[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at noon on Good Friday, the 10th of April, 2020 at Pilgrim Reformed Church. This was an abbreviated service, also streamed live, due to constraints put in place from the COVID-19 pandemic. Our YouTube streaming channel is http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg. Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel: http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]
Last night, after sharing the Passover meal with His dearest friends and closest disciples, one of those seated at His table betrayed Jesus to the authorities. He was arrested and hauled away to stand before Caiaphas the high priest, who had assembled all the scribes and the elders together with him. During the night, Judas, the betrayer, hanged himself, and three times Peter denied even knowing Jesus.
Our church reading earlier, from our hymnal, is adapted from Mark 15, as sort of a summary. I’d like to read the full story of this event to you, the trial and execution of Jesus. Listen to the Gospel account of the Apostle Mark, from chapter 15 verses 1 through 39, reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible...
Our church reading earlier, from our hymnal, is adapted from Mark 15, as sort of a summary. I’d like to read the full story of this event to you, the trial and execution of Jesus. Listen to the Gospel account of the Apostle Mark, from chapter 15 verses 1 through 39, reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible...
1 Immediately, in the morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council; and they bound Jesus, led Him away, and delivered Him to Pilate. 2 Then Pilate asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”
He answered and said to him, “It is as you say.”
3 And the chief priests accused Him of many things, but He answered nothing. 4 Then Pilate asked Him again, saying, “Do You answer nothing? See how many things they testify against You!” 5 But Jesus still answered nothing, so that Pilate marveled.
6 Now at the feast he was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them, whomever they requested. 7 And there was one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow rebels; they had committed murder in the rebellion. 8 Then the multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to do just as he had always done for them. 9 But Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” 10 For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.
11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them. 12 Pilate answered and said to them again, “What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?”
13 So they cried out again, “Crucify Him!”
14 Then Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?”
But they cried out all the more, “Crucify Him!”
15 So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.
16 Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison. 17 And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, 18 and began to salute Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 Then they struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him. 20 And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.
21 Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross. 22 And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. 23 Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it. 24 And when they crucified Him, they divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take.
25 Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him. 26 And the inscription of His accusation was written above:
THE KING OF THE JEWS.
27 With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left. 28 So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with the transgressors.”
29 And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 save Yourself, and come down from the cross!”
31 Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. 32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe.”
Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him.
33 Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
35 Some of those who stood by, when they heard that, said, “Look, He is calling for Elijah!” 36 Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down.”
37 And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last.
38 Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!”
--Mark 15:1-39 (NKJV)
Let us pray… Father God, this afternoon we remember the darkest day in all of Your creation – the day we tortured and executed Your Son, nailing Him to a cruel cross. Jesus came to offer us salvation, but the world refused Him. We drove nails into the hands He stretched out to save us. We cursed Him, spat on Him, beat Him, killed Him. But You knew all this had to happen. You knew that only the blood of the one true Spotless Lamb could wash us clean and atone for our sin. Thank You, Father, for Your great love and mercy. Thank You, Jesus, for Your sacrifice. Imprint this day on our hearts so that we might understand just how important this is to us and to others, how critical it is for our eternal life. This we pray in the name of the Lamb, Your Son Jesus. Amen.
That is a very long passage and there is much of importance in it. All four of the canonical Gospel writers recorded this event, from their own perspectives. Most likely John left a little early, having been given charge of Jesus’ mother, Mary, who could not have endured watching her son slain so cruelly. Nonetheless, we know by this repetition just how critical it is that we grasp all that what Jesus went through this day. For those who love Jesus, this is the saddest day in our Christian calendar by far.
The day started with relentless questioning, followed by taunting and ridicule, pretty much continuing the treatment of the night before. The Jews had already condemned Jesus for saying He was the Messiah, which of course, He was, but they did not have the authority to put Him to death. So they tied Him up again and sent Him off to Pilate, the Roman governor of the region.
Pilate couldn’t find any guilt or evil in the man standing before him, this man who refused to defend Himself against all the charges being leveled against Him by the Jews. But Pilate was charged with keeping the peace in the land, and the Jews were nearing the point of riot, so he gave in and ordered that Jesus be beaten and then crucified.
The beating, the scourging, would be bad enough, leaving Jesus weak and suffering great pain and loss of blood. But crucifixion is a long, horrible death. Add to that the greater indignation our Lord suffered at the hands of the Roman soldiers, none of whom even believed in the one true God, let alone Jesus as God’s Son. This was our Lord, enduring all this pain and torment, just for us.
