Category: Good Friday

Son of a Father: Good Friday Sermon

3/29/2024

Good Friday
Mark 15:6-15
Christ Crucified in the Place of a Murderer
Pastor James Preus
March 29, 2024

6Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. 7And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. 8And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. 9And he answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” 10For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. 11But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. 12And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” 13And they cried out again, “Crucify him.” 14And Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.” 15So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.

Barabbas sat in prison with the other criminals, chained securely, so that he could not escape, for he was a dangerous criminal. He had been tried and found guilty of murder and insurrection, having rebelled against the Roman government. Outside, not too many yards away, Roman soldiers had constructed three crosses. Barabbas, as a particularly notorious criminal, would be crucified on the middle cross with a fellow robber crucified on either side of him. When the sun rose, Barabbas would be led out of his cell with the other two criminals and taken to Pilate’s court yard, where he would be flogged, tearing the flesh from his back as a sort of intermediate death, before he would be forced to carry his own cross up the hill of the skull to be nailed to it and hanged until he died a slow, miserable death.
Such was Barabbas’s lot. And he deserved it. He was a rebel. He used political outrage as a pretense to steal and murder. Barabbas was a bad man. No one would be sad to see him die. Even during this high Jewish feast, when the governor was accustomed to release one of the prisoners, he had no hope of being freed. Certainly, they would cry the name of one of the other prisoners, who had committed less heinous crimes. No, when that prison door opened, Barabbas would be led away to die.
The door opened. Light streamed in, blinding the prisoner. Barabbas was led in chains toward Pilate’s courtyard. Yet, he was brought before Pilate himself! Next to Pilate was a beaten-up man, disfigured beyond human semblance (Isaiah 52:14). He heard from a voice in the crowd that this was Jesus of Nazareth, the teacher and miracle worker. Everyone knows that Jesus is no criminal. He is innocent. And before Barabbas could comprehend what was happening, his chains were taken off his wrists and ankles, and Jesus was led away to be crucified in his place.
Barabbas deserved to die. He deserved the pain, misery, and shame of crucifixion. Christ Jesus is innocent. You are Barabbas. Barabbas means son of a father, quite an absurd name. What son doesn’t have a father? Yet, this name describes us perfectly. We are sons of our father Adam. “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.” (Romans 5:12) Adam was the greatest murderer of the human race, because through his sin he brought death and destruction upon all mankind. Every murder was committed as a result of his sin. Adam was the first great insurrectionist, rebelling against God, attempting to be like God, knowing good and evil. Barabbas’s crimes perfectly depict a son of his father Adam. And so do yours. Not only have you inherited Adam’s sinful inclination, but you have committed the same sins through your hatred and rebellion against God. You have added to your father Adam’s sins and proven yourself a true Barabbas.
Jesus spoke to the Jews who opposed Him, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, because he is a liar, and the father of lies.” (John 8:44) So, with your lies and hatred, you have proven yourself to be even worse than a Bar-Adam. You are a Bar-Devil, that is, a son of the devil. You deserve death and condemnation.
Yet, your chains are loosened from your wrists and ankles and you are told to go free. Instead, Christ goes and bears the wrath of God for your sins. It is as the Prophet Isaiah foretold, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—everyone—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (53:6) He was stricken for the transgression of the people (53:8). He was stricken for your sins.
This was no accident. This was not God giving into the demands of a mob. It was the will of the LORD to crush Him (Is. 53:10). And Christ went willingly (Isaiah 53:7). It is as St. Peter describes, “Christ suffered once for sins, the Righteous One in exchange for the unrighteous ones, so that He might present you to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit.” (1 Peter 3:18) Christ became a curse for us. Christ became sin for us. Christ became guilty for us. Not that He can be a curse or sin or guilty, but He bore all this for our sake to free us from death. This is illustrated no clearer than Barabbas the murderer, insurrectionist, and robber going free, and Christ, the honest, healer and teacher going to death. God exchanged His Son for the life of us sinners. He saved murderers to condemn the only Righteous man ever to live. In Barabbas we see ourselves and all of mankind, guilty, deserving death and hell. And in Christ, we see the one who was condemned in our place. Your spot on the cross has been filled. It is Christ who hangs on the tree instead of you.
And Christ did this, so that you would not longer be a son of Adam or a son of the devil, but a son of God. St. Paul writes in Galatians 4, “But when the fulness of time had come, God sent for His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were under the Law, so that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent for the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’ Therefore, you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” (Galatians 4:4-7)
We do not know what happened to this historical Barabbas after he was ransomed from death, whether he reformed his life and followed Christ or whether he continued his life of selfish crime. If he continued in his life of sin and crime, then he received an even worse fate than being crucified, he wasted his freedom and would have been better off having been hanged that day.
We too ought to consider this, as each of us is Barabbas, having been ransomed from the futile ways of our fathers, not with silver and gold, but with the holy precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot (1 Peter 1:18-19). So, you too must know that you must not return to your life of sin and crime. Make no mistake, it was evil what the crowd did by crying for Barabbas’s release and for the death of Christ. Woe to those who call good evil and evil good. Yet, God used this evil for the greatest good. It was His plan being brought to completion. Yet, the fact remains, it is evil to call for the blood of Christ, as Peter proves by rebuking the crowd in Acts 3, “But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead.” The death of the Author of Life wins for us eternal life. Yet, if we call for his crucifixion again and again by our persistent sin, holding Christ in contempt, then there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment (Hebrews 6:6; 10:26-27).
So, let us live as if we have just left Pilates Praetorium, having been set free, so that Christ could die in our stead, and let us live lives worthy of new life. After having been rescued from the punishment of hell by Christ, we ought to crucify the sinful passions of our flesh as long as we live and live for Christ until we finally inherit eternal life. We should say with St. Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20) Christ Jesus has set us free from slavery to sin, death, and hell. Let us not serve our former master, but serve Him who bought us. Through faith in Christ, we are no longer sons of Adam and Satan, but children of God. Let us do the works of our Father always. Amen.

