St. John 19:17-30
Dearly beloved,
It is quite an extraordinary thing to ponder the reality
that God broke into our world and took on flesh. This, in and of itself, is
much to ponder. One would think that God should have been respected and
listened to. One would think that He would be worshipped and treated with
the utmost respect. Instead, each of the four gospels has its own
historical account of the crucifixion of Jesus. We ponder this on this Good
Friday, the one Friday in the church year that is called good.
It is difficult to build on or add to the historical account
of God’s death on the cross. What more can be said then that Jesus was
arrested, beaten and crucified? What more can be said then that they treated
Him shamefully and hung Him right in between two criminals? What can be said
but that the one who showed Jesus mercy was a foreigner who carried the
cross for Jesus, while everyone else looked on? What elaboration can we
give to a historical account that describes the suffering of Jesus on the
cross while people look on at the bottom of the cross, jeering Him and
trying to get Him to come down from the cross?
Perhaps the question we should be asking ourselves is not
the “what” of the crucifixion but “why.” Why is this happening? The entire
gospel narrative centers in on the words and acts of Jesus Christ. Throughout
the year we hear historical accounts of Jesus’ earthly life and
ministry. Jesus
heals, He teaches, and He loves. The entire gospel is meant to lead us
somewhere. Ironically, the gospel leads us right here to Good Friday and
the account of Jesus’ death. But why?
Why does the church surround herself with the image of the
crucifix? Why does St. Paul declare to the church at Corinth that “We preach
Christ crucified”? It doesn’t make for a shiny, happy picture that is for
sure. But it does teach us something about the church and what it means to
be a Christian. There are two deaths that are possible: the first death
is the bodily death out of this world, and the second death is the eternal
death in hell. Both are due to Satan and the fall of Adam and Eve.
Because of original sin, the inhabitants of the world were
out of fellowship with God. There was a chasm there. There was a barrier.
Because God is holy and pure, any sin in a creature leaves the creature
outside the realm of God’s merciful and loving presence. Only judgment can
come from such a tarnished relationship. Flesh had to save itself. Flesh
had to undo what was done in the Garden of Eden, but because every person
born into this world is born in the flesh and sinful, no person, no flesh
could reconcile this dislocated relationship with God.
But the merciful and loving Jesus Christ, the second person
of the Trinity, and holy God takes on flesh. God breaks into the world of
sin and puts on flesh. He makes this flesh His flesh. The holy God takes
our flesh and begins to walk the earth. He allows the Romans and the Jews
to arrest Him, beat Him, and hang Him on a cross. If we strip this whole
situation down to the fundamentals, we realize that it is Adam and Eve’s sin
that put Jesus on the cross. This doesn’t exclude you, though. Your sins
have put Jesus on the cross as well. And every time you sin, thinking it is
no big deal, you are re-crucifying Jesus again.
The problem that we face as people is that we take sin too lightly. We are
far too willing to sin, just relying on the grace of Jesus. More than that,
we are far too sluggish in our Christian faith and devotion. We are weak
when it comes to prayer and attending to the Divine Service to receive the
sacrament and ponder the Holy Word. Truly, we are a broken people who
understand far too little about all of this that we call the Christian faith
and life.
A part and piece of the good news, or gospel, to all of this is the fact
that we have the gospels, which refresh our memory and tug at our hearts as
the Holy Spirit reminds us why Jesus did what He did. So, we ponder the
mysterious love of Jesus. A couple of things need to be understood about
the cross. First, Christ’s salvation for the life of the world comes from
more than just the physical suffering from the cross. Certainly, it was a
painful way to die. It was humiliating, as well. Besides the physical
pain, there was the slow death by suffocation that was associated with
crucifixion.
But it was more than just the physical suffering, because, after all, two
criminals hung on each side of Jesus dying the same death. The other
dynamic to the crucifixion, which saves you from your sins is that which is
carefully presented when Jesus screams, “Eloi Eloi, lama sabachtani.” “My
God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?” Those words give it away. Jesus was
experiencing not just the physical pain, but He was experiencing what Hell
really is—the absence of God’s merciful and loving presence. In other
words, God the Father turned His back against Jesus and Jesus felt the full
misery of the Heavenly Father’s absence. This is what Hell is.
The Bible uses fire and pain to describe hell. We get an even more stunning
picture here. In Hell, God is not there at all. No mercy, no love, no
divine presence. God has not even turned His presence from this earth in
this way. If He did, this earth would crumble and we with it. Instead,
Jesus felt the full brunt of the Father’s wrath on sin. Jesus did this for
you. Flesh had to experience this Divine withdrawal of the Father’s
presence and God’s Son felt it and experienced it for you. This is the
“why.”
Jesus took on flesh for the life of the world. He took on
flesh for you. Christianity, then, is the redemption of mankind. Christianity
is defined by this event in the life of Jesus. The heavenly Father’s
creation has been restored to Him by Jesus. This brings, then, the blessed
circumstance of God coming to His church and having fellowship with her. This
is Christianity. Jesus redeems mankind and restores fellowship. God, then,
comes down from heaven in order to feed us on the journey as His children. You
are His. The crucifixion has done it.
Your sins have been paid for. You now get to experience the interaction of
God in your life through the holy word and the precious sacraments. You are
set apart. You have an inheritance. Jesus has purified you through His own
blood. While all the world and Satan gnashed their teeth at Jesus, He
peacefully gave up His life for you. So on this dark and woeful day when we
ponder our Lord’s death, we also know to call this Friday “Good” because we
are holy and set apart as God’s beloved people. Amen.
--
Rev. Chad Kendall
Trinity Lutheran Church
Lowell, Indiana
www.trinitylowell.org
