John 18:2-9

WERE YOU THERE?

Today is Good Friday in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church–a day set aside to celebrate? No, to contemplate on, to meditate upon the last hours of Jesus before his death, and then a note also of how this dead body was buried.

Some of you have seen the movie, The Passion of the Christ. That portrays the last 12 hours of our Savior’s life. Those of you who have seen it (I have not) get to see cruelty in its worst form, humiliation at its worst, madness of people, indifference to human life, and much worse. Too much blood, too much cruelty, too much suffering, too much, too much.

It would be hard to see anything good in the events of that Friday afternoon, unless we knew the outcome of all of it. It is just a touch more shocking to realize that this monstrous act of cruel killing was for each of us here today, and for people of all time and place. It is even more hideous for us to realize that the cruel ending of the life of Jesus was caused, not by us, but necessary because of what we did. It is even more gut wrenching to believe we are like the people of the narrative of the last 12 hours of the life of the Christ, the Anointed One from God, the One who rules, the One whose name now is above every other name.

Were you there? Were you there in the story of the last hours of the life of Jesus? Could you who are so nice, so law abiding, so peaceful, so horrified by the meanness and the cruelty of one human to another–could you be found in the last 12 hours of the Christ?

Let’s look and see if you were there!

„And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.“

Betrayal. Have we ever told secrets we had promised not to tell? Have we ever hurt a friend by revealing, if not a confidence, then some failing which that person revealed to us?

If only we could gain some kind of advantage (and it doesn’t really make any difference what kind of advantage we thought we would get), we would show another to be less than they should be. Maybe you wanted to gain a friend and betrayed another to get that friend, gave away a secret to gain money, felt anything was OK if you got the advantage or increased the bank account, even if only a little.

Were you there?

„Then Simon Peter…drew a sword and struck the high priest servant, cutting off his ear.“

Violence! Violence among the saints? Domestic violence among the people here today? Well…. You know the answer to that one.

But our indignation, our fury, our anger, our fiery wrath that wells up in our chest when we see indignation–justifiable, right? Hurting others, because we could. Hitting others, physical fights, verbal put downs and psychological abuse–so much violence. „Out of the heart, comes forth“–all of that and so much more.

If you have never been violent, if you have never wished to get even but were too „nice“ or too weak, or too cowardly to do it, then perhaps you not have to ask…

Were you there?

„You are not one of his disciples, are you?“ „I am not.“

Poor, ole Peter, in the middle of the mess again. Yeh, yeh, sure, you can criticize Peter, but then he felt his life was at stake. This wasn’t anything that any of us have had to do. We know we have been warned about this, but confrontations about our Christian faith always seem to come at the most inappropriate times, don ‚t they?

Someone makes fun of other Christians–Roman Catholic priests caught molesting children. Wrong? Sure, but do we put that whole denomination down for the failings of a few, and thus deny our own sinfulness?

People believe that what you believe doesn’t make any difference as long s you believe. We remain silent or agree. People state that people who are intolerant of the beliefs of others are bigots. We say nothing even though we believe there is only one way to heaven. The boss and his cronies think we are missing some of the best times to play golf–Sunday mornings. We say, what? Or join them?

Were you there?

„Everyone on the side of truth, listens to me.“ „What is truth?“

What is truth, for us? Most of the time, truth is what works. If it gets us through the day, it is truth. If it adds to our wealth or happiness, it is the truth.

We have to examine our ideas of truth. Are we listening constantly to the only one who is the „Way, the Truth, and the Life“ (a forceful threesome)? Where is the truth, for us? What gives us real living? What principles are you following in your life?

We change the truth so often, we make chameleons look like pikers. Like Pilate, what works is the truth. There is nothing absolute but death and taxes, right?

Were you there?

„When Pilate heard this [Jesus claimed to be the Son of God], he was even more afraid.“

Fear that Jesus might be God? It terrified this man Pilate, who had the authority to put to death anyone he wanted, but…. He appeared to be somewhat of a superstitious person. He might be executing a person who was really a god? What consequences might result?

What consequences do we fear, because we have forgotten about God, put him on the back burner for a long time, because we have engaged in behavior, secret or openly that denies we are servants of the One Lord of the universe?

Fear of God, fear of what God might do because of our pride, our poor spiritual life, our blatant self-indulgences. Fear that God won’t take care of us or our family, fear the money will not last, fear of terrorism–all fears that deny God is really what he says he is. Worse, then going and doing all that worry and fear anyway!

Were you there?

„When he had received the drink, Jesus said, ‚It is finished.'“

With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.“ What’s finished? His life? Sure, but remember why he came? The angel wanted Father Joseph to call his name Jesus, „for he will save his people from their sins.“

The bill is paid. Paid by the suffering of Jesus, the dying of Jesus, the death of Jesus. All the betrayals, denials, waffling inconsistences in our faith, our half hearted service of love to Him by not loving each other, our cruelties, self indulgent life style, our fears of God that leads to believing we can control God’s thoughts about us by our puny spirituality–all paid for.

„He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon hi, 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. . . He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. . . It was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days.“

Nothing, nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to thy cross I cling.
Naked, naked come to this for dress,
Helpless, helpless, look to thee for grace.
Foul, foul, I to the fountain fly,
Wash me, wash me, Savior, or I will die.

Will you believe he gave up his spirit when he had paid all you were to have received because of your sin, so that you will never have any debt with God, but the debt of love? Do you hear him say to you: „It is finished“?

Were you there?

Walter W. Harms, retired pastor
Austin, Texas
Comments? waltpast@AOL.com