0 Comments

Jesus Teaches Us to Die

4/19/2022

0 Comments

Christ Crucified (c. 1632) by Diego Velázquez; Diego Velázquez, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Good Friday
Luke 23:46
Pastor James Preus
April 15, 2022

Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.” ~ Luke 23:46

Let us pray:

Teach me to live that I may dread
The grave as little as my bed.
Teach me to die that so I may
Rise glorious at the awe-full day.
Amen. (LSB 883:3, Thomas Ken)

“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!”, Jesus cried before he died. This is    same Jesus, who from the cross cried out in dereliction, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34). This is the same Jesus upon whom the sins of the whole world were laid, so that even in the garden before a whip had made a single stripe on his back, he sweat drops of blood under their burden. Where does he get the confidence to commit his spirit into the hands of the Almighty God, who had forsaken him on the cross and who has so willed to crush him? Because Jesus Christ is true God, begotten and beloved of the Father from all eternity, and also true man, and as true man, he is completely innocent of all sin. Jesus is the spotless Lamb of God, who has fully and completely fulfilled the entire Law under which we were once enslaved.

Jesus did not find himself nailed to the cross by accident. It was for this purpose that he came into the world. John the Baptist declared him the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus himself declared several times that he would be delivered over to evil men and be crucified and on the third day rise. This was all part of God’s plan to redeem us. Jesus said, “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” (John 10:17-18) This is also why St. Peter declared after Jesus’ ascension on Pentecost, “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.” (Acts 2:24) And not only did Jesus have confidence that he would rise from the dead on the third day, he had confidence that his soul would dwell with the Father in heaven, as he said to the thief on the cross, ‘Today, you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43). This was all part of God’s plan.

Yet, this does not mean that it was all for show. Jesus didn’t pretend to suffer on the cross for our sins. He did not pretend to die. He wasn’t acting when he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!” No, the suffering Jesus’ endured was real. The divine abandonment was real. The sins he bore were real sins with real guilt. Jesus bore hell on the cross for us. And the death he died was a real death. His soul departed his body. His body became inanimate and cold. Our God and brother hung dead on the cross. Jesus died.

Yet, he was not afraid to die. He died confident that he had done no wrong, confident that he had fulfilled all that God required of him and of every human being. He died confident that he had fully paid for every sin laid upon him and that he was returning to his Father in peace.

