Good Friday – 25 March 2016 – Year C

Good Friday – 25 March 2016 – Year C

Grace to you and peace from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

The text for this meditation is the “Passion Text” as written in the Gospel according to St

John: Chapter 18: through to Chapter 19: Verse 42:

After Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to a placewhere there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. 2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, alsoknew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas brought a detachmentof soldiers together with police from the chief priests and the Pharisees, and they came there withlanterns and torches and weapons. 4 Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him, cameforward and asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” 5 They answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.”[a]Jesus replied, “I am he.”[b] Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. 6 When Jesus[c] saidto them, “I am he,”[d] they stepped back and fell to the ground. 7 Again he asked them, “Whom areyou looking for?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”[e] 8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he.[f]So if you are looking for me, let these men go.” 9 This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken, “I didnot lose a single one of those whom you gave me.” 10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it,struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear. The slave’s name was Malchus. 11 Jesus saidto Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has givenme?”12 So the soldiers, their officer, and the Jewish police arrested Jesus and bound him. 13 Firstthey took him to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. 14 Caiaphaswas the one who had advised the Jews that it was better to have one person die for thepeople.15 Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Since that disciple was known to the highpriest, he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, 16 but Peter was standing outside atthe gate. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out, spoke to the woman whoguarded the gate, and brought Peter in. 17 The woman said to Peter, “You are not also one of thisman’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” 18 Now the slaves and the police had made a charcoalfire because it was cold, and they were standing around it and warming themselves. Peter also wasstanding with them and warming himself.19 Then the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. 20 Jesusanswered, “I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple,where all the Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. 21 Why do you ask me? Ask thosewho heard what I said to them; they know what I said.” 22 When he had said this, one of the policestanding nearby struck Jesus on the face, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” 23 Jesusanswered, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why do youstrike me?” 24 Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.25 Now Simon Peter wasstanding and warming himself. They asked him, “You are not also one of his disciples, are you?” Hedenied it and said, “I am not.” 26 One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose earPeter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” 27 Again Peter denied it, and atthat moment the cock crowed.28 Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate’s headquarters.[g] Itwas early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters,[h] so as to avoid ritualdefilement and to be able to eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate went out to them and said, “Whataccusation do you bring against this man?” 30 They answered, “If this man were not a criminal, wewould not have handed him over to you.” 31 Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge himaccording to your law.” The Jews replied, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death.” 32 (This wasto fulfill what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.)33 Then Pilate entered the headquarters[i] again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you theKing of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you aboutme?” 35 Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed youover to me. What have you done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If mykingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over tothe Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” 37 Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesusanswered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testifyto the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” 38 Pilate asked him, “What istruth?”After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no case against him.39 But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover. Do you want me to releasefor you the King of the Jews?” 40 They shouted in reply, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbaswas a bandit.19 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put iton his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. 3 They kept coming up to him, saying, “Hail, Kingof the Jews!” and striking him on the face. 4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “Look, I ambringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him.” 5 So Jesus came out, wearingthe crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” 6 When the chiefpriests and the police saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Takehim yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him.” 7 The Jews answered him, “We have alaw, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.”8 Now when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever. 9 He entered his headquarters[j] againand asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 Pilate therefore said tohim, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power tocrucify you?” 11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no power over me unless it had been givenyou from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” 12 From thenon Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are no friend of theemperor. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the emperor.”13 When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat[k] on the judge’s bench at aplace called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew[l] Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the day of Preparation forthe Passover; and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, “Here is your King!” 15 They cried out,“Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chiefpriests answered, “We have no king but the emperor.” 16 Then he handed him over to them to becrucified.So they took Jesus; 17 and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place ofthe Skull, which in Hebrew[m] is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him, and with him twoothers, one on either side, with Jesus between them. 19 Pilate also had an inscription written and puton the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth,[n] the King of the Jews.” 20 Many of the Jews read thisinscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written inHebrew,[o] 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 havewritten I have written.” 23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and dividedthem 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 itto 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 hismother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here isyour son.” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple tookher into his own home.28 After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I amthirsty.” 29 A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on abranch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It isfinished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.31 Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during thesabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to havethe legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. 32 Then the soldiers came and brokethe legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesusand saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers piercedhis side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. 35 (He who saw this has testified so thatyou also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows[p] that he tells the truth.) 36 These thingsoccurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, “None of his bones shall be broken.” 37 And againanother passage of scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.”38 After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret onebecause of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave himpermission; so he came and removed his body. 39 Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus bynight, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. 40 Theytook the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom ofthe Jews. 41 Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden therewas a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. 42 And so, because it was the Jewish day ofPreparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

The only innocent Man is put on trial today. Even the godless heathen, Pilate, knows what a

sham this trial is. Christ, meek and mild, is accused of being a violent insurrectionist against

Rome. His peaceful demeanor and gentle answers make His innocence obvious to

Pilate. The Roman governor can find no fault at all in Him. Yet Pilate, the coward, cannot

stand against the people. So he sentences the innocent Man to crucifixion, and participates

in the death of God's own Son.

