Good Friday

+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti Amen. +

Text: John 19:10-11
Theme: The Greater Power

Dear baptized in the Lord Jesus,

Something unrepeatable happens on Calvary. It is a singular even of unparalleled consequence. Humanly it is inconceivable and immeasurable. It is inconceivable not in the sense that we would be appalled that this righteous man would be sentenced to die, but in the sense that God would undertake to redeem the world in this way. Human beings do not- they cannot- naturally think in this way. According to human wisdom the cross is the pinnacle of irony, tragedy, and failure. It is pure nonsense.

All others miracles aside, at His death Jesus appears to succumb to weakness. How could His passivity accomplish redemption! History records the role of human powers. Pilate was accustomed to an unchallenged use of his authority. “Don’t you realize I have the power either to free you or crucify you?”1 He could not fully understand what Jesus meant when He responded, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.”2 Yet he sensed that it was something to be reckoned with and it caused him fear. “From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free.”3

Many deaths have happened and will happen, but only this death, His death, is the sacrifice for sins. The countless sacrifices carefully numbered by the priests generation after generation now reach their obsolescence. It was the goal for which they were destined. The significance does not escape the writer to the Hebrews. “Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sin. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God.”4

But old habits die hard. We always prefer to do things our way- in all things- spiritual pursuits included. People sometimes try to seek comfort in the death of Christ while still rejecting its full implications. They doubt it is at the centre of existence to the extent that it gives meaning to absolutely everything. This doubt can be dressed up in all kinds of sophistication. The universe seems much too large and complex to be finally explained and governed by the crucifixion of a First Century Jewish man. In harboring this doubt modern people share the proclivities of the ancient Greeks who believed matter was eternal and the soul was trapped in the body waiting for release. Contemporary thinking resonates with such skepticism: Time passes, old events become obsolete, new ideas are embraced, things change, meaning is elusive. But original false teachings are only re-introduced with new images and there is nothing new under the sun. Human wisdom always doubts God would limit Himself to such historical circumstances.

But God did chose to define reality and meaning within such parameters. These events are historical. Their meaning is not the putty for religious theory. Christ died because you are a sinner. No other reason is finally relevant to you. Christ bore your punishment on the cross. Everything else you know is secondary to that. The law leaves you no escape. But the gospel offers you full pardon. You partake of His body and blood as a concrete expression of these truths. To trust that Christ did this out of unconditional love for you is to see God- and approach life- in a different light.

There was a sculptor who invested painstaking time and effort crafting a life-sized statue of Christ. It was considered by even the strongest critics to be a masterpiece. When it was unveiled people came and admired it from every angle and perspective. They praised the detail and skill that it displayed. But they approached it only as a work of art. The artist, however, had a different intention. He said, “If you want to see it rightly, it’s best to kneel.” This is the spiritual posture of the baptismal life.

God sees us through the challenges we encounter. Pain, doubt, fear, sickness, disappointment, confusion, apathy, and the list is endless. But on this Good Friday what takes centre stage is the resolution of our mortality. Only Christ has this power. The questions faced at the threshold of death are quickly sifted. Trivial matters immediately become irrelevant. Weightier matters come to the fore: relationships yet unreconciled, dreams still unfulfilled, hopes never realized- these things occupy the heart and mind when death draws near. But one concern dominates them all: On what basis will God be faced? What confidence do I have in His acceptance? When your own conscience threatens to desert you where will you turn?

When you are dying you want the assurance of someone who’s been there. Finally no half-way measures will do; no equivocation. There are no negotiations, no other options; the believer will pass this way. There is no other gateway, no other portal, no other entrance. When the believer reclines in death the soul completes its journey in the footsteps of Christ and there reposes until the glorification of the body. The approximations, and the guesswork, and the naïve speculations about what it really means to die can only be resolved in Him who has the power over death. For those without faith consideration of death may quickly become not only a time of intense doubt, but of frantic disillusionment and despair.

For the believer too it comes with its challenges and temptations. The Old Adam fights within us to the end. Yet we face the throne as saints declared righteous by grace. We can stand before Him illuminated in Easter glow. We need not fear what He has conquered. Christ teaches us how to die. We cannot by-pass death, but Jesus has the greater power. Equal to the Father; one with the Spirit; superior to angels; a Redeemer of mortals, Jesus the Christ died once for all. In that one death He died as if suffering innumerable deaths and immeasurable pain. Sin cannot rule Him. Satan cannot judge Him. Hell cannot contain Him. Death cannot hold Him.

Dear friends, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was unpreventable and is unrepeatable. It makes possible for us an unchanging eternity. This one event of death effects the resurrection of the many. Our participation in the death of Christ is not the same as our participation in His resurrection. When our sins are put to death in His body we are spared the pain, torment, and condemnation which He endured. But in the resurrection we will fully experience in our glorified bodies the vibrancy of His life. In death He bears the sentence. In life we enjoy the victory. His sacrifice is the commentary on all existence- for from it all who are consecrated by Him and for Him receive immortal life. Amen.

+ in nomine Jesu +
April 2 2010
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 John 19:10
2 John 19:11
3 John 19:12
4 Hebrews 10:11-12