves tonight though, is why would we call the day where
the Lord of Life, the Messiah, the King of Kings, that Jesus the Christ is crucified,
a “Good” or even a “Great” day? I mean wouldn’t this day more logically be
called, “Terrible Friday” or “Awful Friday?” Yet we call this day “Good Friday.”
Given this, what makes this day so “Good?” I mean Jesus went through
unspeakable pain and misery on this day. So how can this day be a “Good Friday?”
The
answer to this brothers and sisters, it is on this day that “It is finished.”
By this statement, I mean that Jesus has accomplished on this day what he set
out to accomplish on this earth. On this day, the Messiah, the Son of God, has
fulfilled the written prophesies of the Old Testament. On this day, Jesus has officially
conquered evil, resisted all temptations, and until his very last breath,
thought only of others before himself. For on this day, death itself has died,
and soon, very soon, on this coming Easter Sunday morning, the stone will be
rolled away, and the tomb of Christ will be empty. On this day though, we
remember what the Lord endured for us.
When
looking at the Old Testament reading from tonight from Psalm 22, Jesus Christ
will cry out to the Father with part of the first verse of this Psalm. This
Psalm begins by saying, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” You see, Jesus
in his human agony on the cross, for a moment felt disconnected from the
Father, and as a result, cried out these words. The Psalm goes on to say, “But
I am a worm, and not human; scorned by others, and despised by the people. All
who see me mock at me; they make mouths at me, they shake their heads.” On this
day, this is what Jesus Christ encountered on the way to the cross, and on the
cross. The Psalm then goes to say, “I am poured out like water, and all my
bones are out of joint, my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast.” I
can imagine on this day, that many of Jesus’ bones were pulled out of joint,
that he had been beaten and mocked to near death, prior to even getting to the
cross. The Psalm then says, “they divide my clothes among themselves, and for
my clothing they cast lots.” Jesus’ clothes were divided, and lots were cast
for them. The Psalm then ends by saying, “those who seek him shall praise the
LORD. May your hearts live forever!” You see my brothers and sisters, in
Christ, there is no death. For when we die on this earth, our earthly deaths
are only the beginning of everlasting life with Christ.
In
the Apostle Paul’s Epistle or letter to the Hebrews or Jewish Christians, from
tonight, he spoke of the New Covenant in Jesus Christ. He then quotes the Old
Testament prophet Jeremiah 31:33 and said, “This is the covenant that I will
make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their
hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” Paul then says to the Hebrews, “we
have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and
living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his
flesh), and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach
with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean
from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” The Apostle Paul
then concludes this portion of his letter to the Hebrews by saying, “And let us
consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to
meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all
the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Today
brothers and sister, is the day that the Lord will give his life up for all of
us. Today, “It is finished.” In looking at the lengthy gospel of John reading
from this evening, we begin with Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Since Judas Iscariot betrayed him though, the gospel says, “So Judas brought a
detachment of soldiers together with police from the chief priests and the
Pharisees, and they came with lanterns and torches and weapons.” Jesus is then
arrested, but before he is though, the gospel says, that “Simon Peter, who had
a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear.”
Christ then tells Simon Peter to put his sword away, and that he needs to go
with his would arrestors.
Jesus
was then bound, and was first taken “to Anna, who was the father-in-law of
Caiaphas, the high priest that year. At this point, a woman also accused Peter
of being one of Jesus’s disciples. Peter said “I am not.”
Peter
then went to warm himself around a charcoal fire, as Jesus is being questioned
by the high priest, “about his teaching.” Jesus then said, “I have said nothing
in secret.” Jesus then told the high priest to go and ask the people that he
was preaching to, what they themselves had heard him say. At this point, “one
of the police standing nearby struck Jesus on the face, saying, “Is this how
answer the high priest?” Jesus then basically says to the high priest, tell me
what I have said that is wrong, and then “Anna sent him bound to Caiaphas the
high priest.”
As
Simon Peter was still warming himself by the fire, he was accused a second
time, and then a third time, and a second and a third time he denied knowing
Jesus. At this very moment, as Christ told Peter would happen, the “cock
crowed,” and Peter then cried bitterly at his betrayal of the Lord.
At
this point the police and soldiers, “took Jesus from the high priest to Pilate’s
headquarters. It was early in the morning.” So at this point it is now Friday
morning, and Jesus Christ of course had been up all night praying. One could
only imagine how exhausted he must have been.
As
to “avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover,” the police,
soldiers, and high priests would not enter into Pilate’s headquarters. As a
result, the gospel then says, “Pilate went out to them.” When Pilate came out, he
said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” The Jews that were with
Jesus explained that Jesus was a criminal, but that they as Jews were “not
permitted to put anyone to death. (This was to fulfill what Jesus had said when
he indicated the kind of death he was to die).”
Pilate
then “entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, as asked him, “Are you
the King of the Jews?” Jesus then responded to Pilate, “Do you ask this on your
own, or did others tell you about me?” Pilate then says to Jesus, “I am not a
Jew, am I?” Pilate then wants to know why the high priests want Jesus dead.
