Our Sermons

Good Friday Gospels
Pastor: Pastor Berg
Sermon Date:  April 15, 2022

A Word of Forgiveness

Had we been in that situation, beaten and battered as Jesus was, we may have found the strength to utter some memorable words. They would have been words of power. They probably would have blistered the ears of anyone who heard them. They would have been words that made your grandma blush. But they certainly wouldn’t have been words of forgiveness. 

Forgiveness isn’t something that comes naturally or easily. And when the other person is in no way deserving, it usually doesn’t come at all. And yet Jesus speaks a word of forgiveness. Don’t misunderstand Jesus when he says, “They don’t know what they are doing.” The Jewish leaders surely understood they had condemned a man who didn’t deserve to die. Even the Roman soldiers who drove the nails into his hands and feet likely knew that all Jesus had done was make an apparently laughable claim to be a king, but didn’t actually deserve to be put to death. Maybe they didn’t fully realize they were putting to death the very Son of God. Maybe they didn’t entirely understand what they were doing, but they understood enough to know this was wrong. 

And even if they didn’t, ignorance is no excuse. Not realizing what you were doing when you’re doing something wrong doesn’t free you from paying the price. No Jesus’ words here do not suggest that those who were putting him to death were not guilty. In fact, the very words prove they were guilty, which is why he asks for forgiveness. 

Is it possible that some of the very same who were so very guilty on this day sought God’s forgiveness when they realized what they had done? When Peter preached on the day of Pentecost just seven weeks later and we hear that the people were “cut to the heart,” did some of the very same receive the forgiveness that Jesus asked for them?

Does this word of forgiveness also extend to us, who so often know exactly what we are doing when we sin? Clearly it does. That’s what Good Friday is all about. By God’s grace, we’ve been brought into his family and live in the state of grace, fully forgiven. God answered Jesus’ prayer which he first requested on the cross–a forgiveness that he is about to win for us.

A Word of Promise

Has it ever struck you how much Jesus said when a simple, “Ok,” would have sufficed? Why the lengthy reply? Because Jesus wanted this word to be one of promise. A sure promise. This was no casual, throwaway, “maybe,” or “we’ll see.” This was certain. And how amazing, because the request of the criminal is the same request we make. We want to know, we need to know that Jesus will remember us. How comforting it is to hear Jesus say, “Amen, I tell you…” “Yes, it shall be so, I tell you.” Have no doubt about it, I tell you. “Today.” Again, a definitive promise. Not someday, not eventually, not “after you’ve finished paying for your sins,” Today! “You.” Such a common word, but how personal. It didn’t matter at that moment to that thief what happened to anyone else. He needed to know what was going to happen to him. He needed to know that there was room and welcome in heaven, even for him.

Isn’t that what we want to know, need to know? We know the depth of our sinfulness. We know what we deserve. I need to know, you need to know if there’s room and welcome for someone like me, for someone like you. And so Jesus makes it personal. He puts his own name on you and claims you as his own and he says to you: “You will be with me in paradise.” Not maybe, not possibly, you will. You have Jesus’ word of promise.

A Word of Love

The events of this day just keep getting more and more amazing. How could this be the number one thing on his mind at this moment? He has nails through his hands and feet, his back is cut to shreds. His head is crowned with thorns, and he’s concerned about Mary? Yes, it’s his mother, but the wrath of God for the sins of the whole world is about to hit him like a runaway train, and this is the one thing on his mind? 

We can try to make it comprehensible that this was the right thing to do, but as we do, we condemn ourselves in the process. We condemn ourselves in the way that we’ve dealt with our own mothers. For even for the people who have done the most for us in our lives, our words to them have not always been words of love. Instead there have been words of disrespect, words of rebellion, words of anger–the very opposite of love. And those words have spluttered from our lips in far less trying circumstances; loveless words when circumstances weren’t even trying at all. 

How amazing, then, to see in this word of love, Jesus our substitute keeping God’s command to love your neighbor, keeping God’s command to honor your mother. In our place, Jesus, even on the cross, is actively obeying the Law perfectly so it will be credited to our account! Such is the love of Jesus for you and for me! Jesus cared not just about Mary’s eternity, but her physical needs as well. And the same is true for you and me. Jesus displays love that never turns off, even in the worst of circumstances. A love that cares for us, body and soul.

A Word of ???

