Here we see where last week’s procession led. The way of triumphal entry led to the cross. Via the last supper when Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples. Where he made the commonplace memorable for ever.
Song: There is a green hill, far away
There is a Green Hill Far Away - St. Martin's Voices, Worship video with lyrics - YouTube
Prayer:
Lord God, we thank you that we can come to you in our poverty, and yet you accept us. You do not wait to see the size of our gift, nor does your welcome depend on our merits. You treat us. Not as petitioners who must out up a good case, but as children with a secure place in your heart.
It is all too easy for us to take this for granted and presume on it. Help us to remember what it cost you to treat us in this way. We can only guess at the pain and grief we cause you by the way we repudiate your ideals for us, or give them only lip-service, and by the way we treat one another. We believe the cross of Jesus is the measure both of our shame and of your love. Help us to keep the price of our redemption before us, and make us more ready to serve you, whatever the risk and whatever the cost.
Amen
Song: Beneath the cross of Jesus,
Beneath the cross of Jesus (Sankey) - YouTube
Reading: Psalm 22
Song: Broken for me
Reading: John’s gospel, chapter 19: verses 17 to 37
Song: In the cross of Christ I glory
In The Cross of Christ I Glory - YouTube
Over the years I have been to some dreadfully gloomy Good Friday services. Occasions when the pain and suffering have been described in gory detail. The stress has been on the darkness in the afternoon, and the eventual death of Jesus.
None of this can be denied. It was a dreadful day, especially for Jesus and his family and disciples. The pain and suffering, along with the grief were undeniable. But there was much more to it that this. This was the first act in a two act event which changed history. This is why we are still talking about it nearly 2000 years later, and there aren’t many things that we can say that about!
The story is so familiar to us. We have probably heard the story of Good Friday, or at least parts of it, many times. Much of what is familiar is often used to display the pain, suffering and despair of the day.
A crown of thorns is placed on Jesus’ head.
Jesus cries out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me”
His clothes are taken and lots are drawn by the soldiers to share them out.
Jesus forgives his oppressors.
Jesus tells one of the criminals with him that he will be in paradise with him.
He cries out “It is finished.” as he dies.
The land went dark in the afternoon at 3-00p.m.
Of course, to get all these details, it is necessary to read all four of the gospel accounts of the event. None of them include all the details. But, the details are what is important.
Much of what happens, is prophesied. Psalm 22, written several hundred years before, contains explicit references to what is recorded as happening. The mocking, the dried up mouth, the piercing of the hands and feet, the dividing up of the clothes; all are there. Whilst the start of the psalm is clearly a lament of despair, the body of the psalm, and its conclusion if a prophecy of glory; a prediction of good times to come, of a time when all will worship the Lord; when people will serve the Lord, and he will be praised by people as yet unborn that “He has done it!”
Jesus would have known the psalms well, and was apparently reciting this one at the time. The Jews in the crowd would also have known the psalm, and would have understood how it ended. The Romans would probably not.
Then we can move to other parts of the story.
The curtain in the temple is torn in two from top to bottom, not in John’s account.
The death of a man who had not done anything wrong.
The centurion says “Surely this was a righteous man.” (Luke) / “Surely this man was the son of God.” (Mark, Matthew)
The curtain in the temple was what separated the people from the most holy place. Even the priests did not regularly pass it. The tearing of the temple curtain was a symbol that the barrier between God and humanity was removed. People can now approach God directly.
The death of a man who had done no wrong has a deep significance. The Jewish religion at that time, put a great deal of emphasis on the idea of sacrifice. The offering of an animal to God. Usually a goat or a lamb, (although there was provision for doves for the poor) the animal had to be the best example from the flock, perfect and without blemish. You could not offer the runt of the litter. This animal was then killed before God and would provide a way of being forgiven.
Here, we have the sacrifice of a perfect man. The man who had done nothing wrong laying down his life, and the outcome of that was that the rest of humanity could be reconciled to God. That the way to God was opened by this act.
When Jesus said “It is finished.” to me the obvious question is “What is finished?” Traditionally, it was taken to refer to his life, as he died shortly after. I am not sure about this. We know that he had the 22nd psalm on his mind. Psalm 22 ends with a vision of the people from the ends of the earth returning to the Lord.
I’m told that the word translated “It is finished” , tetelestai, is an accounting term, which means “paid in full”, or can be rendered “It is accomplished”. This is what is finished, the way to the kingdom, as envisioned by the psalmist, is now available. That any debt of people towards God has been paid in full by Jesus’ sacrifice. Of a great feast and act of worship. Of people serving him, and telling future generations about him. Declaring that The Lord has achieved all these things.
Some years ago, I was preaching, and mentioned that when I was a naive new student I was asked at a Christian Union meeting “Are you saved?” I replied that I was. Then I was asked “When were you saved?” When I could not give a precise date and time, I was left with the impression that the questioner did not really believe me.
After the service, a member of the congregation came up to me and said “You should have told him that you were saved at the same time as he was. About three o’clock in the afternoon on the first Good Friday.!”
As a direct result of Jesus’ sacrifice, we are free to approach God directly. Our wrongdoings are forgiven, if we repent. This is why Good Friday is not just a time of mourning, it is a time of triumph and celebration as well.
Song: Man of sorrows, what a name
Hallelujah! What A Saviour! (Man of Sorrows, What A Name) - YouTube
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