2 04 21 Good Friday

EASTER

GOOD FRIDAY 2nd April 2021

‘You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrated his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’ (Romans 5: 6-8).

Approach and Adoration

‘God our Father, today in remembrance and awe we tread the holy ground of Calvary: this place of abandonment that has become the scene of our adoration, this place of suffering that has become the source of our peace, this place of violence that has become the battlefield in which love is victorious.

Father it is with awe that we count again the cost of our salvation. Words cannot be found to utter our thanksgiving. Accept our silent adoration; in Jesus’ name.’

Hymn

We worship at your feet
Where wrath and mercy meet
And a guilty world is washed
By love's pure stream
For us he was made sin
Oh, help me take it in
Deep wounds of love cry out 'Father, forgive'
I worship, I worship
The Lamb who was slain.

Come and weep, come and mourn
For your sin that pierced him there
So much deeper than the wounds of thorn and nail
All our pride, all our greed
All our fallenness and shame
And the Lord has laid the punishment on him

Man of heaven, born to earth
To restore us to your heaven
Here we bow in awe beneath
Your searching eyes
From your tears comes our joy
From your death our life shall spring
By your resurrection power we shall rise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gizXMaQ7Y5o

Reading. Mark 15: 33-41

15 ³³At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. ³⁴ And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).^[a]

³⁵ When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”

³⁶ Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.

³⁷ With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.

³⁸ The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. ³⁹ And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died,^[b] he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”

⁴⁰ Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph,^[c] and Salome. ⁴¹ In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.

Sermon. The Centurion. “Surely this man was the Son of God”

There were a number of reasons why Jewish monotheists came to the seemingly incredible conclusion that Jesus was divine. It was the last thing they wanted to believe. It went against their upbringing, their religion, their reason. But they were convinced by the sheer weight of the evidence.

There was his teaching. There is no parallel in the history of the world to the quality, the content and the power of the teaching of Jesus. People were amazed. But Jesus explained “My teaching is not mine but his that sent me”

Jesus teaching was backed up by his flawless character. So flawless that his friends- and they know us best- his friends maintained he was completely sinless. And Jesus himself could say in all honesty “I do always those things that please the Father”.

Then there are the miracles. These were an integral part of his message and revealed who he was. He taught he was the resurrection and the life and then proceeded to raise people like Lazarus from the dead. Something only God could do.

Jesus fulfilled Scripture. The Old Testament looked for a coming deliverer of God’s people. The person was described as the Son of God, the Son of Man, the suffering servant and so on. No one fitted the prophesies until Jesus came. Micah had prophesied “But you Bethlehem…out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel…. whose origins are from of old, from Ancient times” (Micah 5:2).

There is the resurrection. Thomas did not believe until he placed his hand in Jesus side and put his finger into the nail scarred hands. Then he bowed down and said “My Lord and my God” And Jesus received his worship.

And there is Pentecost. Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit on the early Church. From early on even from Creation, it is God who directs His Spirit.

But one aspect we do not much think of when it comes to evidence for the divinity of Christ is…

The Cross.

Look at what this centurion we read about earlier said of Jesus: “Surely this man was the Son of God.” Here we are back to Jesus’ character. If anyone can make a judgment about the character of Jesus, the Roman centurion can. Most likely he had been in charge of the prisoner since the chief priests turned him over to roman authorities. He has seen Jesus falsely accuse by the chief priests, unfairly condemned by the mob, brutally scourged just short of death, mocked by his own soldiers, utterly humiliated on the forced march along the Via Dolorosa, nailed to the cross, mocked by passers-by and crucified as a common criminal. The Centurion saw Jesus purity, his righteous life and marvelled. Jesus righteousness shone through, even to a case hardened officer of the roman guard who confessed that his victim is the Son of God.

Not just the centurion. Others were drawn to the manner of Jesus’ death. Peter was there. He wrote years later about Christian submissiveness in the face of provocation. “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2: 21-23). This is how Jesus behaved at the supreme crisis of his life; though apparently defeated, he was conqueror in that situation by the way he handled it. Peter would also have seen his staggering love for others- not only refraining from retaliation, but positively forgiving his executioners- he prayed for them while he himself was suffering excruciating pain on the cross. He even thought about his mother’s welfare while he was there. And he had time for a dying thief executed next to him.

