Good Friday — Homily by the Very Rev. Dr. Craig Stephans

Let us pray.

Father, on this great, momentous, and

terrible day,

may our meditations of our heart and the

words of my mouth be pleasing in your

sight, oh Lord, our rock and our

redeemer. Amen. Please be seated.

In John chapter 18, the final verses of

John 18 · chapter mention

that chapter that preceded what was read

by Steve, Jesus is standing before

Pilate. And Pilate asks him, "So you are

a king." And Jesus responds to him, "You

say that I am a king. For this purpose,

I was born and for this purpose I've

come into the world to bear witness to

the truth."

Jesus himself in John 14:6

John 14:6

declared himself as the way, the truth,

and the life and the only way to the

father. Jesus has come to bear witness

to the truth. And it is a truth that

every person will eventually discover.

It is the truth that Jesus Christ is

king of kings and lord of lords. That he

reigns over all and that he is also the

lamb of god who takes away the sin of

the world. This is the truth that he

came to bear witness to and also to

fulfill and he declares this to pilate.

John writes that the law came through

Moses but that grace and truth came

through Jesus Christ. He bears witness

to the truth and accompanying that truth

is the grace of God given to people to

receive the truth and to live into it.

We find Pilate there the recipient of

this message. Jesus speaking to him not

according to his status or position or

power

but according to him being a person made

in God's image and likeness and one for

whom Jesus would die.

But contrarily, Pilate deals with him

from his position. The Roman governor,

dealing with a Jewish leader, teacher,

thinking about not what is true, but

what is expedient. Three times Pilate

says of Jesus, "I find no guilt in him."

One time John says that Pilate even

tried to release him,

but he had no conviction about those

things because he also turned Jesus over

to be flogged, had him stand before them

all with a crown of thorns, being mocked

and beaten, and then eventually turned

him over to be crucified.

And Pilate went about his way not

knowing the truth. And the truth being

demonstrated there on the cross.

The truth

of our depravity as sinners there

right before them all in Jesus Christ

crucified.

There is where we belonged.

Jesus became our sin for us. The other

truth displayed on the cross is God's

great love for us. that while we were

yet sinners,

Christ died for us, demonstrating God's

love. And that is the truth that Jesus

came to bear witness of our depravity as

sinners

and God's love for us that is even

greater.

There's

another way to approach the truth of the

cross than Pilate just doing what is

expedient and comfortable.

Jesus had confronted Pilate when Pilate

tells him,"I have authority to release

you or to crucify you." And Jesus says,

"You would have no authority over me if

it were not given to you from above."

The authority

that Pilate presumed and that Jesus

spoke of is a delegated authority. It's

a temporary authority. It is given from

above and it will be taken away from

above.

There will come a day when we all

discover the truth of who Jesus is. And

at the same time discovering that there

is one authority above and over all

other authorities and all of those

lesser authorities will be removed and

taken away. And we will stand before him

who has ultimate and eternal authority.

We too like Pilate think that we have an

authority that is lasting that is

powerful. We sometimes like Pilate

approach Jesus

with our authority to push him away or

to receive him. Our authority to decide

to sit before him

or to walk away from him. our authority

to submit to him or to go on with our

lives as we desire. But that authority

like Pilates's is given from above and

it is temporary. And one day it will be

taken away and will stand before Jesus.

The ultimate authority and he will

determine whether we enter in to the

paradise prepared by his father for

those whose names are written in the

book of life or whether we will be

commanded to depart because we never

knew him and he never knew us.

The other approach to Jesus than Pilate

being apathetic,

being selfish,

being more concerned about his own

situation than the truth. Is John

the beloved disciple?

And John refers to himself as the

beloved disciple

in his gospel

in verse 26 of chapter 19. And it says

when Jesus saw his mother and the

disciple whom he loved standing nearby

and I would it always makes me wonder

about John describing himself as the

disciple whom Jesus loved.

One of the ways I've come to think about

that is that John stood at the foot of

the cross.

John was there seeing his master, his

lord, his savior, his friend being

crucified, being tortured, his blood

pouring out of him, him gasping for

breath, him being mocked.

John saw the love of God displayed on

the cross in Christ crucified.

