Good Friday Service

We've come together this morning to remember a death.

And in occasions like that,

!

And if it's an older person, we ask, well, why now? Or why like this?

And often that question lingers, whether spoken or unspoken.

It lingers, it hangs around in our minds.

And we're really asking the question, why death?

Why does this exist?

The why question hangs over every death.

Please turn back in your Bibles to Mark 15.

Because there is something about this death that we're remembering this morning

that I think we have to ask the question, why about?

Because Good Friday is no different to any other death in one sense.

Because there are why questions hanging over the whole thing.

It is the most studied and the most talked about and the most sung about

and the most written about death in history.

And yet, Good Friday, no matter how familiar we are with this day,

it rolls around every year.

We may have been to one.

We may have been to none.

This may be your first Good Friday service that you've attended.

We may have been to many, many of those.

And yet, the story is familiar.

But there are why questions that hang over it all.

There are bits of the story that perhaps we haven't stopped to ask why about,

when in fact we really should.

Because there are a number of things in the story,

that narrative that was read for us,

that are unusual and that really need an explanation.

So, my goal in the time that we have this morning

is to walk through what we had read from Mark chapter 15,

Mark 15 · chapter mention

the account of Jesus' death,

and ask why four times.

Here's the first one.

Why could the Jewish authorities not see their Messiah?

It is a striking thing when we read the account of the lead-up to

and the crucifixion of Jesus.

The story of history is that despite the rebellion of those whom He created,

God would send a Savior who would crush Satan

and who would push back the powers of evil

and who would bring in a new world.

That is the story of history.

And the story of the Old Testament,

the first big chunk of the Bible,

is in many ways a story of expectation.

We're expecting this promise.

We're expecting this story to unfold.

And it's an expectation

as the description of this sin-killing serpent crusher

that has been promised,

what he will be like.

And that story takes shape.

And it's a bit like pieces in a jigsaw

slotting into place.

We get a picture of what the Messiah would look like.

And we see that through the history books

and through the prophets of the Old Testament

that He will be a man,

but also God.

One who will heal the sick

and overturn evil

and even have the power over death itself.

And as the Old Testament has us on the lookout for this man,

when Jesus arrives onto the stage of history,

we should be ready.

And Mark, who wrote this gospel,

begins his gospel right back in chapter 1

with the words,

the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ,

the Son of God.

Mark is telling us

that this is his account of the coming of God's Messiah,

the one that we've been waiting for.

And he records how Jesus opens his ministry.

Jesus' first words in his public ministry,

the time is fulfilled,

the kingdom of God is at hand,

repent and believe the gospel.

So with the very first words of his ministry,

Jesus is telling everyone

that he is the long-promised Messiah

they've been waiting for.

And particularly for the people of God,

the ones who have been looking for him

all the way through the Old Testament,

expecting God to come through in his promises,

Jesus says, here I am.

He's telling the world on his arrival

that God's King is here.

But we know that there are crackpots

in every era

who make high-blown claims about themselves.

Talk is, of course, cheap.

It's one thing saying these things,

it's quite another proving those claims to be true.

But we read on,

and that's exactly what Jesus does in his ministry.

The early chapters of all the gospel accounts

record him behaving exactly

how it was predicted that he would.

Teaching with unrivaled authority.

Healing the sick.

Even raising the dead.

He's showing himself to have all the power

and all the restoring compassion of God.

And yet here we are, verse 10.

Pilate perceived that it was out of envy

that the chief priests had delivered him up.

But the chief priests,

the religious authorities,

the leaders, the religious leaders,

who were the experts in God's Word,

who were waiting for his Messiah,

verse 11, chapter 15,

the chief priests stirred up the crowd

and have him release for them Barabbas,

a known criminal,

instead of this man.

And Pilate again said to them,

Then what shall I do with the man

you call the king of the Jews?

And they cried out again,

Crucify him.

We go to verse 31.