But Peter cannot stop there. He quickly moves on to the reason why Jesus died on the cross. He continues, 1 Peter 2: 24,25 “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls”

“Tree” is the name the Old Testament gives for the place on which a man is cursed if he hangs there. It is plain that Peter had begun to see that although Jesus died in on the “cursed” cross- the place of cursing- the curse was not his but ours. Jesus did indeed bear sins, but they were ours, not his own. He had no sin of his own.

It was becoming clear that Jesus was fulfilling the role of the suffering servant of the Lord prophesied in the Old Testament. The one who would sacrificially bear our sins upon himself. We have just seen Peter allude to it when he says “by his wounds you have been healed”. But let’s hear more of those famous words from Isaiah. “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by Him and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:4, 5).

When we return to our passage from Mark’s Gospel. We see that after Mark describes Jesus’ death, he immediately goes on “The curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom” (38). That curtain hung there to remind everybody to keep out of the inner sanctuary; the place where God’s presence was manifested. But when the curtain was torn in two, it was the indication that the way into God’s presence was now opened up for anyone to go in. It’s quite interesting that it’s then Mark goes on to describe how the centurion says “Surely this man was the Son of God” Even here it’s as though Mark is hinting that the gentiles can now enter in through the curtain. By the time Mark came to write his Gospel he would have seen many gentiles enter into the presence of God through their coming to faith in Christ.

It was clear to all who looked on that Jesus went freely to his death. He wasn’t the victim inevitably crucified. Rather, he was utterly in control of the situation. This was no defeat. It was a Victory over all the powers of evil brought against him. Jesus was fulfilling his mission. The mission that the Godhead had been in agreement with from the beginning. When they saw Jesus cry out “It is finished”, the Gospel writers had come to realise this was God’s mission that Jesus had undertaken. God’s way of Salvation. The only way to deal with our sin; to rescue us from a just punishment for sin and instead bring us salvation- forgiveness and eternal life in him. Paul too came to see in the cross the very heart of what Jesus was and what he had done for us all “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them”.

The Gospel writers didn’t comprehend all this when they witnessed the crucifixion- at the time they were fearful and could only see it in human terms- something to grieve about; a great and tragic disappointment. But later, after the resurrection, and after Jesus had taught them from the Scriptures that this had to happen during his post resurrection appearances, and after the Spirit had been given- then they could reflect back on the cross and see Jesus’ Divinity clearly there. Clearly displayed through his sinless character and through the salvation he purchased for us there.

And as people ever since have heard the Gospel, even today, they too have come to realise Jesus is the sinless Son of God who has died in our place and so have come to know his salvation for themselves. Jesus had said that when he would be lifted up from the earth, he would draw all types of people to himself, and this has proved abundantly true. (John 12:32)

Today, Good Friday, we gather with Christians across the World drawn to the Lord Jesus Christ. Together we see him lifted up and together we worship Him as the Son of God.

Prayers

Jesus, though crucified, is raised from the dead and now draws alongside us as we offer prayers to God for the world, the church and all for whom Jesus died on the cross.

We pray for the church of God on this Good Friday that all who are disciples of Jesus will be given the grace and strength they need to walk in the way of the cross speaking words of love and truth in places of hatred and lies.

We pray for God’s world on this Good Friday that the dying Jesus on the cross and the living Jesus of resurrection will draw all people to himself, the source of eternal reconciliation and salvation.

We pray for the communities in which we live, work and worship that bonds of love within families and between friends will be healed where they are broken and strengthened where they are weak.

We pray for all those who are experiencing their own Good Friday darkness that all who suffer pain of body or mind will be held by the hands of Jesus which bear the marks of his pain and the promise of restoration and resurrection.

Heavenly Father, at the foot of the cross on which Jesus died we offer you these prayers in hope, trusting in your promise to hear us and in your power which raised Jesus from the dead. Let your grace, mercy, love and peace surround us and all those for whom we have prayed in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. (Redemptorist Publications)

Communion

Hymn

2 On the mount of crucifixion
fountains opened deep and wide;
through the floodgates of God's mercy
flowed a vast and gracious tide.
Grace and love, like mighty rivers,
poured incessant from above,
and heaven's peace and perfect justice
kissed a guilty world in love.

3 In Thy truth Thou dost direct me
by Thy Spirit through Thy Word;
and Thy grace my need is meeting
as I trust in Thee, my Lord.
Of Thy fullness Thou art pouring
Thy great love and power on me
without measure, full and boundless,
drawing out my heart to Thee.