And then the third hour came and Jesus was crucified. By Jewish reckoning, the day started at what we would consider 6 AM. So at 9 AM, the Roman soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross there on the hill of Golgotha. He was crucified there along with two thieves, which fulfilled the Messianic prophecy of Isaiah, who foretold that He would be numbered with the transgressors, the sinners. And the ridicule and taunting continued, even as He hung there in physical agony.
Then came the sixth hour, noon, and darkness fell over the land for the next three hours. This was also in fulfillment of prophecy, as spoken by the prophet Amos in chapter 8 verse 9…
9 “And it shall come to pass in that day,” says the Lord God,
“That I will make the sun go down at noon,
And I will darken the earth in broad daylight."
--Amos 8:9 (NKJV)
And at the ninth hour, 3 o’clock in the afternoon, Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Now, Jesus is God, one person of the Holy Trinity. So how could He be forsaken, abandoned, by God? How could Jesus ever be separated from God? By the same way we are separated from God: by our sin.
Jesus, who was without sin, the Spotless Lamb, was taking on all the sin of the world. Your sin, my sin, the sin of everyone who has ever or will ever walk the face of this earth, was falling on His shoulders. This was the greatest torment, this caused the greatest suffering for our Lord. Our sin, taken on by Jesus, separated Him from God for the first time. For the first time, God the Father turned His back on Jesus His Son.
And then Jesus cried out and breathed His last.
With this last breath, the veil of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Matthew adds that the earth shook and rocks split in two, graves opened and the bodies of many saints were raised. But the reference to the veil splitting is something we need to understand.
The Jewish temple in Jerusalem was built and destroyed a couple of times. Each iteration was a little different, but each had an inner court, the Holy of Holies. This was the place where the Arc of the Covenant was kept, and where God Himself would come and sit, where only the high priest could enter. The inner court was separated from the more common areas by a veil, hung from ceiling to floor. The veil, in effect, separated the common people from their God, since they were not allowed to enter the Holy of Holies.
But now, with the sacrifice of the Spotless Lamb, the veil had been torn. Jesus died, and carried all our sin to the grave. Now, nothing separates us from God - not our sin, not even the symbolic veil! The Christ allowed Himself to be sacrificed so that all people – priests and commoners – might be reunited with His Father God! Jesus gave of His life so that we might live forever!
Of course, there is a catch. The Roman centurion who stood there near the cross understood it. He said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!” He recognized Jesus for who He truly is. And so must we.
To enjoy that everlasting life in paradise, we must believe in Jesus, recognizing Him as the one true Son of God. We must know Him as our personal Lord and Savior. And if we truly believe, we will love Him. And if we love Him, we will do what He tells us to do. We will love others, unconditionally, just as He loves. We will forgive wrongs done against us, just as we are forgiven. And we will spread the Good News of salvation through Him, testifying of all He has done for us, witnessing to how good He is.
The veil has been torn. Now nothing can separate us from God. 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, You came offering the living water that leads to eternal life. You came to us when we were lost in our sin, holding out Your hand to us. You came to break the chains of sin that hold us captive to this world. You came to save us from ourselves. And how did we react to all this mercy and grace? We refused to accept You. We tortured You and nailed You to a cruel cross. You asked Your Father God to forgive those who tormented and beat You, because they just didn’t understand. Yet still, to this very day, even we who are called by Your name, we still drive nails in Your hands. We believe in You and Your goodness, but the world has too strong a grasp on us, and we are afraid to let it go. We judge others based on their looks or their background or the color of their skin, without taking the time to see what is in their hearts. 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 would be accomplished. You knew why it was necessary for You to be slaughtered, the Spotless Lamb, for the atonement of our sin. Help us, please Lord, to fully grasp the importance of Your sacrifices to our eternal soul. Help us realize that Your greatest suffering came not from any physical pain, but from having to take all our sin upon Yourself. Forgive us when we fail You. Forgive us when we won’t listen to Your voice, when we don’t live as You would have us live, when we hesitate to speak out in Your defense, when we deny You by our actions and our inactions. Forgive us when we fail to love sacrificially, unconditionally, as You love us. Help us be worthy of Your great sacrifice. Help us better serve You. In Your precious name, Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen.
Let us seek God’s forgiveness by confessing our sin:
Merciful God, we confess that so often our discipleship has been weak, when we have failed to serve as Jesus served; Father, forgive us. When we have failed to love one another as Jesus loves us; Father, forgive us. When we have been happy to proclaim our devotion to Jesus with our lips and then denied Him by our actions; Father, forgive us.
Merciful God, empower us by Your Spirit to be steady and true to You in every time of trial; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Jesus said: "I came not to judge the world, but to save the world", and having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them even to the end. The good news therefore is this: In Jesus Christ, we are loved and we are forgiven. Thanks be to God!
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