Jesus hangs on the cross.

So also the chief priests,

these religious authorities,

chief priests and the scribes,

mocked him to one another,

saying,

He saved others.

He can't save himself.

And they go on,

Let the Christ,

the King of the Jews.

They use his title with their very lips.

The religious leaders,

his own people,

these experts in God's Word,

who had been looking for God's long-expected Messiah,

here he is,

and they can't see him.

Why?

The reason is because by nature,

humanity,

we are suppressors of the truth.

That is our condition.

The world was created by God,

and it reveals his glory.

His Word is truth,

and it reveals his character,

and it describes our corruption.

And what we have done

is taken the glory,

and taken the truth about God,

and we have suppressed it.

Because our nature despises

being under his authority.

We instinctively want to be God

in our own worlds.

We want to be in control of our own lives.

We don't want to submit

to anybody's authority.

That is the essence of sin.

We are selfish.

We want life on our own terms.

So what we do is

we choose blindness.

Blindness to reality

rather than submission

to what is true

and beautiful and good.

And we'll do anything

to maintain that status quo.

We will deny what is obvious.

We will believe what is incredible.

All for the sake of self-preservation

and self-glory.

We want to be in control

of our own lives.

When you see a politician

say something one day,

and then say something

completely the opposite the next.

And it's clear to you

that they're simply doing that

to try and hold on

to their own power

and their own fame

and their own recognition.

When you see that,

you see Pilate

and you see the chief priests

because you see the human heart.

That is all of us.

Why could the Jewish authorities

not see their long-promised Messiah?

Because they had the same condition

we all have.

And that is a truth-suppressing heart.

A heart that wants oneself

to be an authority

rather than God.

And that is a reminder

why we need Good Friday.

Why we need the cross.

Left to ourselves,

we would have been there

nailing Jesus to the cross.

As Martin Luther says,

we carry His nails

around in our pockets.

John Stott says,

before we can see the cross

as something done for us,

we have to see it

as something done by us.

Why could they not see?

Because like all of humanity,

they rejected the truth.

Well, let's keep going.

Second question,

second head-scratching moment,

why did everything go dark?

Verse 33,

when the sixth hour had come,

there was darkness

over the whole land

until the ninth hour.

Between noon and 3 p.m.,

the brightest part of the day,

the sky goes completely black.

It's a really unusual darkness.

I remember about 25 years ago,

there was an eclipse in the UK.

I remember where I was in Belfast.

At the time,

it wasn't that significant actually,

but there was no mistaking

what was going on.

All of a sudden,

everything felt very strange.

It was dark and it was cold

in the middle of the day.

It got my attention.

So why has this happened

when Jesus is on the cross?

Well, because the darkness

is a visual aid

to what is happening.

Look at verse 34.

At the ninth hour,

Jesus cried out with a loud voice,

Eloi, Eloi,

lemma sabachthani,

which means,

my God, my God,

why have you forsaken me?

Jesus is quoting

the first line of Psalm 22

in the Old Testament.

And what He's doing there

is identifying Himself

with the King who suffers

and who feels abandoned by God.

This is the darkness,

the supernatural darkness

of divine judgment.

It's like the ninth plague

on Egypt

in Exodus chapter 10.

Exodus 10 · chapter mention

It's like the prophet Amos

had announced in Amos chapter 8,

Amos 8 · chapter mention

I will make the sun go down at noon

and darken the earth

in broad daylight.

As Jesus

hung on that cross,

He wasn't just experiencing

the verdict

of a crazed crowd

and a rigged court.

He was being judged

by His Father.

He didn't deserve it.

But this is what it took

to deal with our suppression

of the truth.

This is what it took

to deal with our sin.

Because of His love

for His people,

the triune God,

Father, Son,

and Holy Spirit

forged this plan

to judge the Son

in our place.

Jesus experienced

this agony.

He cried this cry

so that we need never go there.

That's why it went dark.

