[The following is a manuscript of my meditation delivered at 12 noon on Good Friday, the 30th of March, 2018. A video of the service may be found on our Vimeo channel: http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]
The Apostle Luke describes that dark day when man showed just how cruel he can be. Jesus came to earth to offer mankind the greatest gift of all: salvation from sin and life eternal with God in heaven. And in return, we taunted Him, we beat Him, we tortured Him, and we nailed Him to a rough cross, there to die a horrible death.
Not once did He ask for mercy. Not once did He cry out begging to be spared. Not once did He condemn any man for the terrible actions of that day. Not once did He call out to His Father God to send an army of angels to rescue Him. For He knew that His job was not quite finished.
Listen to Luke’s Gospel account from chapter 23, verses 13 through 56, reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible...
13 Then Pilate called together the leading priests and other religious leaders, along with the people, 14 and he announced his verdict. “You brought this Man to me, accusing Him of leading a revolt. I have examined Him thoroughly on this point in your presence and find Him innocent. 15 Herod came to the same conclusion and sent Him back to us. Nothing this Man has done calls for the death penalty. 16 So I will have Him flogged, and then I will release Him.” 17 Now it was necessary for him to release one prisoner to them during the Passover celebration.
18 Then a mighty roar rose from the crowd, and with one voice they shouted, “Kill Him, and release Barabbas to us!” 19 (Barabbas was in prison for taking part in an insurrection in Jerusalem against the government, and for murder.) 20 Pilate argued with them, because he wanted to release Jesus. 21 But they kept shouting, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”
22 For the third time he demanded, “Why? What crime has He committed? I have found no reason to sentence Him to death. So I will have Him flogged, and then I will release Him.”
23 But the mob shouted louder and louder, demanding that Jesus be crucified, and their voices prevailed. 24 So Pilate sentenced Jesus to die as they demanded. 25 As they had requested, he released Barabbas, the man in prison for insurrection and murder. But he turned Jesus over to them to do as they wished.
26 As they led Jesus away, a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, happened to be coming in from the countryside. The soldiers seized him and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A large crowd trailed behind, including many grief-stricken women. 28 But Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the days are coming when they will say, ‘Fortunate indeed are the women who are childless, the wombs that have not borne a child and the breasts that have never nursed.’ 30 People will beg the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and plead with the hills, ‘Bury us.’ 31 For if these things are done when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
32 Two others, both criminals, were led out to be executed with Him. 33 When they came to a place called The Skull, they nailed Him to the cross. And the criminals were also crucified — one on His right and one on His left.
34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” And the soldiers gambled for His clothes by casting lots.
35 The crowd watched and the leaders scoffed. “He saved others,” they said, “let Him save Himself if He is really God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” 36 The soldiers mocked Him, too, by offering Him a drink of sour wine. 37 They called out to Him, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!” 38 A sign was fastened above Him with these words: “This is the King of the Jews.”
39 One of the criminals hanging beside Him scoffed, “So You’re the Messiah, are You? Prove it by saving Yourself — and us, too, while You’re at it!”
40 But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? 41 We deserve to die for our crimes, but this Man hasn’t done anything wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom.”
43 And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with Me in paradise.”
44 By this time it was about noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. 45 The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle. 46 Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust My spirit into Your hands!” And with those words He breathed His last.
47 When the Roman officer overseeing the execution saw what had happened, he worshiped God and said, “Surely this Man was righteous.” 48 And when all the crowd that came to see the crucifixion saw what had happened, they went home in deep sorrow. 49 But Jesus’ friends, including the women who had followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching.
50 Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph. He was a member of the Jewish high council, 51 but he had not agreed with the decision and actions of the other religious leaders. He was from the town of Arimathea in Judea, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come. 52 He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. 53 Then he took the body down from the cross and wrapped it in a long sheet of linen cloth and laid it in a new tomb that had been carved out of rock. 54 This was done late on Friday afternoon, the day of preparation, as the Sabbath was about to begin.
55 As His body was taken away, the women from Galilee followed and saw the tomb where His body was placed. 56 Then they went home and prepared spices and ointments to anoint His body. But by the time they were finished the Sabbath had begun, so they rested as required by the law.
