Good Friday ---- 10 April 2020

{Before I post my Good Friday sermon, I'd like to invite anyone who reads this to watch my internet service for Easter Sunday. Here is the link:

St. John's Aylmer Easter Sunday

If you can, listen for church bells ringing at 9:30am on Easter Sunday morning. The National bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Archbishop Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada have asked the congregations of both denominations that have bells to ring them on Easter Sunday morning to celebrate Jesus' Resurrection.}

John 19: 16b-30 

 So they took Jesus; ¹⁷ and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew^[d] is called Golgotha. ¹⁸ There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. ¹⁹ Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth,^[e] the King of the Jews.” ²⁰ Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew,^[f] in Latin, and in Greek. ²¹ Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” ²² Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” ²³ When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. ²⁴ So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it.” This was to fulfill what the scripture says,

“They divided my clothes among themselves,
    and for my clothing they cast lots.”

²⁵ And that is what the soldiers did.

Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶ When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” ²⁷ Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

²⁸ After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.” ²⁹ A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. ³⁰ When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.”

Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

·        We all know the story of the Passion. Every year, it is proclaimed on Good Friday. The Church wants us to hear it for a number of reasons.

o  To know the reality of suffering in Jesus’ life

o  To know the depth of his love, giving up his life for the entire world in its entire history.

o  To tie Good Friday and Easter together. Some look only to Good Friday and the story of suffering and never to the wonder of Easter. Some look only to Easter and its triumph while ignoring what Jesus endured.

o To help us remember what was done when Jesus said “It is finished.”

·        Were we to say that, it would mean that we’ve finished the job or weeded the flower bed or did the dishes or repaired a torn sheet. Whatever the task, we did it… and we can move on to the next task.

·        For Jesus to say that just before he dies on the cross carries a lot more meaning. He isn’t simply saying “I’m done.” Far from it!

·        As John wrote it, those words are almost a shout of victory. In his death, Jesus is saying “I’ve done what I came to do… and everything I came to do is done.”

·        “It is finished” has more of a feeling of accomplishment and achievement, even though those words do not sound right when we consider what has gone on. We wouldn’t expect these words from a man dying such a death.

·        Jesus’ phrase, “It is finished” also has the sense of something that is accomplished which has effects for the future.

·        Yet there they are. “It is finished.” “It is accomplished.”

·        What was accomplished? Jesus has laid down his life for his friends and his friends over all time and space. Jesus has given his blood for the cleansing of all and the forgiveness of sin. That’s for all time and for everyone. Jesus did this – not our faith, not our works – but God’s free gift in Jesus.

·        Now… something different. I’ve never understood the separation some people make between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. They are forever linked and intimately linked. Jesus died and died for our sins. Jesus rose and rose for our new lives.

·        The proclamation of what Jesus came to do is tied to the Resurrection. They cannot be broken apart without losing the sense of both.

·        Jesus died for us and the Resurrection was not for himself alone; it is for us.

o   For our own Resurrection

o   For the proclamation of new life and forgiveness

o   For showing us his presence in all time and in all we do.

·        If we think of ourselves today, we do it in the light of what Jesus did for us. Despite our sins and failings, despite our unfaithfulness and forgetfulness, in his great mercy, he did it for us... for us as we are. He did it for us as we might become.

·        Something to remember and to live in.

·        Amen and amen.