William Cooper,

the hymn writer,

scholar,

he was a friend

of John Newton.

He also suffered

with chronic depression

and had real bouts

of deep darkness

in his own life.

About a century

after Cooper,

in the mid-1800s,

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

wrote a poem

called Cooper's Grave.

And in that poem,

she discusses

his influence,

which was vast,

and his scholarship,

similarly vast,

and alludes to his faith.

And then she writes this,

Yea, once Emmanuel's

orphaned cry,

His universe hath shaken.

It went up single,

echo-less,

My God,

I am forsaken.

It went up

from the holy's lips,

amidst his lost creation.

that of the lost,

no son should use

those words

of desolation.

Jesus Christ

experienced the darkness

and cried out

on the cross,

My God,

My God,

why have you forsaken me?

So that for all eternity,

William Cooper,

wrecked with torment

and darkness,

wouldn't have to.

He cried out

on the cross,

My God,

My God,

why have you forsaken me?

So that for all eternity,

anyone who will trust Him

wouldn't have to.

I love this quote

from the Puritan

John Flavel.

He says this,

My God,

My God,

why have you forsaken me?

If Jesus had not said

these words,

we must have

howled out

this hideous complaint

in the lowest hell

forever.

Jesus Christ

cried out

these words

on the cross

in the darkness

so that for all eternity

you wouldn't have to.

Left to ourselves,

we deserve to be

completely forsaken

by God.

Our sin,

our rebellion,

our self-government

deserves nothing less,

but because Christ

went there

in our place,

we need never

utter

those words.

And that's true

even when our

day-to-day experience

leads us to doubt.

So when the darkness

in our lives

closes in,

when we feel

like we're forsaken

by God,

when we feel forgotten

or alone,

or when we feel

that there isn't

any hope,

well,

while we might

feel that way,

we can trust,

as John Calvin says,

quote,

the grace of God

which is hidden

from the eye

of sense

and reason.

What he's saying

is that when the darkness

threatens to overwhelm us,

we go to the cross

and we go to the cry

from Jesus' lips

because those remind us

that He took

every drop

of divine judgment.

And that means,

quite simply,

that there cannot be

any of that left for us.

So whatever we are experiencing,

it isn't,

it can't be

God's judgment

because that all fell

on Jesus

on Good Friday.

It must be something else.

It must be something

that as yet

is hidden

from the eye

of sense

and reason.

So if that's you

this morning,

as you sit

in the pain,

can I say,

remember that

because Christ

went into the darkness,

that pain

will one day lift.

And our next question

actually helps us

understand this more.

Jesus' cry

has ripped

through the darkness.

people are confused.

Look at verse 36.

Is it Elijah?

I don't know.

What do you think?

Well, let's,

I don't know.

Let's see.

And then he breathes

his last,

verse 37.

And then,

we're told

what the centurion

who's standing

in front of him says.

See that?

Well, no,

that's not exactly

what happens,

is it?

Have a look.

Despite being out

on Golgotha Hill,

verse 38

tells us about something

that's going on

back in the temple.

So here's our third question.

Why the curtain?

And why did it tear?

37,

Jesus uttered

a loud cry

and breathed his last,

and the curtain

of the temple

was torn in two

from top to bottom.

And when the centurion

who stood facing him

saw that in this way

he breathed his last,

he said,

truly this man

was the Son of God.

God was said

to dwell

in the heart

of the temple.

And this building

had levels of access

for people

and the Holy of Holies

was only accessed

once a year

by the high priest

after he had made

all kinds of ritual cleansing.

Unclean people

cannot enter

the presence

of a holy God.

Sinful people

have no business

in the presence

of a holy God.

And so there was

a massive curtain

that served as a barrier

cutting off

sinful people

from God.

It was a huge

no entry sign

in the temple.

Now Mark

doesn't tell us

what Jesus said

when he breathed

his last

but we know

from John's account

exactly what he said.

