Good Friday Sermon

Well, good evening.

Tonight we'll take a few minutes to look at John chapter 19,

John 19 · chapter mention

the crucifixion in the Gospel of John.

And I want to begin by reading the story of Christ's crucifixion.

If you want to follow along, you can turn your Bibles to John chapter 19, verse 1.

John 19:1

It's a lengthy passage, otherwise you're welcome to listen as I read it.

It says this,

Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him.

And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe.

They came up to him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews, and struck him with their hands.

Pilate went out again and said to them,

See, I am bringing him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in him.

So Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe.

Pilate said to them, Behold the man.

When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, Crucify him, crucify him.

Pilate said to them, Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.

The Jews answered him, We have a law.

And according to that law, he ought to die because he has made himself the son of God.

When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid.

He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, Where are you from?

But Jesus gave him no answer.

So Pilate said to him, You will not speak to me?

Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?

Jesus answered him, You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above.

Therefore, he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.

From then on, Pilate sought to release him.

But the Jews cried out, If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend.

Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.

So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called the stone pavement.

And in Aramaic, Gabbatha.

Now it was the day of preparation of the Passover.

It was about the sixth hour.

He said to the Jews, Behold your king.

They cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him.

Pilate said to them, Shall I crucify your king?

The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.

So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.

So they took Jesus and he went out bearing his own cross to the place called the place of the skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.

There they crucified him and with him two others, one on either side and Jesus between them.

Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross.

It read, Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews.

Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city.

And it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek.

So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, Do not write the king of the Jews,

but rather, this man said, I am the king of the Jews.

Pilate answered, What I have written, I have written.

When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts,

one part for each soldier, also his tunic.

But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.

So they said to one another, Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to see whose it shall be.

This was to fulfill the scripture which says,

They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

Now I am going to verse 28.

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said, to fulfill the scripture,

I thirst.

A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch

and held it to his mouth.

When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, It is finished.

And he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

So this evening, it's a long passage, but I want to focus our attention on Jesus' last statement

in verse 30.

It is finished.

In the original language, that is only one word.

And it's the same word that we find two verses earlier in 1928,

when Jesus knew that all was now finished.

The word finish in English can mean several different things.

But in the original Greek, it means to complete a task or to accomplish something.

It's used throughout the Gospels.

Jesus finished speaking to the crowds.

Jesus finished instructing his disciples.

He finished speaking his parables.

He completed, same word, his baptism.

And here in this passage, Jesus is not saying that his life is over, although it is.

He means that he has finished his task.

That he has done what he set out to do.

That he has completed his job.

It's an incredibly important statement, and I want to look at it from three different angles tonight.

First, the irony that it is finished.

Second, the claim that it is finished.

And third, the invitation to what is finished.

First of all, the irony.

The irony means that we say one thing or do one thing when the opposite is really true.

It's used sometimes for comedy, sometimes to emphasize something,

sometimes an author will use it to surprise us or to make sure that we notice something,

to kind of surprise us into seeing what's there.

In this passage that I just read, it's full of irony.

Let me just give you a couple of examples.

First, they mock him and call him king.

In verse 3, the soldiers put a crown of thorns on his head, a painful crown of thorns,

and they say, Hail, king of the Jews.

And in verse 19, Pilate puts a sign above Jesus on the cross that reads,

Jesus, king of the Jews.

They're mocking him.

But the irony is, he really is the king of the Jews.

He is the long-awaited Davidic messianic king promised in the Old Testament.

And in the book of John, it emphasizes this.

In John 1.49, Nathaniel says to Jesus,

You are the king of the Jews.

And in chapter 3, Jesus says, I am bringing in the kingdom.

And in 1836, Jesus says, My kingdom is not of this world.

They're mocking him by calling him the king,

but ironically, they're speaking better than they know,

because he really is the king of the Jews.

A second irony is that the Jewish leaders went to kill him

because he claims to be the son of God.

They say in verse 7 to Pilate,

We have a law.

Look, we're not just dragging this guy before you because we've had a bad day.

We have a law.

And according to that law,

he ought to die because he has made himself the son of God.

They want to kill him

because he's claiming to be God's son.

But the irony is obvious.

He is God's son.

It says in John 1.14,

He is the only son from the Father.

In 1.34, John the Baptist says,

This is the son of God.

And in that most famous verse in John 3.16,

For God so loved the world that he gave his only son.