Jesus’ last words, “into your hands I commit my spirit!”, are actually a quote from King David in Psalm 31. And Martin Luther paraphrases it in his morning and evening prayers, “Into your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things.” So, Jesus is by no means the first or the last person to pray these words to our heavenly Father. Yet, had Jesus not said these words, had he not commended his soul in death to our heavenly Father, no one would ever be able to utter this prayer.

Jesus once said, “Do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul, but fear Him who can destroy both body and soul in hell.” (Matthew 10:28) How can we commit our spirit into the hand of him, who has the authority to destroy our soul in hell? God commands that you be perfect. You know the commandments. You shall have no other gods before the LORD. You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God. You shall not despise God’s Word and preaching. Honor your father and mother. You shall not steal. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not covet. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Well, have you done these things perfectly? Have you satisfied God’s standard of perfection? Are you comfortable committing your soul into the hands of a righteous Judge?

Throughout history, there have been stories of people, even some ostensibly very righteous people, who have had great fits of terror on their death beds. They are terrified to die, because they know that after death comes judgment. While horrible and faithless as this is, these dying fools had much more sense than seems to be common today. No one sees the urgency in death today. They fear death. You can tell that by how they hide from it and deny it. You see it as people shunned the words of eternal life and the medicine of immortality, because some priests of science told them to give up meeting together in order to stay healthy. But today, few take notice that when they die they will meet their Maker, their Judge. They march toward death in arrogance, claiming to have no regrets. But they would be much wiser to know that it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31).

Yet, should you be so terrified to die? Should the knowledge that after death comes judgement and that you have not fulfilled God’s Law, that God is indeed a righteous God, terrify you? No. Rather, you should have confidence to face death and say, “Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit.”

When Jesus suffered on the cross for the sins of the whole world, he suffered for your sins, for all of them. That means that when Jesus said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”, he was confident that all of your sins were atoned for by his suffering and death. If any of your sins remained, Jesus would not be able to say, “Into your hands I commit my spirit.” Rather, he himself would be terrified to die. But because Jesus has said, “Into your hands I commit my spirit,” you have the right to say these sweet words as well with confidence that they are true.

King David first penned these words in Psalm 31:5; the full verse is, “Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God.” Indeed, that is how we may commit our spirits to the LORD. He has redeemed us with the precious blood of Christ Jesus and his innocent sufferings and death. God has purchased our salvation. You have been bought with a price! The prophet Isaiah writes, “The LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6) St. Peter says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree.” (1 Peter 2:24) St. Paul writes, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) Again the Apostle Paul writes, “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:13-14) Again Scripture says, “He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification, therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 4:25-5:1)

These words of comfort are not a hypothetical theory. Jesus died for these words. He Himself committed his soul to the Father having taken on your sins. This is not a superficial statement. Jesus took ownership of your transgressions, atoned for them, and then with full confidence, committed his soul to the Father, so that you can do the same.

We not only commit our souls to our heavenly Father in death, we commit our souls to the Father in life. God alone can keep us faithful. God alone can lead us out of temptation, out of unbelief and other great shame and vice. And he does this through Jesus Christ alone. Every morning and evening we commit our souls to God our heavenly Father for the sake of the suffering and death of his dear Son, trusting that God will guide our ways, lead us out of temptation, forgive our sins, protect us from danger, and keep us in the true faith. And in this way, we are ready for death at all times. Death no longer can terrify us, not because we are ignorant of judgment or arrogant before God, but because Christ has taken that terror away from us. He committed his soul to the Father and in so doing, he has paved a path for our souls as well.

Let us pray:
I thank you my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ your dear Son, that you have graciously kept me this day. And I pray that you would forgive me all my sins where I have done wrong, and graciously keep me this night, for into your hands I commend myself, my body and soul and all things, let your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.

