Here is a text of my message from our Good Friday Service...
Welcome...It has already been a very long week. Jesus enters the city on Sunday to the cheers and crowds. It has been a powerful week of teaching, intrigue, confrontation, and politics. The hopes of the disciples have been raised, dashed crushed, and raised again. It is Passover week and there is a heightened sense of frustration, of expectancy.
Sort of like the feeling before an election. Some fear change, some look for it quickly. Some despise their situation, others look to the past for memories. Some don’t even care. Some are oblivious. There is a distrust of leadership, insecurity, financial concerns. 1st century Jerusalem can be a stressful place…
Good Friday actually began a number of hours ago. Jesus has not been to sleep yet. After leaving the comfortable surroundings in the upper room where they celebrate the Seder, they make their way to the garden. Jesus asks his disciples to pray, so they don’t fall into testing. But he is about to face his greatest test. The disciples begin to get it at the Seder, something just ain’t right.
Once in the garden, Jesus begins to feel it, he begins to feel emotions in the moment. He asks his father if this is really what you want…
Welcome...It has already been a very long week. Jesus enters the city on Sunday to the cheers and crowds. It has been a powerful week of teaching, intrigue, confrontation, and politics. The hopes of the disciples have been raised, dashed crushed, and raised again. It is Passover week and there is a heightened sense of frustration, of expectancy.
Sort of like the feeling before an election. Some fear change, some look for it quickly. Some despise their situation, others look to the past for memories. Some don’t even care. Some are oblivious. There is a distrust of leadership, insecurity, financial concerns. 1st century Jerusalem can be a stressful place…
Good Friday actually began a number of hours ago. Jesus has not been to sleep yet. After leaving the comfortable surroundings in the upper room where they celebrate the Seder, they make their way to the garden. Jesus asks his disciples to pray, so they don’t fall into testing. But he is about to face his greatest test. The disciples begin to get it at the Seder, something just ain’t right.
Once in the garden, Jesus begins to feel it, he begins to feel emotions in the moment. He asks his father if this is really what you want…
22:43 tells us, “An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.” The Father sends an angel at this crucial moment to give Jesus what he needs.
22:44 (And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.) tells us that Jesus (Agonizesthai) enters the agony/struggle. And it is my invitation to you this evening to enter the struggle. Some of you have been fasting today, actively doing things, but now I want you to enter in.
Jesus is arrested, brought before a false court and read false charges. His exchanges with the Sanhedrin and Pilate and bought meaningful and pointless. We already know where this story is going…
Given that we know where the story is going, that is the challenge of this whole week. The challenge of the day. We know the story of the cross, we have heard it for years, many of you have seen the movies, Jesus Film, Passion of the Christ. But how do you enter in to it?
There is a lot that upsets us about the story, the midnight trial, the beating, the skirge.
The choice between Barabbas and Jesus is ironic, are you kidding me? But like much that happens in our lives, we are left to shrug… “It figures!” We are all kind of used to things going bad. People getting away with it. It stinks when we know there is an injustice and it still goes on. But what can you do? Nothing really changes.
It is hard to watch this stuff, but the reality is I don’t want you to watch, I want you to step in to the agony.
There is a line between us and this event. For most of this story we are not involved. V. 27 tells us, “A large number of people followed him.” For most of this the crowd stays uninvolved. The religious leaders get involved with what they say, the Guards contribute, even the criminals get involved…But the crowd, just follows behind, watching.
Like a wreck on the Parkway, we all slow down to look. I’m annoyed at what has slowed my progress, I wish people just kept going, but when you get up to it, you still pause to look at the extent of the damage. Oh man, that one is really bad. You might even pray for the people. But then you keep going.
Then there is a point where the story breaks into the crowd in a violent way. V. 26 tells us that they seized Simon…they didn’t ask. He was made to pick up the cross and follow Jesus. The crowd and Simon follow Jesus. Not the perfect picture of discipleship.