The third irony is that the Jewish leaders claim to be model Roman citizens.

The Jews hated the Roman Empire.

It levied oppressive taxes on them.

It murdered them.

It enslaved them.

It restricted their worship of God.

And they hated Caesar,

who conquered and oppressed them.

But in verse 15,

they say,

Jesus is not our king.

We have no king but Caesar.

Wow.

They would rather have an oppressive Roman Caesar as their king,

a murderous Gentile pagan,

than Jesus.

And the irony is that they are rejecting God's promised salvation

and all that that entails

by claiming allegiance to the enemy that oppresses them

and whom they hate.

Jesus is the whole basis and goal of their faith.

He alone brings God's grace and forgiveness.

And they're not just rejecting Jesus as king either.

They say,

We have no king but Caesar.

In some ways,

they're rejecting any messianic king.

They are trading away all of God's promises

and plan of salvation

just to get rid of Jesus.

But the greatest irony comes in verse 30.

That's our statement.

Jesus has been mocked and beaten

and nailed to wood.

And as his body shuts down

and he breathes his last,

he says,

It is finished.

It is accomplished.

It looks like his ultimate defeat.

But the irony is

that it is his ultimate victory.

Think about this for a minute.

Imagine a man who builds a house

and it takes him three years.

And over the course of that three years,

he lays the foundation,

he puts up the studs,

he puts in the electrical,

he runs the plumbing,

he puts in the HVAC,

he puts on the drywall,

he paints,

he puts in the trim,

he puts in the windows and doors and the roof.

He works and works and works for three years.

And then he stands back

and he looks upon his creation

and he spent three years of toil building

and he says to his friend,

And just then,

just then the house collapses.

Right in front of his eyes,

it just collapses in a pile of rubble.

It's all been for nothing.

And then he turns to his friend and he says,

I have completed my task.

What?

That's crazy.

That's not finishing.

That's failing.

And here's Jesus.

He has lived a sinless life.

He teaches the people all over Israel

and promises them God's salvation.

He does great miracles,

examples what it will look like

when he reigns as king.

He feeds people

and heals people.

He gives sight to the blind

and he makes the lame walk.

He raises people from the dead.

He argues with the religious leaders.

He calls his disciples to follow him

and promises them an everlasting inheritance

in heaven.

He is the Christ,

the Messiah,

the Son of God

who has come to save the world.

And then suddenly,

he is arrested.

And his followers scatter.

And now here he is,

hanging on a wooden cross,

naked.

His limbs are nailed to pieces of wood

and all around him,

instead of a crowd of worshipers,

there are people laughing at him.

And as he dies,

he says,

I have completed my work.

I mean,

how could it look any more

like a failure than that?

He is being executed.

His enemies have killed him.

And in his last moments,

he dares to say

that he has accomplished

what he set out to do.

But that is the irony.

Because he has completed his task.

His kingdom does not come

by political maneuvers

or whether he's been able

to achieve a 50%

in the polling.

It's not about the biggest crowd.

He has come to die.

That was his task.

It's a mission of sacrifice

and humiliation

and weakness.

And when he says from the cross,

it is finished,

it's not a cry of defeat.

It's not an announcement

that he's finally dying.

He is not a victim.

He is doing something here.

He's not only doing something purposefully,

but he's accomplishing it.

He has completed the job

that he set out to do

even though it looks like the opposite.

And what is that job?

Well, that's the second angle

that I want to look at.

The claim.

The claim that it is finished.

All great stories have a climax.

And the Bible,

even though it's very long

and very varied,

has one grand story

from start to finish,

from Genesis to Revelation,

one grand story

of God's salvation.

And Jesus' work

is the climax of that story.

And in the whole story

of Jesus' work

in the Gospels,

his death and resurrection

are the climax

of that story.

So that means

that everything in the Bible

is in orbit

around this point

right here.

Everything in the Bible

that happened before this point

is looking forward to it.

And everything after this

is looking back.

So when Jesus says,

I have accomplished

what I set out to do,

that is an incredibly

important statement

because he's not saying

I finished my work today.

And he's not even saying

I finished my life's work.

He's making a much bigger statement

than that.

He's saying he has finished

the work that God

has been doing

since the beginning of time.

When God created the world,

it was good.

There was peace.

And people lived

in a good relationship

with God

and with each other.

But when they disobeyed God,

they sinned

and rebelled against him

and everything was broken.