His last words were

it is finished.

He's crying out

from the cross

I've done the work

that I came to do.

The Messiah

has come

to earth

to deal with

our sin problem

to take our judgment

in our place

and that work

has been accomplished.

And just as the darkness

was symbolic

arresting people's attention

to the judgment

of God.

So the curtain

in the temple

is torn

in a symbolic depiction

of what has been achieved

through the death

of Jesus.

Because he

was forsaken

on the cross

atonement for sin

has been made

and full

and free

access

to God

has been achieved.

That is why

Good Friday

is good.

In the end

that is why

Good Friday

is good.

The cross

is the doorway

to our reconciliation

with God.

And we're being restored

in that relationship

restored to the humanity

that was supposed

to be ours

in the beginning

that we forfeited

through our sin.

Jesus recovered it all

for all who turn

in repentance

and faith

to him.

That is the offer

of Good Friday.

Forgiveness

for every sin

every single one

and reconciliation

with the God

who made you

for himself.

Don't miss

the Roman centurion

verse 39

look at him.

When the centurion

who stood facing him

saw that in this way

he breathed his last

he said

truly this man

was the son of God.

He sees who Jesus is

and he puts his faith

in him.

The man has just

been involved

in Christ's murder

and yet Mark

records for us

how even he

can receive

this salvation.

The grace

of God

that is held out

to us in the cross

is for all people.

It is for everyone

no matter what

you've done

no matter what

your past

involves.

This offer

is for you.

We want to ask

ourselves

well is this

even possible?

Sounds too good

to be true.

Well one last question.

Question four.

Why does he mention

the women?

Verse 40

It seems so out of place

with all of the emotion

of the crucifixion

the declaration

of the centurion

it's a chaotic scene

and then Mark

insists on telling us

about who it was

that witnessed

all that went on.

Verse 40

There were also women

looking on from a distance

among whom were

Mary Magdalene

and Mary the mother

of James the younger

and of Joseph

and Salome.

When he was in Galilee

they followed him

and ministered to him

and there was also

many other women

who came up

with him

to Jerusalem.

Seems a bit random.

Why do we need

those details?

But the reason Mark

includes this detail

is so that we know

that these events

actually really happen.

When you hear

all of this

when you recognize

that there is

there is this

kind of

grand picture

of our sinfulness

in the hard-hearted

rejection

of the chief priests

when you recognize

that there is

a divine judgment

that is depicted

in the darkness

as the wrath of God

falls on Jesus

and we realize

that it's falling on him

not for his sake

but for our sake.

And when we recognize

that this picture

in the temple

shows us

that there is a way

into God

and that all are invited

we think

it can't possibly be true

this must have been made up

and yet Mark gives us

this detail

so that we know

that it's not.

These women

were among

the first eyewitnesses

of these earth-shattering events.

They are named

so that the first readers

of this document

could check with them.

But the important thing

is that at the time

women's opinions

weren't considered credible.

A woman's testimony

was not admissible in law.

So the only reason

that you would record

this detail

was if these women

were actually there.

There have always been people

who argue

that the gospel accounts

are made up

to suit the story

that these Christians

wanted to promote.

But if you were

making this up

you would not have said

that women

were the first eyewitnesses

because no rabbi

would take it seriously.

It is hard to believe

that God would come

to earth in His Son.

It's hard to believe

that He would take

our sin upon Himself

and step into death

for us.

If we're honest

with ourselves

we know that's incredibly

difficult to believe

because if we're honest

with ourselves

we know that our hearts

do not deserve it.

We know that the way

we've lived our lives

in God's world

does not deserve

someone else

to rescue us

from that.

But Mark tells us

that this is exactly

what God has done.

And when we consider

why things happen

the way they did

on that first Good Friday

these ladies

give us confidence

that it's real

and it's reliable

and we can trust it

and we can stake

our lives on it.

Let's pray together.

Amen.