John

at the time that he wrote this gospel

would have known that he is beloved of

God. He among all the disciples or

apostles stood there watching the

demonstration of God's love. He knew

that he was beloved.

I think it's a statement not about him

in particular, but about the love of

God.

That John knows that he was beloved by

Jesus.

And that experience of standing at the

foot of the cross watching Jesus suffer

and die on his behalf,

it gave John an intimate

and I think deep awareness of Christ's

love for him. And I think that's seen in

his writings, not only the gospel, but

in his letters in the his first letter,

John writes in chapter 1 verse verses

7-9.

But if we walk in the light as he is in

the light, we have fellowship with one

another. And the blood of Jesus, his

son, cleanses us from all sin. When John

writes that, he's writing of something

that he witnessed. He saw the blood of

Jesus pouring out of his wounds.

He knows that that blood was spilled on

our behalf. He knows that that blood was

the blood of the son of God, the son of

man, and that it cleanses us from our

sin.

He goes on to write in verse eight, "If

we have if we say we have no sin, we

deceive ourselves and the truth is not

in us." John has witnessed the effect of

our sin on Jesus who took it upon

himself. He knows the depth of our sin

just as much as he knows the greater

depth of Jesus's love. So when he hears

someone say, "I don't have any sin." He

knows otherwise because he saw each

person's sin upon the cross.

But he also knows of the resurrection

that overcame sin and death. So he can

say, "If we say we have no sin, we

deceived ourselves and the truth is not

in us. But if we confess our sins, he is

faithful and just to forgive us our sins

and to cleanse us from all

unrighteousness."

In chapter 3:1 of his letter, he says,

"See what kind of love the father has

given us that we should be called

children of God."

He knows the love of which he writes

because he not only experienced it from

Jesus in their relationship, but he saw

it demonstrated upon the cross.

So he writes emphatically in chapter 3

16 of his letter, "By this we know love

that he laid down his life for us."

That is love. And I appreciate you all

being here today to sit at the foot of

the cross and to meditate and reflect

upon the cross of Jesus because it is by

that cross by Jesus Christ crucified

that we know what love is. And the more

time we set meditating upon the cross

and Jesus's sacrifice, the more we will

understand and know and experience his

love for us that was enacted on that

day.

In John's last book, the the revelation

of John at the end of his life as he is

in his old age and he's exiled to Patmos

and he sees a vision of Jesus that he

then writes about. He writes in the

introduction to that letter

about Jesus Christ in verse five,

the faithful witness, the firstborn of

the dead and the ruler of the kings of

the earth.

And then he speaks of Jesus to him who

loves us and has freed us from our sins

by his blood and made us a kingdom

priest to God and father. To him be

glory and dominion forever and ever.

Amen.

John at this stage in his life, he is

declaring to people that Jesus has loved

us, that Jesus has freed us from our

sins by his blood that was spilled on

the cross.

And through his resurrection, through

the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, he

has made those who believe in him to be

a kingdom unto himself

to be priests to his God and father,

meaning to be children of God.

And John goes on to write in verse 7,

"Behold, he is coming with the clouds,

and every eye will see him. Even those

who pierced him, and all the tribes of

the earth will wail on account of him.

Even so, amen."

In John's gospel chapter 19:37,

the last verse that was read, John

quotes from Zechariah and he says that

the death of Jesus on the cross

fulfilled the scripture that said they

will look on him whom they have pierced.

And John is writing in Revelation that

the day will come when Jesus will return

and every eye will look on him whom they

have pierced.

They will look on him who demonstrated

the sinfulness of people

and who also demonstrated the greater

love of God. The greater love of God

that overcomes sin and enables, as John

says in his gospel, those who receive

him and those who believe in him to

become children of God.

So for us today,

will we be people like John who have the

courage and the faith and the love of

Jesus to stay before the cross and to be

confronted with the truth of our sin and

the truth of God's love and salvation

for us?

Will we recognize ourselves and receive

the truth that we are the beloved of

Jesus and live out our days in the light

of God's love, walking in that love for

ourselves and declaring it to others

that God so loved the world that he gave

his only begotten son that whoever

believes in him should not perish but

have eternal life.

May we do so by God's strength and

grace. Amen.