Christ could have cleared Himself at any time. He could have given wise answers, as He

had answered the Jewish leaders so many times before when they tested Him. He could

have confounded them with His words until they were compelled to set Him free again.

But He did not defend Himself. He was silent when He could have gone free. He did not

open His mouth to save His own life.

Christ was so perfectly innocent that the Jewish leaders had to resort to a night trial, which

was illegal under their own codes of law. The witnesses could only bring false testimonies

against Christ. Their words were so obviously lies that they could not even agree with one

another. Even that illegal, kangaroo court could not condemn Christ based on those

trumped-up charges.

In the end, the Jews condemn Him for the truth: because He claimed to be the Son of

God. Pilate's charge is that Jesus claimed to be the King of the Jews. Christ was both of

those things, the Son and the King. So He dies for the truth. As Christ said, "If I have

spoken evil, bear witness of the evil." No one could show anything Christ had said that was

false. His was the only pure tongue to ever speak, upon which the poison of lies and false

witness never was. He who is the Truth is destroyed for truth.

We humans are so twisted and false that we must destroy the only absolutely innocent Man

to ever stand trial. We must slander and accuse falsely. We must destroy with our tongues,

and we must destroy what is pure. So Christ was destroyed by us.

At the trials, Pilate was the representative of all us Gentiles, and Caiaphas the representative of all Jews. Even if that were not true, it was our sins that accused Him and drove Him to crucifixion. Every hateful lie and word of slander from our lips struck Him more painfully than the soldiers' fists. Our tongues lashed Him more than any whip could.

It was we who deserve the blows and the scourging. We fully deserved every thorn that

pierced His innocent brow. Our sins crushed Him down on the Cross into death. But it was

our death He died. We should have been there, nailed to the wood, gasping our last air

under the Father's condemnation. --- But it was Him, not us.

"My Kingdom is not of this world," He tells Pilate. He brings no worldly peace and love. He

establishes no millennial utopia. His Kingdom is not even visible to worldly eyes. Eyes of

flesh cannot see the boundaries between His Kingdom and the kingdoms of flesh. The world

sees suffering and pain, and no glorious kingdom. Yet Christ's Kingdom is there,

nonetheless. His people are persecuted as He is persecuted. They are killed off in the midst

of injustice. The wicked world seems to triumph over them all the time.

Yet He must always conquer, and His Kingdom with Him. For His Kingdom is founded upon

the Word that endures forever. As He says to Pilate, "Everyone who is of the Truth hears My

voice." The world cannot overcome Christ and His Word. So the world cannot overcome

those who belong to His Kingdom.

So the one and only innocent Man is declared guilty by Caiaphas and Pilate. But we are

declared innocent by the Father in heaven, a far better verdict. The Son of God willingly lays

down His life, and we become innocent like Him, cleansed by His life-blood. The Truth dies,

nailed to the Cross, and we live. The Word of God incarnate says, "Father, forgive them,"

and we are forgiven. The sun is swallowed by the darkness of the Father's rejection of His

own Son. So we become children of God, never rejected.

Upon Christ's brow is a crown of thorns. What more glorious crown could He wear? He has

come to reverse the curse of thorns, the curse laid upon all the earth. When Adam and Eve

sinned, God said, "Cursed is the ground for your sake; in sorrow you will eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it will bring forth to you." Christ is crowned with the curse. He embraces the corruption that has infected all that He created in the beginning. Because He is crowned with the curse, He is making all things new, until a new creation shall appear, the home of righteousness, where thorns are no longer found.

So the curse is removed by the innocent death. The Tree of the Cross overcomes the Tree

that condemned us in Eden. We eat the fruit of the life-giving Tree today. The fruit is the

Body and Blood of Christ, which give everlasting life. We eat this fruit and are invited back

into Paradise, where death is reversed into life, and sin is erased forever by the perfect

innocence of Christ. Amen.

The grace and love of our Great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep

your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen