Text: Isaiah 52:13-53:12
Hebrews 10:16-25 (Series C. Good Friday)
Ps.22
John 18:1-19:42
But God has shown us how much he loves us—it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us! By his blood we are now put right with God; how much more, then, will we be saved by him from God's anger! We were God's enemies, but he made us his friends through the death of his Son. Now that we are God's friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ's life! (Romans 5:8-10)
He cried out in a loud voice, "Father! Father! In your hands I place my spirit." He breathed his last and died. He died on the cross. That’s the reason, the only reason we are here. We have come here today because a man died 2000 years. He died a terrible death, the death of a criminal, We are here because a man died, not just any man, but Jesus Christ. He died for you and me.
Some people might think that our service today is a kind of memorial service as we recall the great deeds of Jesus of Nazareth but it is far more than that. Jesus greatest accomplishment happened when he died. His last breath brought with it the forgiveness of all people. "It is finished!" he cried as his last breath slipped away.
God’s plan of saving people from the consequences of sin and their rejection of God was now complete. Jesus Christ, God himself become human, died in our place, suffered what we should suffer.
He died so that we could have freedom from the punishment we really deserve because of our sinfulness, freedom from eternal death. Jesus’ death has had a powerful affect on our eternal future. Yes, we have come here to worship a Saviour who died.
Our worship here today might be meaningful for us but we know that to many in our country all of this sounds too irrelevant and too remote from what is happening in their lives at this time. What difference can Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified so long ago make to us today?
The cross is meaningless. At best, Jesus’ death was no more than a noble act of martyrdom, or a fine example of devotion to duty. At worst, it was a bad mistake, a terrible miscarriage of justice. In any case, it’s something that never ought to have happened, like all the great tragedies of history.
To add to all this, the idea that the death of a man on a cross can really give us forgiveness is offensive to the intelligence of modern humanity in 2007. That idea might have been all right for people long ago but we have outgrown all of that kind of superstition.
For the church to keep on talking about sin and the cross is insulting and irrelevant to our modern mind. The church needs to get with it and talk about modern day issues, such as employment, health care, education, safety etc. I can understand why the idea of a man dying on a cross is rejected by so many.
If the early church had employed a top advertising agency to help them sell the Christian faith to the public, the picture of a man beaten by Roman soldiers, mocked, a crown of thorns on his head, then nailed to a rough wooden cross, his life slowly draining away and then dying would not have used.
They would have avoided suggesting that God died at the hands of wicked people in order to provide forgiveness and eternal life. They would have avoided the whole idea that God had died - that is all too humiliating, all too illogical for God.
The apostle Paul was aware that Jesus’ death on a cross was offensive even to people back in the first century. He wrote:
The message about Christ's death on the cross is nonsense to those who are being lost; but for us who are being saved it is God's power. … For what seems to be God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and what seems to be God's weakness is stronger than human strength (1 Cor 1:18,25).
That was Paul’s way of saying, "Yes, it does appear to be silly and illogical but this is God’s way of bringing salvation to us all. This is God’s way of doing things. This is the Good News – Jesus has died for us."
Paul is right. The cross is insulting to one’s intelligence but for those with faith and trust in Jesus’ the cross is a powerful symbol of the new life that Jesus has won for us. Paul was often ridiculed, imprisoned, beaten and harassed, but the more they put Paul down, the more he preached that Christ was crucified for our sin, the simple yet powerful message of the cross of Christ. Paul knew that the cross of Jesus was able to change people’s lives.
The Bible says, "God has shown us how much he loves – it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us! By his death are now put right with God. … We were God’s enemies, but he made us his friends through the death of his Son" (Romans 5:8-10).
We might think that some of the nicest good news is hearing of the birth of a baby, coming into a lot of money, or being cured of a disease, but the best news of all is that even though we are sinners who don’t deserve it, Christ has died for us.
Just before we heard the song: Were you there when they crucified my Lord? And the answer is: we sure were!! It was as if we drove in those nails and raised that cross ourselves. Yes, we were there when our Lord was crucified.
It was our sin that nailed Jesus to the cross;
it was our guilt that caused him to suffer;
it was our godlessness that killed him.
But thank God that the cross does more than make us feel bad about our sinfulness. The cross is the place where we were rescued. It is all we need to be saved. There is nothing we can add to it. He has given us complete pardon for all our sin. It has given us new life and the hope of life forever. Thank God for the cross, for Jesus who died there for us.
God has shown us how much he loves
it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us!
Amen.
Rev. Samuel King-Kabu
April 6, 2007