For many of us we have watched, voyeured at this day. Some of us know lots of trivia. Why do they call it good? I was always fascinated about historical accounts about Pilate, the trial, etc. I read doctors accounts of what happened medically to Jesus, the pain of Crucifixion.
But at this point, I am still just watching. I am going to church… I guess that counts. But I am still watching, glad that I’m not Simon.
Why I am not involved? …Oh it’s very risky. Why? Because there is a point where getting involved changes everything.
There is a point in our own personal faith where Jesus has to die. For most of us the Jesus that dies is a complete victim. In the way our story is crafted. He is the tragic hero. He is the martyr. I mean, he is the nicest guy I have ever met. He doesn’t raise his voice, he doesn’t pick up the rock against the adultress. He would play football with my kids if he had the chance. He would totally go to Starbucks with me and watch the final four. He is my buddy, He is a plastic Jesus.
Then… Sometimes we struggle with things like unanswered prayers, sometimes we doubt. Sometimes we struggle with the emotions of feeling abandoned by God, asking the Father, just like Jesus in the garden…do I really have to go through this?
We mumble, “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” Hating the words as they come out. I really don’t want to go through this. Why can’t you just fix this? Why would this nice guy not do everything we ask of him? Then we read a best seller about the purpose driven Jesus or the Jesus that will expand our borders and we are patient with him a little longer. We read the “Footprints” poem on someone’s wall, and we sigh and go on.
The disciples usually are portrayed as lazy in the garden. They can’t stay awake. Luke points out in 22:45, they were sleeping for sorrow. I have known that feeling. That feeling that the world is so painful, all I want to do is sleep. The disciples have caught on, perhaps to realizing following Jesus means something entirely different. How could they have followed Jesus for years and not gotten what it means to be a disciple? How could they indeed. How could I? Rather than face the fact that their image of Jesus, their image of God is falling apart, they fall asleep. Some of us have done the same thing.
Fell asleep.
That is what makes today so vital.
But when this plastic Jesus dies, when this Jesus doesn’t work, we still hold on, we don’t quit on the faith or the church. When the fairy tale Jesus stops working for us, we just slip back into the crowd. We have too much invested. If I have doubts, at least I still have a great group of friends around me. I can stay involved from back here.
And when this Jesus dies, I will dutifully go to the tomb with spices and prepare his body. For many the Christ that dies on Good Friday is the Historical Christ of a dead and dry faith. This week is just a walking through the motions. Going through the stations of this week are like going to rides at the carnival. They are neat for a few minutes.
That’s not the real Jesus. The real Jesus is the prophet we see in Luke, in the last few minutes of his life he is still doing it.
He is still praying, even more earnestly, calling his disciples to pray, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation."
He is still healing. He even heals the guy who had his ear cut off. After the trial he is delivering prophecy,
Jesus turned and said to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, 'Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!' Then " 'they will say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" and to the hills, "Cover us!" ' For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?"
Don’t cry for me…cry for yourselves. That is what this is about. This scene is an injustice, but that is why he is doing it. He suffers this so we can be with him.
He is still forgiving, (23:34 "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.") he is still giving words of peace (23:43 "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."). It is harsh, it is blunt, it is courageous. Luke tells us that Jesus is not going to go quietly. He is still Jesus, the real Jesus even to his last breath.
Luke gives us a picture of Jesus that doesn’t fit with our notions…Luke’s telling, how he frames this ending is the most unfamiliar to us. It would be a lot more comfortable for Jesus to stay quiet as this happens, but he doesn’t, he keeps engaging us, he keeps speaking to us. He speaks of paradise, warns of the future. He reassures us this is not the last chapter. He doesn’t bend, he doesn’t break, He keeps inviting us.
Paul tells us in Philippians 3:10, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection, and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death.”
To know God, to know Christ—To be godly in the deepest sense is to know the suffering of God, the utter grief He knows because of our abandoning him. This is what Christ experienced on the cross—the abandonment of it all. It is what we must experience if we are to know Christ intimately and to be like him. It is what we must experience if we are to truly understand, at a place in our souls, the measure of God’s love for us.
