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Good Friday, 03/25/2016
Sermon on John 19:17-30, by Walter W. Harms
Why “Good” Friday?
This day in the liturgical Christian churches, that is churches that follow a church year, is called: Good Friday. GOOD Friday! Why is this Friday celebrated as “good” or is it “better” than other Fridays? We have heard the events of this day as recorded by the Apostle John in his narrative of the life of Jesus. It certainly didn’t sound like a “good” day for Jesus. But it was! That shall have to be talked about.
When I hear the word, good in Good Friday, I am reminded of the rich young ruler (Mark 10:17) who came to Jesus and said: “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him: “Why do you call me good? There is not one good but God!”
So in Biblical terms, this day, this Good Friday of all Fridays must be about God. And it surely is!
God, the Almighty and Merciful Lord of all is accomplishing his plan of mercy and unbelievable loving kindness on that Friday. With a vision and perspective of people far beyond the scope of any of us, He saw us for what we were, are and probably will be until our “Friday” comes along.
Each of us here today is as Holy Writ describes us: born in iniquity and sinfully conceived. That is an appalling indictment of each of you and of me. The truth about each of us is something we like to cover up with the supposedly cosmetics of being nice, doing good things (well, at least once in a while), and doing the “church” thing—you know attending church once in a while or even regularly, giving part of our income to church and charity, and not getting into trouble with the law. We have that demonic notion, as least sometimes. When we are aware of our iniquity and acts of downright rebellion against God and his commandments that were given for us to lead the life he wanted us to have, believe our acts of “kindness” will be enough to make amends with God.
If God has a sardonic laugh, it might be about that thought of ours. The hideousness of evil that is ours, yes, evil, is seen in the behavior of people that surrounding Jesus on that day that led to a stark, dark, bleak hole carved in the rock. False accusations (ever judge anyone falsely?), denials (ever hide your “Christian” faith from others?), beatings (if not physical then mental?), torture (how often haven’t we wished torture on others?), finally killing (hatred, this Jesus said is the same as murder) are also part of each of us.
The worst is that each of us has the sentence pronounced over our evil: “The person that sins shall die!” Who of you is able with good meds, good doctors, “clean” living, or even belonging to church can escape that sentence? God says: “Die!” And so we shall!
There is no way to escape it on our own.
We don’t like to think someone, anyone should pity us, pity me. From almost the get-go of our existence, we want to do it “my way.” A very young child says: “Let me do it all by myself.” The result is the plethora of lands demoted to the “my way” of living. We call them by pleasant names as “memory gardens,” but they are no places to get rid of decaying bodies. You have all been there, perhaps with tears flowing as you laid your loved us into the ground. Is there no escape?
So we come to the Good who is God. His plan was to send his one and only Son, whom we call Jesus into this world. He lived the life as we can never live, he loved the way we can never love, he faced evil and hypocrisy as we never do, he did what we cannot do—raised the dead to life, and, then, then he died as we will die.
What’s in this for God in all of this? For us? You all know it, it is hope, for “God so loved the world (that’s you, that’s me, that everyone and I mean everyone) that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever (“whoever” is anyone, the worst and the best) believe in his will have eternal life.” Jesus is the love of God for you. His death is God’s love for you. God makes this day “good” because He is the One who can make death good.
What’s in it for God? You, me, all people whom he wants to be with him forever. If you ever devalue yourself, think again of Good Friday. If you ever think God doesn’t care bout you, think again of Good Friday. If you ever have the notion that God’s hates some and loves others, remember Good Friday.
And what’s in it for us? Forgiveness, reconciliation with God, the joy of knowing he cares for us even when we don’t “care” for him, hope for ourselves and loved ones who die because He sent his Son to die in our place. And we can then have peace when all is going to hell in a hand basket for us, our society, and this world.
And what was in that first Good Friday for Jesus? Even as his God forsakes him, he is doing the will of his Father. It is hard to see that I know. We may question why God would want his one, his only Son begotten before all worlds to do that. We will never be able to understand God and his compassion for us. But we see it again on this Good Friday.