--Luke 23:13-56 (NLT)
Jesus had a job to do, assigned to Him by His Father. Completing that job came at great cost. We observe today, Good Friday, as the final installment of the full payment of that price.
So much happened that fateful Friday. First Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve men He chose to follow Him and help with His ministry. And then He was betrayed by the very people He came to offer salvation to.
Just a few days ago, these very Jews had cheered Jesus as He entered the city of Jerusalem. They waved palm branches in the air and covered His path with flowers and even their cloaks. But the job wasn’t quite finished, and the people’s shouts of “Hosanna in the highest!” quickly turned to those of “Crucify Him!”, “Crucify Him!”
Jesus was first taken before the high priests where they accused Him of blasphemy and spat on Him, tore His clothes, and beat Him. The Roman soldiers taunted Him, put fancy clothes on Him, gave Him a “royal” staff to hold, made a crown from thorns and crammed it down on His head, drawing blood. They mockingly bowed down to Him and addressed Him as King of the Jews. Then they took off the fancy robe and beat Him time after time with the staff. But they weren’t quite finished with Him.
Pilate ordered that Jesus be flogged. A cat-o-nine-tails would have been used, a horrible little whip made from attaching nine straps of leather onto a short wooden handle, and then tying bits of broken pottery and scraps of sharp metal onto the leather strips. The resultant tool would literally strip the flesh off its victim, leaving them bleeding and raw.
After the flogging, Jesus was paraded through the streets of the city, His clothes and His flesh in tatters and hanging from His battered and torn body. No shouts of Hosanna nor flowers met Him this time. They would have forced Jesus to carry His own cross to the hill called Golgotha, but He was too weak from the beatings. So they grabbed an innocent worker returning from the fields and made him carry it.
They laid the cross down, stretched Jesus out over it, and drove crude iron nails through the flesh of His hands and into the wood. Through the flesh of His ankles and into the wood. Then they hoisted the cross upright, pulling our Lord into a painful position where His weight was supported only by the nails through His flesh.
Breathing is difficult, hanging by the outstretched arms like that, so crucifixion victims would try to put their weight on their feet, as painful as that would be, so that their lungs could extend and take in air. But soon their legs would give out and they would slump, again only to be supported by their hands, again to labor just to take in breath.
If the victim did not die fast enough, either from blood loss or suffocation, their legs would be smashed with the hammer and broken so they could no longer support themselves to breathe. Jesus succumbed before that last act of barbarity became necessary.
I know of no form of execution devised by man that is crueler than crucifixion. Even that last breath, that last shout to His Father, would have been sheer torture. Yet it wasn’t quite finished.
The crowds slowly dispersed, leaving only the Roman soldiers, Jesus’ friends, and the women who had followed Him from Galilee, including His mother. One Jew who witnessed this scene opposed what had happened, what had been done. His name was Joseph, he hailed from the town of Arimathea, and he was a member of the Jewish high council, and he recognized Jesus for what He was. He asked Pilate for the broken body of Jesus, a request that was granted.
Joseph prepared the body for burial and then laid it in a newly carved tomb, late that Friday afternoon. The women followed him to see where the body would be placed, and then went home to prepare some spices and fragrant oil and ointments so they could go back and anoint the body. But before they could finish their preparations, the Sabbath had begun, and being good Jews, they rested as required by the Law of Moses, as commanded by God. Their job wasn’t quite finished.
By now you may be wondering what’s left to do? Jesus died for us, right? He suffered the punishment we deserved. He took all the world’s sins – our sins – upon Himself so that we could be seen as sinless in God’s eyes. What more was left to do? What more had to be paid before the full cost of carrying out God’s plan was covered? What wasn’t yet finished?
To the world, that Friday long ago, to Jesus’ friends and followers, to His mother and brothers, it surely looked like it was all over. Jesus was dead, buried, His ministry done and over. They couldn’t see how anything good could come tomorrow, or the next days, or anytime ahead. Their future looked bleak and hopeless.
Had it ended there, that Friday afternoon, with Jesus’ body lying in the tomb, there would be no church today. The world would still be seeking its savior. Mankind would be doomed to eternal damnation, everlasting separation from God and His love. If it had finished when Jesus died on the cross and was laid to rest, we would have no hope, no promise, no future.