Undoubtedly, you have noticed the mirrors. That might be a bit uncomfortable, as much of this experience has tried to create. The meaning is simply this, you can’t look at the cross without looking at yourself. You can’t be a spectator, a rubbernecker. You can’t stay in the crowd. You can’t just watch.
On this Good Friday, the reality for you is this, the invitation for you is clear. Step into the agony, step into the suffering. If you really want to understand discipleship, you have to be seized, you have to carry the cross, follow behind him. You have to see yourself on the cross and let it transform you. Don’t watch, don’t stare, don’t rubberneck.
I know you are anxious for Easter. Thankfully the scriptures don’t waste any time moving from the burial to Resurrection Sunday. Thank goodness. But we can’t rush. Our Christian experience is Good Friday and Easter all the time, it is death and resurrection. There are days when the Power of God is obvious and days when the Power of God is not obvious. THE POWER OF GOD IS JUST AS REAL ON BOTH DAYS.
Luke knows something very true, it is this Jesus that changes lives. He records it in Acts. On this good Friday, let the fake Jesus die, allow yourself to be seized. Share in the suffering of the true Christ and understand what this day is all about.
Given that we know where the story is going, that is the challenge of this whole week. The challenge of the day. We know the story of the cross, we have heard it for years, many of you have seen the movies, Jesus Film, Passion of the Christ. But how do you enter in to it?
There is a lot that upsets us about the story, the midnight trial, the beating, the skirge.
The choice between Barabbas and Jesus is ironic, are you kidding me? But like much that happens in our lives, we are left to shrug… “It figures!” We are all kind of used to things going bad. People getting away with it. It stinks when we know there is an injustice and it still goes on. But what can you do? Nothing really changes.
It is hard to watch this stuff, but the reality is I don’t want you to watch, I want you to step in to the agony.
There is a line between us and this event. For most of this story we are not involved. V. 27 tells us, “A large number of people followed him.” For most of this the crowd stays uninvolved. The religious leaders get involved with what they say, the Guards contribute, even the criminals get involved…But the crowd, just follows behind, watching.
Like a wreck on the Parkway, we all slow down to look. I’m annoyed at what has slowed my progress, I wish people just kept going, but when you get up to it, you still pause to look at the extent of the damage. Oh man, that one is really bad. You might even pray for the people. But then you keep going.
Then there is a point where the story breaks into the crowd in a violent way. V. 26 tells us that they seized Simon…they didn’t ask. He was made to pick up the cross and follow Jesus. The crowd and Simon follow Jesus. Not the perfect picture of discipleship.
For many of us we have watched, voyeured at this day. Some of us know lots of trivia. Why do they call it good? I was always fascinated about historical accounts about Pilate, the trial, etc. I read doctors accounts of what happened medically to Jesus, the pain of Crucifixion.
But at this point, I am still just watching. I am going to church… I guess that counts. But I am still watching, glad that I’m not Simon.
Why I am not involved? …Oh it’s very risky. Why? Because there is a point where getting involved changes everything.
There is a point in our own personal faith where Jesus has to die. For most of us the Jesus that dies is a complete victim. In the way our story is crafted. He is the tragic hero. He is the martyr. I mean, he is the nicest guy I have ever met. He doesn’t raise his voice, he doesn’t pick up the rock against the adultress. He would play football with my kids if he had the chance. He would totally go to Starbucks with me and watch the final four. He is my buddy, He is a plastic Jesus.
Then… Sometimes we struggle with things like unanswered prayers, sometimes we doubt. Sometimes we struggle with the emotions of feeling abandoned by God, asking the Father, just like Jesus in the garden…do I really have to go through this?
We mumble, “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” Hating the words as they come out. I really don’t want to go through this. Why can’t you just fix this? Why would this nice guy not do everything we ask of him? Then we read a best seller about the purpose driven Jesus or the Jesus that will expand our borders and we are patient with him a little longer. We read the “Footprints” poem on someone’s wall, and we sigh and go on.
The disciples usually are portrayed as lazy in the garden. They can’t stay awake. Luke points out in 22:45, they were sleeping for sorrow. I have known that feeling. That feeling that the world is so painful, all I want to do is sleep. The disciples have caught on, perhaps to realizing following Jesus means something entirely different. How could they have followed Jesus for years and not gotten what it means to be a disciple? How could they indeed. How could I? Rather than face the fact that their image of Jesus, their image of God is falling apart, they fall asleep. Some of us have done the same thing.
Fell asleep.
That is what makes today so vital.
But when this plastic Jesus dies, when this Jesus doesn’t work, we still hold on, we don’t quit on the faith or the church. When the fairy tale Jesus stops working for us, we just slip back into the crowd. We have too much invested. If I have doubts, at least I still have a great group of friends around me. I can stay involved from back here.
And when this Jesus dies, I will dutifully go to the tomb with spices and prepare his body. For many the Christ that dies on Good Friday is the Historical Christ of a dead and dry faith. This week is just a walking through the motions. Going through the stations of this week are like going to rides at the carnival. They are neat for a few minutes.
That’s not the real Jesus. The real Jesus is the prophet we see in Luke, in the last few minutes of his life he is still doing it.
He is still praying, even more earnestly, calling his disciples to pray, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation."
He is still healing. He even heals the guy who had his ear cut off. After the trial he is delivering prophecy,
Jesus turned and said to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, 'Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!' Then " 'they will say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" and to the hills, "Cover us!" ' For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?"
Don’t cry for me…cry for yourselves. That is what this is about. This scene is an injustice, but that is why he is doing it. He suffers this so we can be with him.
He is still forgiving, (23:34 "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.") he is still giving words of peace (23:43 "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."). It is harsh, it is blunt, it is courageous. Luke tells us that Jesus is not going to go quietly. He is still Jesus, the real Jesus even to his last breath.
Luke gives us a picture of Jesus that doesn’t fit with our notions…Luke’s telling, how he frames this ending is the most unfamiliar to us. It would be a lot more comfortable for Jesus to stay quiet as this happens, but he doesn’t, he keeps engaging us, he keeps speaking to us. He speaks of paradise, warns of the future. He reassures us this is not the last chapter. He doesn’t bend, he doesn’t break, He keeps inviting us.
Paul tells us in Philippians 3:10, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection, and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death.”
To know God, to know Christ—To be godly in the deepest sense is to know the suffering of God, the utter grief He knows because of our abandoning him. This is what Christ experienced on the cross—the abandonment of it all. It is what we must experience if we are to know Christ intimately and to be like him. It is what we must experience if we are to truly understand, at a place in our souls, the measure of God’s love for us.
Undoubtedly, you have noticed the mirrors. That might be a bit uncomfortable, as much of this experience has tried to create. The meaning is simply this, you can’t look at the cross without looking at yourself. You can’t be a spectator, a rubbernecker. You can’t stay in the crowd. You can’t just watch.
On this Good Friday, the reality for you is this, the invitation for you is clear. Step into the agony, step into the suffering. If you really want to understand discipleship, you have to be seized, you have to carry the cross, follow behind him. You have to see yourself on the cross and let it transform you. Don’t watch, don’t stare, don’t rubberneck.
I know you are anxious for Easter. Thankfully the scriptures don’t waste any time moving from the burial to Resurrection Sunday. Thank goodness. But we can’t rush. Our Christian experience is Good Friday and Easter all the time, it is death and resurrection. There are days when the Power of God is obvious and days when the Power of God is not obvious. THE POWER OF GOD IS JUST AS REAL ON BOTH DAYS.
Luke knows something very true, it is this Jesus that changes lives. He records it in Acts. On this good Friday, let the fake Jesus die, allow yourself to be seized. Share in the suffering of the true Christ and understand what this day is all about.
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