No, that’s not a typo. It’s not a placeholder. It’s just that there’s not a word that does justice to what Jesus is experiencing on the cross. The unspoken answer to Jesus’ question–that God has forsaken him because he is punishing him not only for every sin that you have committed (which would be an absolutely staggering burden all on its own)–just look at that cross–but also for the sins of the whole world. What word could possibly be used to describe suffering the holy and just wrath of God for every sin you’ve ever committed? Anguish is a word used only in the most extreme circumstances, to describe only the deepest of human emotions and sorrow, the most painful feelings we’ve ever experienced. And not to diminish the depth of the deepest anguish we’ve experienced, it just doesn’t feel right to use the same word for what Jesus is going through. 

I don’t know a word that does it justice. But I know this: I can’t find a word or even a paragraph to accurately describe what you hear from Jesus in this fourth word from the cross. Honestly, I don’t even want to find it. If such a word existed, and I could comprehend even a tenth of the meaning of such a word, that knowledge alone would be enough to kill me. Being forsaken by God? I can’t imagine it. I don’t want to. 

And by God’s grace, we never will. Because Jesus experienced hell on the cross at this moment, we will never need to know what it’s like. We will only ever know the feeling of God’s loving and blessing presence. You want to know what love is? This is love.

A Word of Fulfillment

Why did Jesus speak this word? The obvious answer is that he was thirsty. Raging thirst was one of the horrible effects of crucifixion. And it’s good for us to hear this word, because it reminds us that what is happening here is no charade. Jesus was not pretending to suffer. This is actual thirst. And all this reality reminds us that a real payment for sin was made on the cross on our behalf. Our sins really have been paid for.

Yes, Jesus was really thirsty. But that isn’t the most important answer to why he spoke this word. The answer is given to us right in the text: “So that the Scripture would be fulfilled.” The same Savior who said that he had come to dot every “i” and cross every “t” of God’s Law, had also come to fulfill every last prophecy made about him. In Psalm 22, Jesus prophesied about himself, “My  strength is dried up like broken pottery, and my tongue is stuck to the roof of my mouth.” And then he said in Psalm 69, “For my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.” It’s remarkable considering the circumstances that Jesus would even think about fulfilling this small portion of Scripture, but that’s exactly the kind of Savior and substitute we have. He left nothing undone. He did it all.

A Word of Completion

Finished. It’s hard for us to think of many things actually being finished. Oh, little things get finished, I suppose. Writing an exam, reading a book–those sorts of things can be finished. Laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning–those sorts of things are never finished. They need constant attention. You could say the same thing about our relationship with others. There’s always something we can do to improve. 

And many people think the same way about their status before God. They view it as unfinished, under construction. They talk about having to get on God’s good side and how they can stay there. In other words, they never think it’s finished because there’s always something they have to do. And while they may be sincere in their intentions, they are mistaken about how this works. 

Jesus said, “It is finished.” The sacrifice for sin? “So Christ was offered only once to take away the sins of many.” “He offered one sacrifice for sins for all time.” Finished! The condemnation of God’s Law? “So then, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” “He was handed over to death because of our trespasses.” Finished! The need to measure up to God’s standards? “By only one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being sanctified.” Finished! Jesus’ sixth word from the cross was very literally one word: Tetelestai. It’s the word the shop keeper would use when the bill was paid. Paid in full. Finished. Jesus said this word, not because the Father needed to hear it, but because we need to hear it. When the devil comes to us on our deathbed, when he holds the Ten Commandments before us to fill us with despair over sin, we can speak this word to the devil. Finished!

A Word of Confidence

Jesus’ last words from the cross are not words of defeat or despair like you might expect from someone about to die. They are not words of death. They are confident words of victory. They are confident words of life. Just as Jesus had assured the thief on the cross, Jesus expected the same. Yes, he knew his body would go into the tomb, but he also knew that his soul would immediately be with God in the glory of heaven. He knew that very shortly his resurrection proved that all had been accomplished, that he could stand before his Father knowing that everything had been done, that he was blameless in his sight, that he could call him Father. And so he peacefully and confidently entrusts his soul to God.

Because of Jesus, at our last hour, we can speak with the same confidence. Even in death we can be confident for we know what Jesus has promised. We need not fear having our souls sentenced to everlasting suffering, because we too will stand blameless before God. We will stand with sins paid for, sins removed, wearing the righteousness of Christ. It is finished. Amen