Good Friday 4/15/22 - 7 pm - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “Death Has Died!”
Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 22
New Testament Scripture: Hebrews 10:16-25
Gospel Lesson: John 18:1-19:42
Today is a very good, very terrible, and very complicated
day. Many Christian Churches and Christians refer to this day as “Good Friday.”
After the Last Supper in the Upper Room in Jerusalem ended last night, Jesus
went to pray the whole night in the Garden of Gethsemane. It was a long night
for Jesus, as he realized what would befall him this day, “Good Friday.”
Early this morning, on this day, Jesus was arrested in the
Garden of Gethsemane, and Judas Iscariot who sold out Jesus for 30-pieces of
silver, greeted Jesus with a kiss on the cheek. When Jesus was arrested, he was
mocked, spit upon, paraded around, scourged with whips, a crown of thorns was put
on his head, and he was crucified.
Jesus will be brought before King Herod, the religious leaders,
and the high priest, as well as the Roman Governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate. The
religious leaders of Judea were determined to crucify Jesus, claiming he
committed blasphemy by claiming to be a king and God in the flesh. The
religious leaders told Roman Governor Pontius Pilate that they had no king but Caesar
in Rome. Of course, the religious leaders despised Caesar in Rome, but made
this allegation as a justifiable reason to put Jesus to death. I mean after all
he had committed treason and violated the power of Caesar in Rome.
King Herod found no reason that Jesus should be put to
death, nor did Roman Governor Pontius Pilate. The religious leaders and the
high priest were enraged, they tore their robes or shirts open, and were
determined to have Jesus tried and crucified. The problem though is that
observant Jews cannot break one of the Ten Commandments. One of these
commandments of course is “thou shall not kill.” As a result, the religious
leaders and the high priest wanted Jesus to put to death, but they could not do
it themselves.
The push to try and kill Jesus grew to a fever pitch this
day with the religious leaders. So far in fact, that the annual tradition of releasing
a prisoner on the Passover holiday or festival occurred. Pontius Pilate offered
to release Jesus or Barabbas, who as a bandit or a thief. The crowd, the religious
leaders, and high priest clamored for Barabbas to be released instead of Jesus.
A lot of pressure was put on Pontius Pilate, who clearly did not want to put
Jesus to death.
Pontius Pilate even had Jesus scourged and whipped, and
this was still not enough. They shouted “Crucify him! Crucify him!” (Jn. 19:6,
NRSV). The reason Pilate finally ordered Jesus to be crucified, was because he
was worried that there would be a popular uprising in Judea if he did not.
Pilate had already had some problems in the past like this, and he was worried that
if he did not put Jesus to death, then an uprising would happen. If this happened,
then Caesar in Rome would remove him as the Governor of Judea. Or worse Caesar
could put Pilate to death. Pilate caved, and he ordered his soldier to nail a
sign above Jesus’ head on the cross. The sign said in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek “The
King of the Jews.” The chief priest and religious leaders were enraged by this,
but Pilate said that he had written, he had written. Jesus was nailed to the
cross.
Jesus is crucified, stabbed with a spear to make sure he
was dead, then put in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, where he will stay until
his resurrection on Easter Sunday.
When we look at our reading for this evening from Psalm 22,
we hear part of the prophecy of what would happen on this day. In fact, Psalm
22:1a says:
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Ps. 22:1a, NSRV).
Jesus
says this, quoting Psalm 22:1a in the gospel of Matthew, and there are more
predictions still in our Psalm 22 reading of what would happen on this day.
In
our scripture reading for tonight from Hebrews 10:16-25, it says once again in
10:19-22:
“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” (Heb. 10:16-25, NRSV).
When
Jesus died, the veil or the curtain in the great temple in Jerusalem that
separated the high priest from the holiest room in the temple was torn. This
room could normally only be entered into by the high priest, and only once a
year. In fact, a rope would be tied around the waste of the high priest. Should
God find him unworthy, and he be struck down dead, the other religious leaders
would just pull him out. I mean after all, if the high priest were struck down,
what hope would there be for the rest of them.
Jesus dies, and the sin of the world dies with him. This is why my sermon for tonight is called “Death Has Died!” The reasonable question to ask this day then, is why does Good Friday matter? Today matters because on this day almost two-thousand years ago, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, God’s only son, died on a cross for our sins and the sins of the whole world. On this day nearly two-thousand years ago Jesus paved the way for us to be forgiven of our sins and to be reconciled to God. We are incapable of living on earth without sin, and we are incapable of being like fully like God, and as result, God sent to son to earth to die for us, so that we might be reconciled to him. This was God’s plan to redeem humanity from before time itself. Was it brutal? Yes. This was God’s plan before time itself however, and it sure got our attention.
In God’s infinite love, mercy, and grace, he sent his only
son to earth to take all of our guilt and all of our shame upon himself. On the
cross Jesus bore our every mistake, and our every wrongdoing. We do not deserve
it, and yet God’s love and grace is so abundant, and God’s desire to be in
relationship with us is so great that he would send his only son to die for us.
Jesus, in being God in the flesh on earth, was the only one who ever walked this
earth that was sinless. It is for this reason that Jesus was and is the only one
qualified to be an all-sufficient savor. Only God can do what he did through
Jesus Christ. God did not have to do this, but he planned before time to this,
so that humanity could be reconciled to him. This is why today “Death Has Died!”
This day does not mean that we are awful, but it does mean is
that we need the grace of God through Jesus Christ. In repenting and turning
from our sin, and in turning to Christ, we are forgiven. All of our guilt, all of
our shame, all of our sin, and everything that we have ever done is gone, and
washed clean. Does this change our human nature toward sinning? No, it does
not, but everyday that we walk with Christ, follow him, and seek to be more
like him, we will continue to be made in Christ’s image. As we draw closer to Christ,
we become more like him, and God continues to make us more holy and more
righteous. When we are more holy and more righteous, we are more like God, and
so we are then less sinful, and God can use us to transform the world.
Until Jesus’ resurrection on Easter, his death does not official offer us full
forgiveness and reconciliation with God, as Easter Sunday proves that Jesus is who he
said he was. The great love of God this day was on full display for us, as he gave
everything for us. Dear friends, this is why on this this day, Good Friday, “Death Has
Died!” Happy Good Friday. Amen.
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