Good Friday 2015

+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti Amen +

Text: John 19:19
Theme: Glory of the Nazarene

Dear friends in Christ Jesus,

The glory of God is revealed on a cruel instrument of death. The depth of the Father’s mercy is exposed in the agony of the Son. “Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.”1 The glory of the Nazarene was His willing sacrifice for sinners. His crown of thorns makes possible your crown of life. The impenetrable mysteries of Good Friday will always be beyond our comprehension but the central truth is inescapable: His death secures our salvation.

Here are the facts: Christ was betrayed by Judas. He was arrested in the Garden called Gethsemane. He was questioned by the high priest. He was denied by Peter. He was sent to Herod. He was tried, condemned, and sentenced to death by Pontius Pilate. He was led to a rubbish heap outside Jerusalem named Golgotha. He was nailed to a cross. Roman soldiers kept watch under the authority of a centurion. He cried out in angst from the cross. He died and His death was verified by one of the soldiers. With Pilate’s permission His body was taken down and placed in the grave of Joseph of Arimathea. Soldiers guarded His tomb. There are many others details which are not unimportant. Those are the historical facts.

Here is the meaning: “God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him [Christ], and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross.”2 “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”3Your sentence of condemnation has been suspended. Your liability has been exempted. Your debt has been paid. Your guilt has been removed. Satan cannot convict you. Sin cannot shackle you. Death itself cannot be victorious over you. You are reconciled to the heavenly Father. Your baptismal inheritance has been secured. The gate to heaven is open. Christ’s life was forfeit. Your life is freed. You are liberated.

And what is it you are freed from? What are you freed for? Firstly, you are free from the curse of mortality. The fear of death is Satan’s tool. The fear of facing mortality is indelibly ingrained on the heart and mind of every member of the human race. It can be held at arms-length during the vibrant times of life, it can be numbed by unforeseen traumas or deliberate abuses, it can be denied through avid pursuit of philosophical propositions, but the fear of death will always surface at some point in some way. It is part of the curse of the Fall. “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”4 We all participate in that legacy of Adam. Just as Eve was bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh5 so we are bone of Adam’s bone and the flesh of Eve’s womb.

Christ, too, participates in this reality. But He recovers what was lost and re-establishes what was destroyed. The Scripture says, “Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death- that is, the devil- and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”6 Christ has re-opened the way to Paradise. We are on pilgrimage to take up residence there.

The Tree of Life has been transplanted from the Garden of Eden to the hill of Calvary. The fruit of that tree gives forgiveness, life, and salvation. These are not distant or disconnected truths. The Spirit speaks life to you. The Holy Spirit conceives believers in the womb of the church. His promises are as unalterable as they are powerful. Here, where Christ serves you through His undershepherd and apostolic word, you are offered perfect peace, sacred food, and Sabbath rest. You will find these gifts nowhere else. He embraces you when you feel deserted. He cheers you when your heart is weighted with sorrow. He carries you when you cannot stand.

Dear friends, all the evidence of how God deals with people is amassed at the cross. If you are looking for evidence that sin- disobedience to God’s will- is punishable by a fate worse than death, you have found it on the cross. Eternal separation from God is the definitive measure of His justice. And if you are looking for good news that defies all human achievement and imagination you have also found it on the cross. God designated the formation of Adam and Eve as very good at the end of creation. Imagine with what superlatives He designates the sacrifice of the Son of God and Son of Man in which he inaugurates the new creation! In view of the intent perhaps Good Friday should be called “Great” Friday, “Stupendous” Friday or even “Unprecedented, Unrepeatable, and Incomparable.” Friday?

The early church designated that first Sunday after Good Friday the 8th day, the eternal day. They understood that the resurrection of Jesus Christ was the beginning of the final era. God’s original intention for humanity finally comes to fruition in Jesus. The glory of the Nazarene is a glory that never fades. St. John saw, in the timelessness of heaven, “A Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne.”7 Yes, the very same Saviour who stands among His people now and forevermore. Amen.

+ In nomine Jesu +








1 John 19:19
2 Colossians 1:19-20
3 Mark 10:45
4 Genesis 2:17
5 See Genesis 2:23
6 Hebrews 2:14-15
7 Revelation 5:6

Good Friday
3 April 2015
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt