Good
Friday 04/03/15 Freeville UMC
Sermon Title: “Was there ever a
love so great?”
Old Testament
Lesson: Isaiah 52:13-53:12
New Testament
Scripture: Hebrews 10:16-25
Gospel Lesson:
John 18:1-19:42
Friends, brothers and
sisters, welcome once again on this Good Friday. On this day that we remember, that
we mourn, that we hope, and that we reflect upon the suffering and the death of
Jesus Christ. We all can no doubt connect in various ways to this day, with our
own sufferings, and with our own pains.
I think some good questions then that we can ask ourselves
on this Good Friday are: “What does the suffering and death of Jesus Christ on
this day mean to me?” “How can I connect to the suffering and the death that
Christ experienced on this day?” And, “What significance does Christ’s suffering
and death have for us, and for others?”
I remember watching a Rev. Billy Graham sermon once and he
was talking about the suffering and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. What he
seemed to do in this sermon, was first explain that Jesus died for the sins of
humanity. Then he explained that this happened, because of the great love that
Jesus Christ had for us all. In the sermon he said of Christ’s suffering and
death, “Was there ever a love so great?”
Now, the interesting thing about the story of the torture
and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, is that the majority of his followers
fled. Peter denied him three times, Judas Iscariot betrayed him, and then hung
himself. Overall, nine out of the ten of the remaining twelve disciples fled.
The only one of the twelve disciples that remained was, we think, John. As
Jesus said in John 19:26-27 “When
Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he
said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Here
is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home” (John 19:26-27, NRSV). So, many experts think that “the
disciple whom he loved,” was John, and that all of the other disciples had
fled, yet Jesus’ mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, and probably all or most of his
women disciples remained to the end of his crucifixion. This also means that
the story of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion came only from John and the women who
remained, and these same women were the first ones to see the empty tomb on
Easter morning.
I
paint this picture of these Good Friday events as written in the gospels, to
show you how Jesus’s handpicked apostles scattered, say for John, and how he
still suffered and died.
Remember
also that when Jesus went before the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate and King
Herod Antipas that he could have conceded at any point. He could have said, “I
just made the whole thing up!” Yet Jesus, the living God in the flesh, was to
complete his mission and his task of redeeming humanity.
To
me then, this is what Christ’s suffering mean for us today, that Jesus Christ,
the living God in the flesh, was determined to show us a love so great, and so
powerful, that it would change the world forever. Not only this, it would open
the doorway to eternal life and salvation, as this pure and spotless lamb named
Jesus Christ, would die for us all.
Now
I am a person that has had many medical surgeries in my life, and I have had some
experiences of pain. I can connect somewhat to Christ’s suffering and death
today, but not fully. In some Christian traditions, on this day we have the fourteen
“Stations of the Cross.” The step by step story of the torture and the crucifixion
of Jesus Christ. For some people, this story brings forth great emotions of
great shame and guilt. They might say, “Because I am so awful and sinful,
Christ had to do this for me.”
Yet, I view it like this, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only
Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal
life” (John 3:16, NRSV). While we can identify and even connect with the
suffering and death of Jesus Christ on this day, Christ ultimately came to
love, to heal, and to forgive, not to condemn. Today is a story about love. In
fact, “Was there ever a love so great?”
I can only imagine what
it was like to, for Jesus’ mother Mary, to watch her little boy be tortured and
killed. Melissa and I don’t yet have any children, but I know that most parents
would lay their lives down for their children. That if someone was about to fire
a gun at one your children, or grandchildren, or one of your relatives, that you
would jump in front of that person, and take the bullet for them. I would
attest that what Jesus did today then, was so loving, was so radical, that even
that vast majority of his disciples didn’t even get it. I say this, as almost
all of them weren’t even present for the crucifixion.
To the third question that I have, to me the significance
of this day, is what the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:54, “When the perishable puts
on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to
pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up
in victory” (1 Cor. 15:54, NRSV). So I of course hold the more traditional view
that Jesus Christ’s torture and death was significant, in that it removed the
sins of humanity, both past and present, and it allowed us an entry point into
salvation and eternal life.
Yet at the heart of this day, is the love of God,
the love of Jesus Christ. As Jesus said himself in John 15:13 “No one has
greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13,
NRSV). So while I say that Christ’s death was to redeem humanity, there is no
debate about the love that Christ bore for his friends, and for us. This great
love is what put him on the cross. It is what caused him to be whipped and
scourged, to be mocked, to be interrogated, to have a crown of thorns thrust
onto his head, it is what caused him to be nailed to Roman Cross, and to be
stabbed in the side with a Roman spear.
In an
effort to better connect us with the events as recorded in the gospels for this
day, I
would invite you all to close your eyes for a couple of minutes.
I am going to ask that you trust me, and I want
you to imagine in you minds, the events of this day. I want you to think about and
imagine the suffering and the death of Jesus Christ. I want you to think it about
from the perspective of Mary, Jesus’ mother. Of what it must have been like to
watch your own son be tortured and murdered.
I would invite you in your minds to then come with
me to the cross of Christ. Imagine that large wooden cross laying on the
ground. It is laying there on the dusty, dry, and hot ground. Jesus, who has
been whipped, beaten, scourged, and who is hardly recognizable as a human being,
lays near the cross. Yet, he has been sentenced to death.