Pilate says to Jesus, “What have you done?” Jesus then responds to Pilate by
saying, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world,
my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.
But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” Pilate then asks Jesus, “So you are
a king?” Jesus then answers, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born,
and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who
belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate then asks Jesus, “What is
truth?”
After
this, Pilate brought Jesus back to the Jews who brought Jesus to him and said, “I
find no cause against him.” Pilate then reminded the Jews that it is a custom
on the Passover to release a Jewish prisoner back to them. Instead of Jesus being
released though, the crowd shouted for a “bandit” named “Barabbas” to be
released. As it was, the Jews who accused Jesus, asked for a criminal, a “bandit,”
to be released over to them.
Due
to the fact then, that Jesus was not the one chosen to be released, Pilate
needing to do something, then has Jesus flogged or whipped. This whipping
probably would have occurred with a “Cat o’ nine tails” whip that was designed
to not just cut and stripe the flesh, but often to tear into and to scourge the
flesh. Pilates soldiers also “wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head,
and they dressed him in a purple robe.” These soldiers then kept coming up to
Jesus Christ mockingly saying, “Hail, King of the Jews! And striking him on the
face.” Soon after, Pilate came over and told his soldiers that he was going to
release Jesus, as “I find no case against him.”
When
the Jewish chief priests and the police then saw the now whipped and scourged
Jesus Christ, with his crown of thorns and purple robe on, they began to chant,
“Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate hesitating, said to them, “Take him
yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him.” At this point, “The
Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to the law he ought to die
because he has claimed to be the Son of God.”
Pilate
now more fearful of this situation growing out of control, “entered his
headquarters again and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” Jesus then said
nothing. Then Pilate asked Jesus, “Do you refuse to speak to me?” After this,
Pilate then said, “Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power
to crucify you?” Jesus then replied to Pilate, “You would have not power over
me unless it had been give you from above; therefore the one who handed me over
to you is guilty of a greater sin.” Pilate was still at this point determined
to release Jesus though, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you
are no friend of the emperor. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself
against the emperor.” Then Pilate “washed in hands” with a bowl of water, to
signify that Jesus’ blood was not on his hands.
Pilate
then finally agreed out of fear and worry to have Jesus crucified. The gospel then
says, “So they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to
what is called the Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha.” In
this place they crucified Jesus, along with “two others,” “one on either side,
with Jesus between them.” The gospel then says, “Pilate also had an inscription
written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the
Jews.” This was written “in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek,” and while the
chief priests protested this sign, Pilate said that the sign would stay where
it is.
The
gospel continues on to say, “When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took
his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also
took his tunic.” The gospel then says, “now the tunic was seamless, woven in
one piece from the top.” Instead of tearing it, the soldiers casted lots to see
who would get Christ’s tunic. This was done fulfill the prophecy of Christ’s
clothes “cast for lots.”
The
gospel continues on to say, “Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were
his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary
Magdalene.” At this point, the gospel says, “When Jesus saw his mother and the
disciple whom he loved standing beside here, he said to his mother, “Woman,
here is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” The
gospel then says, “And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.”
In
order to fulfill another Old Testament prophecy, Jesus then said, “I am
thirsty,” as there was “A jar full of sour wine standing there.” At this point
the Roman guards took “a branch of hyssop,” put and sponge on the end of it,
dipped it in the sour wine, and raised to Christ’s mouth. After Jesus received the
sour wine, he then said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up
his spirit.”
The
gospel says after this, that “The Jews did not want the bodies left on the
cross during the Sabbath.” Due to this, we know that this did indeed occur on a
Friday, as the Sabbath would have begun at sundown. Since having dead people
hang on the crosses would according to the Jews, ruin the “great solemnity” of
the Sabbath and the Passover, taking the bodies down was important. As a result,
the Roman soldiers then “broke the legs of the first and of the other who had
been crucified with him.” Remember that one of these two men, would be with
Jesus in “paradise” today. Yet, Jesus was already dead, so none of his bones
were broken, but “one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at
once blood and water came out.” Two more Old Testament prophecies were then
fulfilled, that “None of his bones shall be broken,” and that “They will look
on the one whom they pierced.”
When
this was done, “Joseph of Arimathea,” who was a secret disciple of Jesus
Christ, asked Pilate if he could take Jesus’ body. Then, “Pilate gave him
permission; so he came and removed his body.” Nicodemus then came with, “bringing
a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds.” Then, “They
took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with spices in linen cloths, according to
the burial customs of the Jews.” Then they took Jesus to garden near the place
of his crucifixion, and put him in “a new tomb in which no one had ever been
laid. As so, because it was the Jewish day or Preparation, and the tomb was
nearby, they laid Jesus there.”
So,
brothers and sisters, this is where the story of “Good Friday” ends. To better
emphasize all that Jesus is though, I want to show you a video: (show video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upGCMl_b0n4.
Brothers
and sisters, today the Lord of life dies for us, so that we may life. This is
our “Good Friday.” Amen.
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