0 Comments

The Cross Proclaims God’s Love

4/2/2021

0 Comments

Tintoretto, The Crucifixion of Christ, 1568. Public Domain

Good Friday
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
April 2, 2021

Luke 23:32-43
Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with Jesus. 33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. 35 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”

39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

There is no symbol so closely associated to the Christian religion than the cross. Christians put crosses on their church steeples and in all places of the sanctuary. A cross or crucifix is always prominent in the chancel of any Christian church. Christians wear crosses and crucifixes around their necks and hang them on their walls. We make the sign of the cross in our daily prayers. We’re not bothered by the image of the cross. Rather, we cherish it. The cross is for us a symbol of God’s love and our salvation. It is a tradition to hold a cross before the eyes of the dying, so that they see the source of their salvation until they meet their Maker.
Yet, the cross has not always been a symbol of love and salvation. The cross was not invented to communicate any message of love or peace or charity. No sane person would have worn a cross around his neck or erected it on top of a building. The cross was invented to be an instrument of punishment and extreme torture. When we consider the three uses of the Law: the curb, which prevents outbreaks of sin; the mirror, which shows a person his sins; and the rule, which guides a Christian in godly living; the cross primarily functions as a curb. Governments don’t crucify criminals to gain the love of the people. They crucify to gain fear and obedience.
The provinces of the Roman empire were not like our United States, which voluntarily united on account of their shared political and economic interests. The provinces of Rome were conquered nations kept in subjugation by force. In order to preserve peace and maintain functioning trade routes to bring wealth to its imperial cities, Rome could not have insurrections, robberies, and murders run rampant. In order to curb such crimes, they crucified criminals. Lawbreakers were tied or nailed to cross-beams and lifted up high for all to see. Their crimes were inscribed above their heads to warn other would-be criminals that this is what happens to insurrectionists, murderers, and robbers. Crucifixion was the most horrible way to die. It was hours or even days of continuous torture. Even the word excruciating was invented to describe the extreme torture of crucifixion. Cicero called crucifixion the most cruel and terrifying of punishments. For this reason, the cross was hated and feared by men. The Romans used the cross to compel obedience and fear with the threat of torture.
The cross functioned primarily as a curb against crime, but that does not mean that the cross did not function as a mirror of the law. The thief on the cross recognized that he was receiving his due reward for his crimes. When we look at Jesus agonizing on the cross, whose only crime inscribed above his head was, “King of the Jews,” we see what we deserve on account of our sins. Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the word. Behold, him on whom the Lord has laid all our iniquities. Big deal. What are sins? That can’t be such a heavy load. But listen to the words of the hymn:
Ye who think of sin but lightly
Nor suppose the evil great
Here may see its nature rightly,
Here its guilt may estimate.
Mark the sacrifice appointed,
See who bears the awful load;
’Tis the Word, the Lord’s anointed,
Son of Man and Son of God.” (LSB 451)
The torture of the cross reveals the severity of our sin. It is not a small thing to offend God. It is not a small thing to spurn the Creator and pollute his creation with hatred. Think your sins are a small thing? See the blows and wounds they lay upon Jesus; the weight they lay upon his outstretched arms. See how your guilt presses upon him until the blood oozes from every pore.
