Good
Friday 4/19/19 - 7 pm - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “The veil was torn!”
Old Testament
Scripture: Psalm 22
New Testament
Scripture: Hebrews 10:16-25
Gospel Lesson: John
18:1-19:42
My brothers and sisters, my friends, my fellow pilgrims on the
road this day to the cross of Christ on Calvary. For nearly two-thousand years,
it has become the worshipping tradition of the Christian Church to gather in
worship and prayer on this day. The church has come to call this day “Good
Friday,” as well as other titles, such as “Holy Friday”, “Great Friday”, and “Black Friday” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Friday). Today is day to be
thankful, to be humble, and to appreciate Jesus Christ dying for the
sins of the world on a cross.
On this day, I find myself personally feeling both
grateful, and yet feeling unworthy. I am not worthy of what Christ did for me on
this day nearly two-thousand years ago. Yet what Christ endured today, he did
out of amazing love. Jesus loves us all so much, that he came to earth, to
live, to love, to heal, to forgive, and on this day to die for us all.
Today then is an act of God’s grace. We don’t deserve
forgiveness, we don’t deserve grace, we don’t deserve heaven, but God’s love is
so great for us that it is offered to us anyway!
The Apostle Paul says it well in Romans 5:8, where he says:
“But God proves his love for us in that while we still were
sinners Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8, NRSV).
Historically, some Christians
throughout the centuries have viewed today as a day of great guilt and great
shame. I do not view this our “Good Friday” as a day of guilt and shame. I view
this day as the day that love beyond our comprehension won, and that sin, evil,
and death was slain. Even though we are all broken, even though we are all sinners,
Jesus still came for us. As our Lent study was titled, Jesus “Chose the Nails”.
He knows who we are, and he knows what we are, and yet he still “Chose the Nails”.
A scripture that we all know well,
John 3:16 says:
“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”
(Jn. 3:16, NRSV).
So I don’t have guilt and shame on
this day, instead I am overcome by the grace of God through his son Jesus
Christ. I think of the contemporary Christian song by the band “Big Daddy Weave,”
called “Overwhelmed”. In this song, some of the lyrics say this:
“I delight
myself in You Captivated by Your beauty I’m overwhelmed, I’m overwhelmed by You
God, I run into Your arms Unashamed because of mercy I’m overwhelmed, I’m
overwhelmed by You”
(https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/26143655/Big+Daddy+Weave/Overwhelmed).
Brothers and sisters, I don’t know
about you, but these lyrics that I just read, in part, summarizes well on how I
feel about what Jesus did for us on this Good Friday.
As a sort of comparison, I think of
the great sacrifices that my parents, my grandparents, and my family have made
for me. I can never repay them for what they have done for me. I can feel guilt
and shame over there great sacrifices, great work, and great love, but most loving
parents that I know don’t want us to feel shame and guilt. What do most loving
parents and grandparents want? They just want us to love them, to be grateful, to
be humble, and to be in relationship with them. This is what Jesus want of us.
To repent of our sins, and bring him into our hearts as our Lord and Savior.
As
I said then, I will never fully comprehend the grace of God through Jesus
Christ, especially on
this our Good Friday. For on this day, nearly 2,000 years ago, as we heard from
our lengthy reading from the gospel of John for tonight, Jesus our Lord was
arrested, tried, mocked, whipped, scourged, beaten, crucified, and then died
for our sins. He did, I believe, what any loving parent would do for their
children.
Sometimes
unfortunately though, when parents love, give, and sacrifice for their children,
sometimes there children just don’t appreciate it. In a connected way, Jesus
goes through all that he went through today, because he loves us so much. Even
if we don’t or appreciate Jesus or what he has done for us on this day, he
still did it, as he still loves us. The way a parent might continue to love an indignant
child, Jesus continues to love us. After all, who here wouldn’t gladly give up
your life for your children, your grandchildren, your great grandchildren, or for
your family? Further, maybe you would do so even if they didn’t appreciate it,
or even if they didn’t deserve it.
Jesus on this day took the fall for us. He took the punishment
we should have had, and he hung in our place. In a display of love and grace
beyond our human comprehension he was crucified and died for us. Other than
being humble, thankful, and appreciative, what else can we do to show Jesus and
the world our love?
