Good Friday

 

In the Name of Christ the Crucified +

    And now it is here. The final battle against Sin, Death, and the Devil. The passion of our Lord. And Jesus endures it all, suffers it all. That's what the word Passion means, it means to suffer. How does Jesus endure it, how does He defeat Satan?It boils down to one simple truth. God is a giver. That is fundamentally who our LORD is. Even when He taketh away, the LORD remains a giver. That is what we see, that is what we learn of Jesus there upon the Cross. Even in the face of tragedy and the consequence of sin, especially then, Jesus remains a giver, a lover of mankind, a blesser, and in His giving, Jesus defeats sin, death, and the Devil.

    You see, Good Friday isn't just a day for Jesus to suffer. His family and friends suffer as well, as they see Him there upon the Cross. Mary is losing more than most this Good Friday. She is losing her Son. Do I have to spell out the horror, the loss there? And John, John had walked away from much to follow Jesus, and he is losing that as well. No more would John get to be a disciple, not as he was. The disciples, too, would eventually be scattered out to the corners of the world to spread the Gospel – that group camaraderie is gone. It is a day of loss.

    Yet Christ Jesus remains a giver. Woman, behold your son. Behold your mother. Mary, you have lost much today. John, you have as well. But not just loss. I Am a giver. Mary, you have a new son, a new man placed into that vocation of son, whom I am giving to you, placing into your life to honor you, to care for you, to protect you. John, you son of thunder, you are now a son of Mary. You will not be left in the next years without companionship, without purpose or people, real concrete people to care for, to love. You will love Mary.

    And that's what happens. Tradition holds that John ends up in Ephesus, and that Mary is with him, and John tends to Mary throughout the rest of her life. I'd assert that this shows forth in John's letters, where there is such a focus on love, agape. Christian “love” isn't some generic feeling or emotion. The Christian life isn't the pursuit of some abstract mythical ideal of right or wrong. No! Love your neighbor. Your concrete, real neighbor. The neighbor that Jesus has given you in the vocations, the callings that he has given you so that you and they will both be blessed.

    Consider how concretely, how down to earth John deals with the idea of love, of service, in his first epistle. We love because he first loved us.  If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. There is no philosophical question of right or wrong here, no abstract debate over which angel on the head of a pin is the best. Jesus gives you people, real people whom you can see; care for them. Love them – serve them. See, Jesus has given them to you. Jesus gives you your relationships, your neighbors, your vocations, your callings. He gives them to see that His love, His good, His blessing, His care is shown forth throughout the world, even over and against sin. And don't dismiss this gift. So many people do. They refuse to love their neighbor and instead live only for themselves, and are miserable, lost, and bitter. They live only for their bellies, and are consumed by their own passions, trapped in desperate cycles of harm – harm to themselves and harm to people around them, desperately thinking validation and affirmation will somehow replace God's love and purpose. No, God has given you your vocations, your neighbors – enjoy them.

    But Jesus knows that you need more than just purpose in this life. Jesus knows what sin takes from you. Jesus knows that sin takes away your very life. He knows, He feels the weight of the sin of the world crushing down upon Him, driving Him into death. Yet Jesus remains a giver. He gives that which is most important. When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished,” and He bowed His head and gave up His Spirit. Jesus gave up His Spirit. This isn't just a fancy way of saying that Jesus died. John isn't just being poetic here. Jesus gives His Spirit. With His death, Jesus pours out the Holy Spirit, the Giver of Life, unto the world. Jesus sends forth the Spirit with the Gospel, the sweet message that the sins of the world have in fact been taken away, that the punishment due for sin has been paid in full. All of it – it is finished. Nothing more needs to be done for mankind, for you to be rescued. Sin, death, and the Devil – they are done for. And from this moment, the Spirit goes forth by the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, proclaiming Christ's death (and soon to be coming resurrection). But it's all done, Jesus has done it all. He has filled up every ounce of punishment, so there remains none for you. St Paul says, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,  because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” You are released from the power of sin and death, and you are given the Spirit, you are given life. This is why Paul also says, “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” Christ's death and resurrection – that Jesus is the Crucified One, the Lamb who was slain – this is everything. And when you have Jesus, when the Spirit gives you Jesus, you have everything.

    But Jesus continues to be a giver, my friends. It's not just the Spirit and preaching; Jesus gives you more. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness – his testimony is true, and he knows that these things took place. Another detail from John, given with such care. Even in death Jesus gives, He gives forth water and blood. And John emphasizes this in his first epistle when he notes, “This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify:  the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.” Jesus gives Himself to you by the Word, but Jesus gives you Himself also by water and by His blood.

    Jesus gives you Himself by water and the Word in Holy Baptism. At that font you were given Jesus, you were declared to be a child of God, a co-heir of Christ. At your baptism Jesus declared that all that is His is now yours as well. Jesus' righteousness – that's yours now, O baptized child of God! Jesus' holiness – that's yours now, O Baptized child of God. Jesus' life – that's yours now, O baptized child of God. Jesus is a giver. And not just once – His blood that was shed is given as well – here, at this altar, and indeed on countless altars around the world, fancy altars, simple altars, a shut-in's table turned into an altar, a hospital tray turned into an altar, anywhere where His people are in need of Jesus' forgiveness and life, Jesus comes under bread and wine and gives His Body and Blood to His people for the remission of all of their sin, for the strengthening of their faith. For the forgiveness of your sin, for the strengthening of your faith. This is what Jesus gives.

    Do you see? Jesus remains a Giver. Nothing can stop Jesus from giving you good things – not sin, not Satan, not even Death – the Cross simply amplifies the gifts He gives to you. He gives you people to love and purpose in life, He gives you forgiveness and holiness and righteousness. And indeed, come the third day, we will return here and we will see the life that He gives to you stride forth from the tomb. In the Name of Christ the Crucified +