No one went to the cross freely. The cross was forced upon people unwillingly. The function of the cross was not to create love, but fear. The cross was a symbol of oppression, slavery, cruelty, and servile obedience. Yet, Jesus went to the cross willingly. Though the chief priests and elders sought many times to arrest Jesus to kill him, yet they said, not during the feast of the Passover, lest a riot breakout, Jesus chose to be delivered over to them at the Passover. Though Jesus could fell a band of soldiers with a word or commission twelve legions of angels to come to his aid, he chose to let them bind him and take him away. Although Jesus had silenced the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes with his words and persuaded the crowds with his teachings, so that his opponents were fearful to try to arrest him, Jesus spoke not a word in his defense to try to persuade the crowd or save his life.
Jesus was not compelled to the cross by the Roman government. He chose the cross in order to bear our shame and pay our debt. Love compelled Jesus to the cross. Love for us and the desire to pass over our sins and remember them no more drove Jesus to the cross. And on the cross and by means of the cross Jesus fulfilled God’s love for us. Now, when we see the cross, we see the instrument by which God’s love was perfected for us; we see the tool Christ used to set us free from slavery to sin and from the threats of the Law. The cross for us is not a symbol of tyranny or threats of punishment, but of God’s deep love for us and of freedom from everlasting punishment and death.
The cross was the most draconian form of punishment many centuries before Vlad Dracula ruled. Vlad Dracula, also known as Vlad the Impaler, was a fifteenth century ruler from present-day Romania, who was known for his cruel and excessive forms of punishment. The word draconian describes a punishment that exceeds the crime. Yet, strangely, the more familiar Dracula, the demonic vampire from Bram Stoker’s novel of the same name, was terrified of the cross. Stoker named his vampire Dracula, because Dracula was synonymous with bloodthirst. Yet, the bloodthirsty vampire was terrified of the most draconian form of punishment. Stoker of course did this, because the vampire was from the devil and the cross was the symbol of Christ, who vanquished Satan.
Yet, this proves to be a fitting image this Good Friday as we ponder Christ’s cross. The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. The cross was the law’s instrument against sinners. It was men who were terrified of the cross, revealing their terror of the law. And you could imagine Satan and his demons prancing about the crosses of the condemned like jackals around a lion’s kill. But When Christ willingly went to the cross to bear the terror of the law on our behalf, he changed this around. Now, it is no longer men who fear the cross, but he, who once danced and feasted around it. The cross sends Satan fleeing like a vampire into the darkness.
The cross is a symbol to us of God’s love and forgiveness, that he did not spare his only Son, but gave him up for our trespasses. The cross is a sign that our debt is paid and that the law cannot condemn us. The cross is our comfort when Satan attacks and our consolation when our conscience burns. We are not offended to see Jesus’ body hanged on the cross, because we preach Christ crucified, which is God’s power of salvation to all who believe. Men once fled the cross to escape the law and Satan’s jaws, but now it is Satan who flees and the laws mouth which is stopped at the image of the cross. So, may we ever cling to Christ’s cross and the message of the cross, for there we find love and eternal freedom.
Let us pray:
On my heart imprint Your image,
Blessed Jesus King of grace,
That life’s riches, cares, and pleasures
Never may Your work erase;
Let the clear inscription be:
Jesus, crucified for me,
Is my life, my hope’s foundation,
And my glory and salvation! Amen.

0 Comments

Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!

4/11/2020

0 Comments

James Tissot, The Death of Jesus, 1886-94, Public Domain

Good Friday
Luke 23:46
April 10, 2020

Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. Luke 23:46

Jesus’ last words from the cross are a paraphrase of Psalm 31, where King David says, “Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God.” The Psalter is a prayer book. Faithful Jews had been praying Psalm 31 for a thousand years by the time Jesus prayed this verse from the cross. David wrote this Psalm as he was pursued by one of his many enemies throughout his life. Those of us who have put to memory Luther’s morning and evening prayers may find this verse familiar, because it is the basis for this sentence in both prayers, “For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things.” Indeed, we should commend our spirit, body, and all we have into the hand of the Lord as long as we live. If our life is in God’s hand, what harm can come to us? Yet, Jesus teaches us from the cross to commend our spirit into God’s hand not only throughout life, but in death.
This is a profound statement. It is common for those who believe in God to entrust their life to God. Many more of us have been doing this the past few weeks. We don’t know what is going to happen. We do not know how great the danger is or when it will pass. But we commend our souls to God, knowing that he who rules the wind and waves can certainly guide us through this storm.
Yet, Jesus teaches us to commend our souls in death, not just in life! And indeed, unless we learn to commend our souls to the Lord in death, we dare not die! For death is a terrible thing if your soul is not in God’s hand! And make no mistake about it; we are all going to die! So, we better learn from our Lord Jesus how to die, as we sing in the hymn:
Teach me to live that I may dread/ The grave as little as my bed.
Teach me to die that so I may/ Rise glorious at the awe-full day. (All Praise to Thee My God, This Night, Thomas Ken, LSB 883:3).
Again, this is what St. Paul teaches us in Romans 14, “For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.”
Jesus had such faith in God, that he felt confident to lay his soul in his hand even in death as if he were placing a precious treasure securely in a safe and locking it for safe keeping. Even as he felt the torment of hell on the cross, the guilt for the sins of all people, the pains of body and soul, even just moments after he cried, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!”, Jesus has the confidence to commend his soul to the Father.
Jesus displayed this confidence before his crucifixion. He declared, “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” (John 10:17-18) He told his disciples repeatedly that he would be betrayed into the hands of evil men, be beaten, flogged, and crucified, and on the third day rise.
Yes, we know that Jesus said these things. We confess Christ too. Yet, how did Jesus continue to confess these things, so that his last words on the cross were a confession of this truth? First, Jesus is God. He prayed in the olive grove the night he was betrayed, “And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” (John 17:5) Jesus knew that it was impossible for death to hold him, because he is the author of life.
Secondly, because Jesus was perfectly obedient to God. He never sinned. God the Father said to Jesus both at his Baptism and at his Transfiguration, “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.” As Jesus was crucified, he knew that he never transgressed God’s commandment, even once. He was innocent of all sin. The sins he died for were not his own, but ours.
Thirdly, Jesus believed the words of the Prophets, who declared God’s plan. Isaiah prophesied, “Surely he has born our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:4-7) And the Prophet continues, “Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he should prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied.” (vss. 10-11) Jesus knew that he was that lamb led to the slaughter to bear the iniquities of the people. Yet, he knew that though he would suffer, he would be raised from the dead and would see his offspring with prolonged days. This is why Jesus didn’t resist those who arrested him, even though he could bring them to the ground with a word. This is why Jesus committed his spirit into the hand of him who willed to crush him. He had confidence in the promise of Scripture.
Jesus’ confidence to commit his spirit in death to his heavenly Father should give us confidence to commit our spirits to God in death. Not, because we have confidence in ourselves, but because we have confidence in Jesus. We are not God, but Jesus is most certainly God. He proved it with mighty works, by fulfilling the Scriptures, by the testimony of the Father and the Holy Spirit, and of course, through his resurrection and ascension to glory. We are not without sin. We have been disobedient to God. We deserve this plague which is upon us. We deserve to die. Every death reported during the pandemic is a proclamation to each of us that we deserve to die for our sins. We can all recognize with the thief on the cross, “We indeed suffer justly, for we are receiving the due reward for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.”
So, we look to him who did no wrong, yet suffered for our sake. We see that Jesus indeed suffered not for his own sins, but for ours. And being God, Jesus is able to pay for the sins of all people. Indeed, his blood is an infinite source of salvation!
We look to Scripture to see in Jesus our confidence to commit our spirits to God. Scripture states, “‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)
Death is a reality to us all. We’re all going to die. Death is God’s punishment against sin. And eternal damnation is the punishment after that. God’s wrath against sin is real. We see that in the crucifixion of Christ. Not knowing whether you are on good terms with God before you die is the most terrifying thing you can imagine. And many live that terror. They don’t know whether they have been good enough. They hope. They hope they will pass the test. But Scripture clearly says that all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory. Except for Jesus. And it is through Jesus alone that we are justified and redeemed. Jesus committed his spirit into the hands of his heavenly Father in death, so that we sinners might commit our souls to the hand of God without fear. We are reconciled through the suffering and death of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is certainly a good example. We should walk with him. Yet, trying to follow Jesus’ example in life will do you no good unless you first follow his example in death. Trust in Christ’s death. Commit your spirit to him, who raised Christ Jesus from the dead. Amen.

0 Comments

Good Friday 2019: Jesus Marries His Bride from the Cross

4/20/2019

1 Comment

The Entombment ,1554 Moretto da Brescia (Alessandro Bonvicino) Italian. metmuseum.org Public Domain