My
response to this question, is to love everyone even more boldly. My response to
this question, is to be even more grateful, to be even more humble, and to sacrifice
even more for others. My response to this question, is to visit sick, help
those in need, and above all share the Good News of Jesus Christ with the
world.
The
truth is, that we can never repay what Christ did for us this day, as many of us
can never repay what our parents and families did for us. This does indeed make
today a “Good” Friday, as God’s love went far beyond anything we deserve and can
understand. We don’t need to suffer today therefore, as Christ suffered for us.
We don’t need to feel guilt and shame, as Christ took on our guilt and shame
this day. This day frees us from sin. All we have to do is repent, believe, and
share the love of Christ with each other.
Many of the scriptures from the Old Testament or the Hebrew
Bible foretold the coming of Christ, the Messiah, and some of these scripture specifically
spoke of the events that would unfold on this our Good Friday. I want to give
you a couple of examples of this in our reading from Psalm 22 for tonight. For
example, Psalm 22:1a says once again:
“My God, my God,
why have you forsaken me?” (Ps.
22:1a, NSRV).
According to the gospel of Matthew,
Jesus said these prophetic words in 27:46, shortly before he died.
Psalm 22:18 says once again:
“they divide my clothes among
themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots” (Ps. 22:18, NRSV).
As our gospel
of John reading for tonight says once again about the crucifixion of Jesus in
19:23-25a:
“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; now the tunic was
seamless, woven in one piece from the top. So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast
lots for it to see who will get it.” This was to fulfill what the scripture
says, “They divided my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast
lots.” And that is what the soldiers did”
(Jn. 19:23-25a,
NRSV).
So what had been predicted hundreds of years before in
Psalm 22:18, came true this day, as lots were indeed cast for Jesus’ clothing.
This is just a couple of the many examples of the prophecies fulfilled this day
by Jesus Christ.
This all leads me to my sermon title for tonight, called “The
veil was torn!” I am not going to go through step by step the lengthy reading
that we just read from the gospel of John, or we will be here until Easter
morning by the time I get through it all!
I was struck by the Apostle Paul’s words for
tonight from Hebrews 10:16-25, that once again say:
“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,”
he also adds,
“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no
more.” (Heb. 10:16-17, NRSV).
The Apostle Paul, who is quoting
the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah, specifically, Jeremiah 31:31-34,
talks about a day of deliverance. This scripture talks about the day of our
sins being forgiven, and us being seen as justified and righteous in God’s
eyes.
In the great Jewish Temple in
Jerusalem, there were multiple sections of the temple. The holier that you
were, the farther into the temple you could go. The Holy of Holies that housed
the ark of covenant, with the 10-commandments, was the holiest and most inner room
in the temple. Only the High Priest could enter this room one day a year, and
he would have a rope tied around his waist. Why did he have a rope tied around
his waist? This is because, if he were to die from being found to be unworthy,
he would then be dragged out, as surely none of the other priests would be seen
by God as being as worthy as the High Priest.
This inner most chamber, this Holy of
Holies was closed off by a large veil or curtain. This curtain separated the holiest
place in the temple, the place where you could be the closest to God on earth.
Only the high priest, one day a year could go in.
In the gospel according to Matthew 27:51,
it says that right when Jesus died on the cross that:
“At that moment the curtain of the
temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were
split” (Mt. 27:51,
NRSV).
So the innermost
chamber of the great Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, that only the High Priest
could enter into one day a year, which was closed off with a curtain or a veil,
had just been torn in two. This inner-most and most holy room, is now wide open
to all people.
The Apostle
Paul continues in our reading from Hebrews for this night, and once again
starting with 10:19 says:
“Therefore, my friends, since 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. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without
wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. 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” (Heb. 19-26, NRSV).
The Apostle Paul is telling us that
through Jesus’ trial, torture, crucifixion, and death, along with the veil
tearing into two in that innermost chamber, that we all now have equal access
to God, and 365-days of the year.
The Apostle Paul tells us that through
Christ, and through accepting him and his love, we are made whole, and can
freely access the Holy of Holies, as we are now found to be fully worthy before
almighty God.
Friends, brothers and sisters, I will never be able to
fully comprehend the love of God through Jesus Christ. I will never be able to
fully comprehend what Jesus did for us this day. In response though, I am
grateful, humble, hopeful, and appreciative that today “The veil was torn!”
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment