Good Friday 2014

+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti Amen +

Text: Isaiah 53:2
Theme: No Beauty or Majesty

Dear friends in Christ Jesus,

The persona of Jesus was not, in and of itself, alluring. Depictions of His physical detail are lacking. The prophet says, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him.”1 His words are emphatically verified by the crucifixion. There is nothing appealing, nothing that would incite even a spark of curiosity about the crucifixion. It is in all aspects gruesome and stomach-turning, revolting! In His flayed body is concentrated all the darkest evil and the most heinous transgression. The cross is omega point2 of the fallen creation, the cesspool into which run all the sewers of sin.

It is also the instrument of salvation. The cross is the lightning rod, the flashpoint where holiness clashes with evil, truth contests with falsehood, and the will of Satan confronts the purposes of the Son of God. The spectacle of the cross is the most utterly incomprehensible event of all history. There God Himself is slain, not reluctantly after severe resistance but with wilful determination. He gives His life. And the Father in heaven receives His own Son’s sacrifice as the sufficient payment for the sins of the world.

On Good Friday we recognize the paradoxical pinnacle of all history. All things are subject to Christ. But to behold the crucifixion and make that claim appears to be utter nonsense. Only faith would venture such a claim. Only faith can. No place is left for human reason, for logic, or for a synthesis of rationale to make it all acceptable. The Spirit must transcend all such attempts even as the wisdom of God transcends all human initiative and intellect.

It was all necessary to address the very real crisis of sin. As incurable sinners we require an immeasurable Saviour. The guilt of sin is not fictitious. We often exert great effort in making excuses when we are better served to repent. Caught in some lie, some exaggeration, or some indiscretion, often our first reaction is to rationalize the motive. At least we hope to diminish the shock or severity in other peoples’ eyes. We sinners can’t seem to help ourselves. Worse yet we even boldly defend what we know to be unrighteous in God’s sight. In short, we usurp God’s authority in hopes of being spared by our initiative while we risk being summarily chastised. We do all these things because we believe we have a better grasp on what’s best for our well-being than God does. Sin is always defiance of God’s better judgment. It’s what sent Christ to the cross.

The Holy Scripture says that Jesus was “crowned with glory and honour because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.”3 Now the point is not only that Christ experienced death for the whole of humanity, as in some sweeping generic way. But He tasted death for every sinner, for you and for me. He was your substitute and mine, in person. He endured the pangs of hell that we were condemned to suffer. Christ’s atoning work becomes fully relevant precisely in this way. His empathy and compassion are peculiar, intimate, and personal. He embraces us as if we were the only child of the only Son. He is not a generic, anonymous Redeemer.

A great Lutheran theologian of the past describes the grace of Christ in this way, “This is the love of God: rather than banish men eternally from heaven, He removed Himself from heaven, clothed Himself with flesh, became a Creature of a creature, enclosed Himself in the womb of the virgin, was wrapped in rags, laid in hay, and housed in a barn. Nor does His love stop at this point…fastened [Him] with nails to the cross…this love compelled Him to die, to die for adversaries and enemies.”4 Venerated at birth, His death was infamous. Yet none of it was for His glory. “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”5

From the cross His blessings are outpoured. Freedom, healing, enlightenment, and sustenance, all are blessings accomplished by the cross. We are freed from enslavement to our self-serving agendas. We are healed from the pathological sickness of sin. We are illumined with the knowledge of all of God’s works and His ways. Our hunger for food that does not leave us feeling hollow is satisfied with the true manna from heaven. It is the manna of immortality-His own body and blood.

The plan of God could not be thwarted. Satan stood at the foot of the cross and He shouted, “Come down!”6 Having already deceived Judas and tempted Peter it was nothing for him to facilitate mockery among the bystanders at Golgotha. One last furious effort had to be made. But it was all in vain. The moment could not be reversed. Jesus breathed His last. The creation itself rendered appropriate acknowledgment. The sun was blackened. “The earth shook and the rocks split.”7 And the devil’s hopes were shattered. A slain Lamb would make for a disempowered Satan. An empty tomb would soon confirm it. On that third day profound ugliness would be turned to serene beauty.

Dear friends, you may not feel your life is characterized by beauty. Perhaps it bears the ugly marks of foolishness, frailty, and failure. Perhaps you still hunger, walk about in darkness, and battle with illnesses of body and soul. You are not alone. Christ died for lives under such duress. Yet in the shadow of the cross; in the silhouette of the Saviour, you are beautiful. Baptized, freed, and forgiven, you are illuminated by His glory. Sin and death were attracted to Him. Holiness and life now cover you. Whether you have ever considered it or not, you are beautiful in His sight because beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Amen.

+ In nomine Jesu +




1 Isaiah 53:2
2 Note: The omega point is a term coined to describe the belief by some that the universe is progressing to a maximum level of complexity and consciousness. I use it here simply to express the idea that the maximum concentration of sins, accumulated from the whole human race, centres on Christ on the cross
3 Hebrews 2:9
4 Quenstendt
5 Romans 5:8
6 See Matthew 27:40
7 Matthew 27:51

Good Friday
18 April 2014
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt