Harriette Simmons
Sermon
Good Friday
John 18:1-40, 19: 1-37

As we experience the events of Holy Week through the eyes and ears of John, the Gospeler, we absorb mixed messages.

We see a triumphant Jesus moving forward without hesitation to meet his tormenters in the Garden of Gethsemane. When the accusers ask for Jesus of Nazareth, our Lord answers with a resounding, “I am He.” His power is so palpable that those who have come out to arrest him fall to the ground in fright. Power emanates from him.

Again, when Peter, in boldness and impetuosity, cuts off the ear of the High Priest’s servant, Jesus proclaims, “Put away your sword. This is the cup the Father has given me; shall I not drink it?” Here is a man who is moving forward in triumph, even toward death. The conflict in his soul over his impending torture and death has now been resolved, and he readily accepts the role of “suffering servant,” prophesied in the Book of Isaiah.

Even as he stands before Pilate, it is obvious that Pilate is the one who is on trial, not Jesus. Jesus stands bound, but he radiates calm. Pilate is the very figure of anger and confusion. He knows that this man is innocent yet he cannot get him to plead his case, to beg for his life, to stand up for himself. Finally, in fear and disgust, Pilate washes his hands of the whole affair.

Even as Jesus dies, in agony, on the cross, he cries out, “It is finished. It is accomplished.” Jesus has done what he came to do. He then bows his head and willingly gives up his Spirit. In the Gospel of John, Jesus is a man who is in control. John paints a picture of a triumphant Messiah.

Meanwhile, in the secular world, chaos is swirling around Jesus. The powers of Hell have been unleashed, and they are doing their worst.

One of his own betrays him. Judas, a man who has shared Jesus’ table, who has seen into his heart, who has listened to his most intimate teaching leads that mixed group of authorities to Jesus so that he can be arrested. His other disciples desert him. Peter cannot even stand up to the interrogation of a servant girl. Three times Peter denies that he knows Jesus. “I do not know the man,” says Peter emphatically.

The Jewish authorities radiate hate toward Jesus. This man, Jesus, who shares their Jewish heritage, is such a threat to them that they make an alliance with their enemies the Herodians and the Romans to rid themselves of his presence. They, who are so scrupulous about keeping the law, are unscrupulous in their thirst for Jesus’ blood. “We have no king but Caesar,” shout the Jews to Pilate – blasphemy to a religious Jew.

The Romans are doing their job. Jesus is caught in the system. Pilate, the Procurator, knows that Jesus is being sacrificed as part of a petty plot by his jealous fellow Jews. But he does not have the courage to set this innocent man free. He capitulates to the subjugated Jews. The Roman soldiers mock and torture Jesus out of boredom and habit. Jesus is caught up in a system that perpetuates evil. It is rolling out of control.

Yet over this scene of horror and mayhem stands God. Why? Why sacrifice? Why death as a mean of atonement? Why did this have to happen to Jesus? Why not a military Messiah coming in triumph?

Sacrifice was the bedrock of religion for the ancient world. Historically, all religions had some form of sacrifice. The gods or God, as it were, had to be appeased. Traditionally all societies gave the gods their best - their best crops, their best animals, there first born sons, their most valiant warriors.
Religion supported sacrifice. Jewish scripture, Torah, says that “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin.” All ancients understood the sacrificial system. It is said that the Jewish Temple ran red with the blood of sacrificed animals.

But, it is hard for us moderns to understand sacrifice. It is not something we are used to seeing. Since the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 A.D. there has been no system of sacrifice except by some scattered cults. We cringe in revulsion when we read of animal sacrifice by cult members.

Yet, it is universally true that atonement must be made for sin because sin breeds death. God chose to atone for sin through blood sacrifice. So “in the fullness of time,” scripture tells us, God atoned for us. He came to earth himself in the person of the second person of the Trinity, Jesus of Nazareth, and he took all the horror onto himself. Jesus is the “Lamb of God that takest away the sin of the world.” John 1:29. He is the perfect one, the sinless one. He made atonement for sin once and for all time. For our sake God “made him to be sin who knew no sin so that we might have life through him.” 2 Cor. 5:21.

If you look at the history of humanity, you will see that vicarious suffering has been the one way in which the world has been changed. War doesn’t change things for long. Our enemies of forty years ago are now our allies – look at how afraid of the Soviet Union we were just twenty years ago. “Those who live by the sword will die by the sword,” said Jesus to Peter.

Jesus of Nazareth was a man of peace. He was a man who never traveled very far from home. He associated with plain people, not the upper crust – teaching, healing, encouraging, taking control over the demonic. Yet, more than any other person who has ever lived, he has changed the world. And, he did it by being obedient unto death - even death on a cross. He absorbed all the horror of history into himself. Even now he absorbs the horror of the Middle East, the tragedy of Afganistan, the chaos in Iraq, the fear of terrorism, our own betrayal of ourselves and each other.

There is nothing of sin that any of us can ever experience that our Lord has not experienced for us. Sin does produce death – death to relationship, death to goodness, death to possibility. But, Jesus overcame sin. He overcame death, not by the sword, but by sacrifice, by absorbing sin into himself. No wonder Psalm 22 tells us that he thought God had forsaken him.

I was lying in bed the other night thinking about Good Friday, about this sermon. It was about three o’clock in the morning, and there was a bird singing outside my window. I remember thinking what a “dumb” bird that is. Doesn’t he know that it is night time? Birds aren’t supposed to sing in the night. I don’t know why he was singing, maybe the street lights had him fooled. But, as I listened to him sing, I began to think of what Jesus does in the darkness of our lives. There is no darkness in this world in which the sweet song of our Saviour cannot be heard. Jesus has been in darkness. He has been in Hell. He has overcome evil. And he accompanies us in our darkness.

“Jesus is the light of the world.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it.”
John 1:4-5

No wonder today is called “Good Friday.” The powers of evil could not overcome the power of love. The power of evil will never overcome the power of love.

“God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son
that whosoever should believe in Him, should have Eternal Life.” John 3:16
The gift is being offered to you today. “Behold, I make all things new,”
( Rev. 21:5) says our Lord.

Let the Savior carry your sin this day.

Amen.