Grace Lutheran Church Good Friday, April 14, 2006 Evening Service

The Rev. Evan Gaertner

Good Friday Evening "The Seven Last Words of Christ"

April 14, 2006

Before our tummies get filled with the milk chocolate bunnies and marshmallow peeps of Easter morning, before the good news of the Easter Message of Christ alive, first comes the hard part of the story. Our savior Jesus Christ, true God and true man, suffered a horrible tortuous death upon the cross. On Friday afternoon that we now remember as Good Friday an innocent man died.

I desire that our meditations on the cross of Christ tonight help focus our hearts and minds towards receiving the gifts of the cross. In a tradition that has drawn in great artists like Bach, Beethoven, Becket, and Haydn, we will devote ourselves to the cross by meditating upon the seven last words of Christ.

We do not want to rush to Easter. Easter is indeed the answer to this dead world of sin, but first we will slow down and consider what is question. What question does Easter answer?

The question "Is there any reason for hope?" As we look at the depths of despair of Christ upon the cross we are brought to the brink of answering, "No, there is no reason for hope."

Indeed we should almost answer the question with a no because we witness Jesus truly experience the worst of humanity. We find the love of God taken by humanity, taken by you and me, and put to death. The Word was made flesh and made his dwelling among us and we kicked him out of the house.

What did Jesus experience as seen through his seven last words?

The first words we will look at tonight focus us towards the purpose of the cross: forgiveness.

1. And Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Lk. 23:34

Jesus was led away from the farce of trial before the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate. Pilate addressed the crowd allowing them to release one prisoner; he desired that they would release Jesus. But the crowd kept shouting, "Crucify, crucify him!"

Instead of releasing the only truly innocent man that ever was, Pilate released a man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder.

Jesus was taken to the place called Golgatha, which means, the skull. There they crucified Jesus. By oppression and judgment Jesus was taken to the cross. But from his mouth we would not hear words of condemnation against us.

As we look at the next words of Jesus from the cross we find him bringing deliverance.

2. And [Jesus] said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with in Paradise." Lk. 23:43

Jesus spoke these words to the repentant thief that was on a cross next to him. The other thief mocked Jesus by saying, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" But Jesus delivers salvation to humanity by entirely given himself to our punishment. He is our representative in death and suffering, so that where we are defeated he goes and is victorious.

When the repentant thief said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus responded to him with words of deliverance. The deepest and darkest moments of your life Jesus has come to bring deliverance.

In the next words of Jesus we find him demonstrating care for his family.

3. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" Jn. 19:26-27

Jesus did not abandon the world on the cross. We are family. Brothers and sisters in Christ we are together. Our personal faith that each of us have formed over our different experiences are not the only way we relate to God.

In echo of St. Paul's comments to the people of Ephesus, I urge you brothers and sisters to walk in a manner worthy of the calling which you have been called. We should be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace.

In the moments of his suffering on the cross Jesus did not want his followers to become divided and separated from one another. We have one Lord, one faith, one baptism.

We are united together because our Lord Jesus submitted to becoming divided from his father.

4. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabacthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Mk. 15:34 (Mt. 27:46)

Jesus upon the cross used the words of Psalm 22 to give expression to his loneliness. The second verse of that psalm says, "O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest."

Even so as much as Jesus is completely alone upon the cross he also trusts in the holiness of his father. Psalm 22 goes on to also say, "All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship you."

It is precisely because God desires to draw all nations to himself that we are here tonight. The loneliness and separation of Christ on the cross is a mirror upon ourselves if we try live our lives based on Adam his sin, instead of Christ and his righteousness.

Jesus Christ came for the purpose of gathering us together into the family of God. In fulfillment of al that must take place Jesus became one forgotten and pushed out, so that he might be where we are.

5. Jesus knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), "I thirst." Jn. 19:28.

The true humanity of Jesus was upon the cross. Jesus was fully human as he experienced the cross. His thirst as death approached is a real expression of his pain and suffering. As Jesus worked our redemption on that tree he did so as true God and true man. Jesus placed all of himself into the work of our redemption. Consider how when he was in the Garden of Gethsemane and he kneeled down and prayed. He was sorrowful and heavy in spirit. His sweat was as it were great drops of blood. And now on the cross his thirst is real. He is experiencing death.

6. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, "It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Jn 19:30

Jesus finished all that must take place for us to begin our lives safe in his warm embrace. Through faith in Christ on the cross we hold onto our Lord of grace and mercy. We hold by faith to our Lord and God who has completely and fully worked out the means of our salvation. We trust in the work of Jesus Christ to be sufficient to restore our relationship with our heavenly Father. What was once broken has been restored through Jesus.

If someone asked you what will happen to you when you will die, you can respond confidently, "I will be with my Lord in heaven." They may ask, "How can you be so confident?" "Because I have faith in Jesus Christ as my savior from sin and so all that stood in the way of me being with God has been taken away."

"I am a redeemed, baptized, child of God, he knows me and has well provided for me through Jesus Christ's life, death, and resurrection."

Now with all completed…

7. The Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit!" Lk. 23:46

Here Scripture clearly shows that while forsaken by God, Christ still completely trusts in the hands of his Father. Christ has carried the tortures of our sin innocently. He persists in his holy obedience to the father. The words, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken?" have given to us notice that he is experiencing extreme agony of soul and body. But even while Jesus was forsaken by his father, the father's declaration at his baptism is still true, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

By the very fact that Christ took upon himself this extreme punishment of being forsaken by God, he so fulfilled his father's will. Now with trust that all has been accomplished Jesus died.

We trust through Christ that indeed all was accomplished and through him we are brought back into a restored relationship with our heavenly father.

Thanks be to God our savior did bleed today for us otherwise all would be in vain.

Soli Deo Gloria

Grace Lutheran Church

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