But the job was not quite finished. The cost had been paid in full, but a few details remained to be completed. We know the rest of the story. We know that God raised Jesus from the dead, as a promise of our own bodily resurrection. We know that Jesus returned to heaven still in that body – a sign of our own future as believers.
But still, it’s not quite finished. There’s a little more yet to do. Because Jesus promised He would return some day and set the world aright. He will come back to us and defeat evil, punish the wicked, and reward the faithful. And then we can live with Him and our Father God forever, just as God planned all along.
But we’ve not quite gotten to that point yet, and there’s still a little more to do. This time, the task is left to us. Before He left us, our Lord commanded us to go out into the world spreading the Gospel, making disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them all we have been taught about Jesus.
That’s our job and it’s not quite finished. So let’s roll up our spiritual sleeves and get to work. We can’t allow the great sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf to go unappreciated, to be wasted, His blood shed for nothing. We are the body of Christ Jesus left on the earth to continue His work. And it’s not quite finished. It’s time we get to it.
In the blessed name of Him who died so that we might live, the name of Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray… Lord Jesus, we cannot even imagine what You went through that last day of Your mortal life, that fateful Friday so long ago. None of Your life here came easy. Like the prophet Isaiah foretold, the very people You came to save hated and despised You. They plotted Your death and betrayed You. They even denied You. Forgive us, Lord, because sometimes we still don’t know what we are doing.
But You knew, Lord. Every step of the way, You knew what was coming. You knew how the events of every single day would play out, including Your last day lived as a mortal man. You knew exactly how God’s plan must be accomplished, and that it was not quite finished before You left. So You instructed us on what to do until You return to wrap up the job. Help us, please Lord, to be faithful to the task You left us. Help us to be strong when the weight of our responsibility bears greatly on our shoulders. Help us do as You commanded even when we are afraid to stand up, to speak up, to show the world how much You mean to us. Forgive us when we hesitated to witness to You. Forgive us when we turn away from the needs of those around us, oblivious to their plight. Forgive us when we fail to love sacrificially, unconditionally, as You love us. Help us be worthy of Your great sacrifice. In Your precious name, Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen.
So much happened that fateful Friday. First Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve men He chose to follow Him and help with His ministry. And then He was betrayed by the very people He came to offer salvation to.
Just a few days ago, these very Jews had cheered Jesus as He entered the city of Jerusalem. They waved palm branches in the air and covered His path with flowers and even their cloaks. But the job wasn’t quite finished, and the people’s shouts of “Hosanna in the highest!” quickly turned to those of “Crucify Him!”, “Crucify Him!”
Jesus was first taken before the high priests where they accused Him of blasphemy and spat on Him, tore His clothes, and beat Him. The Roman soldiers taunted Him, put fancy clothes on Him, gave Him a “royal” staff to hold, made a crown from thorns and crammed it down on His head, drawing blood. They mockingly bowed down to Him and addressed Him as King of the Jews. Then they took off the fancy robe and beat Him time after time with the staff. But they weren’t quite finished with Him.
Pilate ordered that Jesus be flogged. A cat-o-nine-tails would have been used, a horrible little whip made from attaching nine straps of leather onto a short wooden handle, and then tying bits of broken pottery and scraps of sharp metal onto the leather strips. The resultant tool would literally strip the flesh off its victim, leaving them bleeding and raw.
After the flogging, Jesus was paraded through the streets of the city, His clothes and His flesh in tatters and hanging from His battered and torn body. No shouts of Hosanna nor flowers met Him this time. They would have forced Jesus to carry His own cross to the hill called Golgotha, but He was too weak from the beatings. So they grabbed an innocent worker returning from the fields and made him carry it.
They laid the cross down, stretched Jesus out over it, and drove crude iron nails through the flesh of His hands and into the wood. Through the flesh of His ankles and into the wood. Then they hoisted the cross upright, pulling our Lord into a painful position where His weight was supported only by the nails through His flesh.
Breathing is difficult, hanging by the outstretched arms like that, so crucifixion victims would try to put their weight on their feet, as painful as that would be, so that their lungs could extend and take in air. But soon their legs would give out and they would slump, again only to be supported by their hands, again to labor just to take in breath.
If the victim did not die fast enough, either from blood loss or suffocation, their legs would be smashed with the hammer and broken so they could no longer support themselves to breathe. Jesus succumbed before that last act of barbarity became necessary.
I know of no form of execution devised by man that is crueler than crucifixion. Even that last breath, that last shout to His Father, would have been sheer torture. Yet it wasn’t quite finished.
The crowds slowly dispersed, leaving only the Roman soldiers, Jesus’ friends, and the women who had followed Him from Galilee, including His mother. One Jew who witnessed this scene opposed what had happened, what had been done. His name was Joseph, he hailed from the town of Arimathea, and he was a member of the Jewish high council, and he recognized Jesus for what He was. He asked Pilate for the broken body of Jesus, a request that was granted.
Joseph prepared the body for burial and then laid it in a newly carved tomb, late that Friday afternoon. The women followed him to see where the body would be placed, and then went home to prepare some spices and fragrant oil and ointments so they could go back and anoint the body. But before they could finish their preparations, the Sabbath had begun, and being good Jews, they rested as required by the Law of Moses, as commanded by God. Their job wasn’t quite finished.
By now you may be wondering what’s left to do? Jesus died for us, right? He suffered the punishment we deserved. He took all the world’s sins – our sins – upon Himself so that we could be seen as sinless in God’s eyes. What more was left to do? What more had to be paid before the full cost of carrying out God’s plan was covered? What wasn’t yet finished?
To the world, that Friday long ago, to Jesus’ friends and followers, to His mother and brothers, it surely looked like it was all over. Jesus was dead, buried, His ministry done and over. They couldn’t see how anything good could come tomorrow, or the next days, or anytime ahead. Their future looked bleak and hopeless.
Had it ended there, that Friday afternoon, with Jesus’ body lying in the tomb, there would be no church today. The world would still be seeking its savior. Mankind would be doomed to eternal damnation, everlasting separation from God and His love. If it had finished when Jesus died on the cross and was laid to rest, we would have no hope, no promise, no future.
But the job was not quite finished. The cost had been paid in full, but a few details remained to be completed. We know the rest of the story. We know that God raised Jesus from the dead, as a promise of our own bodily resurrection. We know that Jesus returned to heaven still in that body – a sign of our own future as believers.
But still, it’s not quite finished. There’s a little more yet to do. Because Jesus promised He would return some day and set the world aright. He will come back to us and defeat evil, punish the wicked, and reward the faithful. And then we can live with Him and our Father God forever, just as God planned all along.
But we’ve not quite gotten to that point yet, and there’s still a little more to do. This time, the task is left to us. Before He left us, our Lord commanded us to go out into the world spreading the Gospel, making disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them all we have been taught about Jesus.
That’s our job and it’s not quite finished. So let’s roll up our spiritual sleeves and get to work. We can’t allow the great sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf to go unappreciated, to be wasted, His blood shed for nothing. We are the body of Christ Jesus left on the earth to continue His work. And it’s not quite finished. It’s time we get to it.
In the blessed name of Him who died so that we might live, the name of Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray… Lord Jesus, we cannot even imagine what You went through that last day of Your mortal life, that fateful Friday so long ago. None of Your life here came easy. Like the prophet Isaiah foretold, the very people You came to save hated and despised You. They plotted Your death and betrayed You. They even denied You. Forgive us, Lord, because sometimes we still don’t know what we are doing.
But You knew, Lord. Every step of the way, You knew what was coming. You knew how the events of every single day would play out, including Your last day lived as a mortal man. You knew exactly how God’s plan must be accomplished, and that it was not quite finished before You left. So You instructed us on what to do until You return to wrap up the job. Help us, please Lord, to be faithful to the task You left us. Help us to be strong when the weight of our responsibility bears greatly on our shoulders. Help us do as You commanded even when we are afraid to stand up, to speak up, to show the world how much You mean to us. Forgive us when we hesitated to witness to You. Forgive us when we turn away from the needs of those around us, oblivious to their plight. Forgive us when we fail to love sacrificially, unconditionally, as You love us. Help us be worthy of Your great sacrifice. In Your precious name, Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen.
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