The only way it makes any sense

Sermon for Good Friday

Isaiah 52:13-53:12  +  John 18:1-19:42

Nothing about Good Friday really makes very much sense. Everything is turned upside down, starting in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus, the sinless man, Jesus the strongest man, spiritually, who has ever lived, prays earnestly for strength, while the disciples, who were weak and in great spiritual danger, were too sleepy to bother to watch and pray.

Jesus, the Son of God, who led the children of Israel out of the slavery of Egypt, is sold into slavery by one of His own disciples.

Jesus, who was being falsely accused and unlawfully arrested, stops Peter from using his sword any further and heals the ear of the servant who came out to arrest Him.

Jesus, who has more than twelve legions of angels at his disposal, chooses not to use them to prevent His arrest.

Jesus, who has every right, before God and man, to go free, chooses instead to suffer.

Jesus, who speaks only the truth, is struck on the face for speaking the truth.

Jesus, who speaks only the truth, tells Peter that he’ll deny his Lord three times that night, and Peter thinks His Lord is lying.

Peter, who has seen Jesus still storms and heal diseases and cast out demons; Peter, who has walked on water at Jesus’ word; Peter, who has confessed Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of the living God; Peter, who has sworn to die before denying Jesus, is so frightened by a servant girl that he swears he has never met his God.

Jesus, who rules over kings and governors, allows the Roman governor to wield authority over Him.

Jesus, the Helper of all, is rejected by His own people, while Barabbas, the criminal, is chosen instead.

Jesus, the only truly innocent man who has ever lived, is condemned to death by the people of God, by the priests of God, and by the secular government instituted by God.

Jesus, the King of the universe, is crowned with thorns and mocked as a false king.

Jesus, the King of the Jews, is crucified for being the King of the Jews.

Jesus, who can choose at any time to end His suffering and come down from the cross, chooses instead to stay on it and suffer to the end.

Jesus, the Light of the world, suffers in utter darkness.

Jesus, who gives living water to all who ask, is given vinegar for His final drink.

Jesus, who gave man his spirit in the beginning, gave up His own spirit after all was finished.

Jesus, who never sinned, received the wages of sin, which is death.

Jesus, who was followed secretly by Nicodemus and Joseph while He lived, is attended openly by Nicodemus and Joseph after He dies.

Jesus, who called Lazarus out of his tomb, is now buried in a tomb of His own (at least, until the third day).

What a strange, bizarre day this is, Good Friday! The only way it makes any sense is if we pay attention to Jesus’ final words recorded by John, who was standing there at the foot of the cross. “It is finished!” That means that, throughout all of it, Jesus was doing something, working to accomplish something. All the inconsistencies, all the contradictions, all the things He willingly allowed Himself to be put through were the final touches, the finishing pieces of that tremendous work we call the atonement. This is what it took to make atonement for the sins of the Jews, and for the sins of the Gentiles, for the sins of those who hated Him, and for the sins of those who loved Him imperfectly, for your sins and mine. Atonement was made. The price of reconciliation between God and sinners was paid by Christ alone, from start to finish.

All that Jesus suffered, all that He willingly endured only makes sense if the love of God for man was truly that great, if God was truly determined to save the human race, to pay a price that high, to bear a burden that heavy—the iniquities of us all laid on Him, on Jesus. It only makes sense if He truly wanted it preached, wanted it proclaimed throughout the world until the end of time: the death of Jesus Christ, our Lord. His death in place of yours. His condemnation for your justification. His blood for your forgiveness. That’s the key to understanding Good Friday: the love of God, the price He was willing to pay, His desire to have it preached, His desire to have it believed and confessed, His desire to have the sacrifice of Christ applied to sinners through Holy Baptism, through preaching, through the Sacrament of His true body and blood, and through faith created by His Holy Spirit.

The senseless, foolish, irrational, undeserved love of God for sinners is what we celebrate today. It’s what has brought us out of hiding, as it were, which also makes no sense to many. But to us, it makes perfect sense, to gather confidently as Christians, to hear again the seemingly senseless Good Friday Gospel, to believe what God wants us to believe about the forgiveness He earned for us there, and gives to us here in Word and Sacrament, to confess Him before the world, to proclaim His death until He comes, and above all, to thank Him for His loving sacrifice and for the eternal life that He has given us, which no man, which no devil, which no disease or death can ever remove. None of it makes any sense. And yet, to us, thank God, it does. Amen.