John 18-19
April 19, 2019

“When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son!’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother!’” And thus, Jesus from the cross fulfilled what God spoke in Genesis chapter 2, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” This is exactly what Jesus does on the cross. He is leaving his earthly mother and holding fast to his wife. Through the shedding of his own blood, he is united to his bride, the Church forever.
St. Paul describes Christ’s death upon the cross as the archetype of all weddings. Here, Jesus demonstrates what a husband ought to do for his wife. His willing suffering and death are his wedding vow. St. Paul writes, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.” (Ephesians 5:25-28)
On the cross, Jesus lays down his life for his wife. This is his entrance into his marriage with her; he says his vows with blood and water flowing from his side. It is just as that great hymn proclaims, “From heaven he came and sought her to be his holy bride, with his own blood he bought her, and for her life he died.”
Jesus makes atonement for his bride. She is not clean, but filthy in her own sins. She is unfaithful, adulterous, and sinful. Christ did not come to draw the righteous to himself, but sinners, who need a Savior. He says, “Come now, let us reason together, … though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18) Jesus finds his sinful bride and with his own blood he makes her pure. He pays her debts. He clothes her with righteousness. He rescues her. As Boaz redeems Ruth and makes her his bride, so Christ pays the price to make us his own.
We do not deserve this. Scripture says that our righteousness is as filthy rags. (Isaiah 64:6) We are like Barabbas, who deserves to die. The other Gospel accounts make it clear that Pilate tried to use Barabbas to release Jesus. Barabbas was his worst prisoner. Pilate thought that if they had the choice between releasing a murderer, insurrectionist robber and Jesus, they would choose Jesus. Surely their envy was not so great. But this was God’s plan. Jesus came for this very purpose. So, the murderer goes free, and the Prince of Life is slain. You, with all your sins go free. Jesus, the sinless one dies. This is the greatest love a husband has ever shown to his bride.
Jesus clings to his wife. His death for her sins joins her to him forever. They are no longer two, but one flesh. Jesus speaks to his Father on the night he was betrayed, “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” (17:22-23) We are joined to Christ. We are his body. He is our head. We are not a bunch of individuals, we are one body, the Church. He is the Vine; we are the branches. Our eternal existence is united with Christ, and so we are eternally united with each other as well.
If we are united with Christ, that means we share in his glory. Again, Jesus said on that night of his betrayal, “Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in the Father, and you in me, and I in you.” I’m not surprising any of you when I say that Jesus is risen from the dead. Good Friday is not the end of the story. And because Jesus lives, and lives eternally, Jesus gives life to all those who are united to him in his death.
A husband gives all he has to his bride. Jesus tells his disciples that he will do this. Speaking of the Holy Spirit he says “He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:14-15). In our wedding liturgy one of the options for the exchanging of the rings goes like this, “With this ring I marry you, my worldly goods I give to you, and with my body I honor you.” Jesus has given all his goods to us, everything. We are rich. We are heirs to Christ’s kingdom. We are clothed in his righteousness. All that he has is ours. His pierced hands and side are his wedding ring in which we give him all we have, sin and guilt.
Your faith in Christ is your wedding ring by which you receive everything from Christ. The Church is made up of the faithful, who trust in the wounds of Christ. Jesus said that when he is lifted up, he will draw all people to himself. And indeed, the Church gathers around the preaching of Christ crucified, putting her trust in him. Cathedrals may burn and church building might be sold to relators to be turned into apartment buildings and tacky trinket shops. But the true Church of Christ, his holy bride will continue to dwell on earth as long as his sheep gather to hear his words.
Again, on that final night with his disciples Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (14:2-3) Jesus is the Bridegroom, who goes to prepare his marriage home for his bride and who will return at an hour no one will expect. He is ascended into heaven, but he will return. And even now, he prepares a place for us, purchased with his blood, for us to abide with him forever.
Some might be uncomfortable with the language of Christ as the bridegroom and the Church as the bride. Yet, this language is biblical. Jesus has joined himself in a marriage to his Church, which is much purer than any union you will find on earth. Through word and sacrament Christ provides for his bride on earth, so that she might be united with him forever in heaven.
Seeing Christ’s passion as his wedding vows communicates to you that all this that you have heard tonight, the brutal passion our Lord suffered so unjustly, he did for you and for your benefit. All this is for you. Christ suffered this for your sake. And it worked. Because of what Christ did on this day you are his forever. Amen.

1 Comment

<<Previous

"For faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." ~ Romans 10:17

Son of a Father: Good Friday Sermon

Jesus Teaches Us to Die

The Cross Proclaims God’s Love

Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!

Good Friday 2019: Jesus Marries His Bride from the Cross

Rev. James Preus

Archives

Categories