So the Roman soldiers, to the cheers of “crucify
him” lay Jesus on the cross. First, they pull one of his beaten and bloody
arms, and they pull it as far as they can. Then suddenly a soldier with a
hammer and nail strikes the nail in one of Christ’s hands (strike the bowl). An
explosion of pain, goes through Christ’s body.
Then the other arm is likewise stretched out, and
pulled taunt. Again a Roman soldier lifts a hammer and nail, and hammers it
into Christ’s other hand (strike the bowl). Another explosion of pain, goes
through Christ’s body.
After this, the Roman Soldiers stretches out
Christ’s feet, and overlap them together. Then a third time, they lift the
hammer and the nail, and hammer the nail into his feet (strike the bowl).
The sign “King of Jews” is nailed above his head,
and the cross is lifted into a dug hole in the ground, so that it may stand up
right. Jesus hangs in pain and agony.
Please open your eyes.
We know then, that Jesus will continue to suffer
on this cross, and then he will die. During which time he prays for those who
are killing him, he regards the well-being of his mother Mary, and he forgives
one of the criminals being crucified with him. I don’t know about you, but when
I hear this story, I think of what the Rev. Billy Graham said, “Was there ever
a love so great?”
In our lengthy reading from the prophet Isaiah
for tonight, we get plenty of prophetic language, written hundreds of years
before Christ. This language tells us of what the Christ, the Messiah would
experience, out of His great love for us.
In our reading from tonight from the Apostle
Paul’s Epistle or letter to the Hebrews, Paul talks about how through the blood
of Jesus Christ, we are all forgiven of all of our sins. That we are offered
liberty for our souls, and offered the opportunity to be made righteous, pure,
and whole, through Jesus Christ.
Our gospel reading from the gospel according to
John from tonight is the story that we hear every year from one of the gospels.
Yet I come back to the three questions that I asked us to consider on this
night: “What
does the suffering and death of Jesus on this day mean to me?” “How can I
connect to the suffering and death that Christ experienced on this day?” “What
significance does Christ’s suffering and death have for us, and for others?”
So for me then, I don’t feel great guilt and
shame on this day, rather I feel tremendous love, humility, and am overwhelmed
by what Jesus did for me and for us all.
I would like to close this message with a story
called “Who’ll take the son,” which was taken from the
book Bible Windows, by Ivor Powell. Now I have told this story before, but I found that it was just so
fitting for my message tonight, that I am telling it again in a different way.
So here is how it goes: “A
wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything
in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and
admire the great works of art. When the Vietnam conflict broke out,
the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing
another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son.”
“About
a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door. A young
man stood at the door with a large package in his hands. He said, "Sir,
you don't know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He
saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet
struck him in the heart and he died instantly. He often talked about you, and
your love for art.”
“The
young man held out his package. "I know this isn't much. "I'm not
really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have
this."
“The
father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young
man. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of
his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes
welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the
picture.” "Oh, no sir. I could never repay what your son did for me. It's
a gift."
“The
father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to his home
he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the
other great works he had collected.”
“The
man died a few months later. There was to be a great auction of his paintings.
Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and
having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection. On the platform sat
the painting of the son.”
“The
auctioneer pounded his gavel. "We will start the bidding with this picture
of the son. Who will bid for this picture?" “There was silence. Then a
voice in the back of the room shouted, "We want to see the famous
paintings! Skip this one!" “But the auctioneer persisted. "Will
someone bid for this painting? Who will start the bidding? $100,
$200?" Another voice shouted angrily, "We didn't come to see
this painting! We came to see the Van Gogh's, the Rembrandt's! Get on
with the real bids!" But still the auctioneer continued. "The
son! The son! Who'll take the son?"
“Finally,
a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the longtime gardener of
the man and his son. "I'll give $10 for the painting." Being a poor
man, it was all he could afford.” "We have $10, who will bid
$20?" "Give it to him for $10! Let's see the
masters!" "$10 is the bid, won't someone bid $20?" The
crowd was becoming angry. They didn't want the picture of the son. They wanted
the more worthy investments for their collections.” The auctioneer pounded
the gavel. "Going once, twice, SOLD for $10!" A man sitting in the
second row shouted, "Now, let's get on with the collection!" The
auctioneer laid down his gavel. "I'm sorry, the auction is
over." "What about the paintings?"
"I
am sorry. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret
stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until
this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that
painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings. The man who
took the son gets everything!"
“God
gave His son 2,000 years ago to die on a cruel cross. Much like the auctioneer,
His message today is, "The son, the son, who'll take the son?"
Because, you see, whoever takes the Son gets everything.”
Friends,
brothers and sisters, this is our Good Friday. This is the day that we remember
the suffering and the death of Jesus Christ. Today is the day that ends in
death, but be encouraged for God has the final word. For we don’t serve a God
of death, but we serve a God of resurrection. I would challenge us all to be
thinking, to be praying, and to be meditating on the events of this day, what
they mean to us, why they are important, and how we can connect with Jesus
Christ. The one who died, so that we may live. For, “Was there ever a love so great?” Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment