Good Friday April 9, 2004.

Isaiah 52:13-53:12

Psalm 22

Hebrews 10:16-25

John 18:1-19:42

First Reading

The last of the Suffering Servant songs in Isaiah is bookended by divine proclamations that the servant will be made great. In 52:13-15, God declares that the servant "shall be exalted and lifted up," much to the surprise of those who despised him. God announces in 53:11-12 that the servant will be allotted "a portion with the great," despite the descriptions in 53:1-10 of the servant's lowliness. Because the servant was obedient to death, bearing the sin of many, he will see light and be made strong. For those who have seen the servant, this is unbelievable news. The servant, believed to be Israel in exile, was despised and rejected from birth to death. People hid their faces from the servant, but the author recognizes that the servant gave himself for others. He gave his life for the sake of others, going quietly and innocently to the slaughter as a lamb. Because of this, the sin of the people is forgiven, and the servant shall be called righteous. While it is important to acknowledge the historical context of Isaiah, strong parallels can be made with the life of Jesus, who was also despised and rejected by the people but exalted by God because of his sacrifice on the cross.

Christ puts an end to all sacrifices by offering his own body, states the writer of the letter to the Hebrews. No longer do the people have to offer burnt offerings or sin offerings, for the blood of Jesus takes away sins once and for all. It is through this sacrifice that we have access to God, "to enter the sanctuary" (10:19). Indeed, the curtain to the sanctuary is described as Jesus' own flesh. Through his flesh and blood we can come into God's presence again, no longer separated by sin. Images of baptism are used in describing "our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water" (10:22). Because we have been washed clean from our sins we can approach God in faith, be steadfast in confessing our hope, and provoke others to love and do good deeds in response to Christ's sacrifice. We also are invited to worship together as a way to encourage one another until Christ comes again.

For the second time this week we hear the Passion of Jesus, this time as told by John. Jesus moves through these two chapters with single purpose, and that is to fulfill the mission God has sent him to complete: to reconcile God's children to God through Jesus' death. Jesus is in complete control of the whole situation, despite what happens to him and by whom. He knows all that is to happen, so he comes forward to Judas's detachment of soldiers to be arrested. When Peter cuts off the ear of the high priest's slave, Jesus rebukes him and says, "Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?" Jesus tells Pilate, "You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above," indicating God's control of the situation. From the cross Jesus puts the care of his mother into the hands of his beloved disciple, fulfills Scripture by stating that he is thirsty, declares "It is finished," and gives up his spirit. Jesus lays down his life of his own accord! His death on the cross is the completion of the mission God gave him, to take away the sin of the world.

Pastoral Reflection

When I was a child the Good Friday service at my home congregation took place at night, with somber music and moments of reflection. At the end of the Scripture readings the congregation sat in darkness for a prolonged period of time until a mighty blow rang out, the sound of a hammer coming down on the rough-hewn cross that stood in front of the altar. All of our hearts skipped a beat, scared out of our wits by such a startling interruption of silence. The feeling conveyed at this Good Friday service was fear.

A pastor friend of mine preached a Good Friday sermon a couple of years ago that focused on Jesus' words from the cross as recorded in Mark, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" This pastor lifted up those people in the world today who may say the very same words: those stricken with poverty in Africa, those living with terminal illnesses, those living in fear or loneliness. Not wanting to short-shrift Good Friday, he would not proclaim the Good News until Easter Sunday, letting his parishioners contemplate God's seeming absence on the day of Jesus' death. The feeling conveyed at this Good Friday service was despair.

The feeling conveyed by John's account of Christ's Passion is one of triumph. Betrayed by Judas, arrested, tried, and convicted, Jesus is stripped naked and crucified. He is not mocked by any of the bystanders as he hangs on the cross, nor do those who are crucified with him taunt him, as they do in Mark's and Luke's accounts. Jesus does not cry out to God, asking why God has forsaken him. Upon his death the sky does not darken, there are no earthquakes, the curtain of the temple is not torn in two, the tombs do not open to release the bodies of the saints. The crucifixion of Jesus, in John's narrative, is a solemn event, full of dignity, and the life of the crucified ends with one word in Greek: Tetelestai. Three triumphant words in English, "It is finished."

To call Jesus' last words from the cross triumphant is like calling this day "Good" Friday. A human life has ended through one of the most hideous execution methods ever devised. A man has been tortured and killed, regardless of how solemnly John describes Christ's death! This is a situation full of fear and despair, worthy of a gloomy sermon about God's seeming absence and a heart-stopping hammer blow to a wooden cross. There appears to be nothing good or triumphant about a man hanging dead on a cross, especially a man who is presumably the Messiah.

When we understand Jesus' last words on the cross, "It is finished," to mean that his life is finished, then this is an image of fear and despair. When we focus solely on the dead body hanging on the cross, it is impossible to see anything good or triumphant. But when we understand Jesus' last words on the cross to mean that God's work of salvation through Jesus Christ is finished, this is most certainly an image of triumph. Jesus has fulfilled God's plan. He has lived the life God gave him to live. He has completed the mission God gave him, to reconcile us to God. That mission, first declared by John the Baptist in John 1:36 and again in John 3:16, is finished when Jesus took on our sin and put it to death by dying for us. Tetelestai! It is finished!