Not only for them,

but for all of us.

Our relationship

with God is broken.

We were made

to be with him

and to have clear consciences,

to enjoy his friendship

and kindness,

to be gently led by him.

But now we hide from him.

We fear him.

We sense this guilt

and we try to compensate

for it

by ignoring God

or by distracting ourselves

with everything

that this life has to offer.

But God said,

I can fix that.

I'll fix our relationship.

And our relationship

with each other is broken.

We have hearts

that are not right.

We're selfish

and greedy

and we disrespect each other

and we look out for ourselves.

We hate each other.

We are racist.

We are unjust.

We divorce our husbands

and wives.

We mistreat our children.

We bully each other.

We fight

and we steal

and we go to war

and we make a wreckage

of human lives.

We are corrupt

and we are addicted

to all kinds of things

that harm us.

And we're afraid

and we're weak

and our lives,

our inner lives

are just disordered.

But God said,

I can fix that.

I can fix that too.

I'll fix it.

I'll give you a new heart.

I'll make you a new person

and I'll give you

a new community

of brothers and sisters.

And creation is broken.

Everything is broken

in the world.

There are terrible diseases

and terrible pain.

There are natural disasters

and hurricanes

and earthquakes

and then we die.

God didn't make us

to die originally

but we do now.

We grow old

and parts of our bodies

quit working

and we die

and we leave behind

our friends and family.

And then pretty soon

they die

and they leave behind

their friends and family

and then no one

remembers us at all.

But God said,

I can fix that too.

I can fix it all.

I can cure everything

that is wrong

and make all things new

and so he sent

his son Jesus.

And Jesus is not

a savior

who storms in

and forces his will

on everyone.

He is a savior

who fixes

what is wrong

by taking it

upon himself.

Paul says

in 2 Corinthians 5,

God made Jesus

who had no sin

to be sin for us

so that in him

we might become

the righteousness

of God.

It was a task

that only he could do.

It was the payment

for the remaking

of the world

and the human heart.

And Jesus hung

on that cross

and he said,

I did it.

I did that.

And that brings us

to the invitation.

An invitation

to it is finished.

We have a yard

at my house

that takes a long time

to cut.

It takes a long time

to cut the grass.

There have been

a few times

when my wife

is at home

during the day

and I've been at work

and she goes out there

and she takes

an hour and a half

or whatever it takes

to cut that grass

and I come home

from work,

I drive home

and I'm stressed

and I've had

a busy day,

a full day

and I'm thinking,

oh,

I've got to cut

the grass tonight

and it's going

to take me

an hour and a half

and I'm already tired

and there's so many

other things

I could be doing.

Then as I round

the corner

and I look at the lawn,

it's done.

And relief

just washes over me.

I can do

other things now.

I got an hour

and a half

of time bonus.

I can rest,

I can do other work

that I have to do.

But imagine

if I go inside

and I change

into my work clothes

and then I go out

into the garage

and I start up

the lawn mower

and I start going

around the yard

and my wife

comes out to me

and she says,

what are you doing?

That's a pretty

good question

because I'm not

actually accomplishing

anything.

I can't do that work.

There's nothing

to cut

because she has

already done it

and not only that

but not only can't

I do it

but I'm missing

out on the benefit

of her having

done it for me.

I could be doing

something else.

I could be resting

but instead I'm

wearing myself out

doing a job

that has already

been finished.

No one would do that.

It's a ridiculous

story.

But so often

we are tempted

to do exactly

the same thing

when it comes

to our salvation.

The salvation

that Christ

has already

finished.

because Christ

has finished

the work

because he has

completed the job

I think there's

three things

that we need to do.

Number one

we must believe

that his work

was effective.

The Bible says

that if we want

to be forgiven

and cleansed

and brought back

into relationship

with God

then we must believe

that Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ's

death on the cross

worked.

In the book

of Acts

when people ask

what must I do

to be saved

the answer is

believe

in the Lord

Jesus Christ

and you will

be saved.

And it says

in Romans 10

if you confess

with your mouth

that Jesus

is Lord

and believe

in your heart

that God

raised him

from the dead

you will be saved.

And that doesn't

seem like enough

does it?

It's too big

of a job.

It's too big

of a task

for that to be

it.

That's all I have

to do

to participate

in this work

that Christ

has done for me

is simply believe

and the answer

is yes.

Yes that's all

that has to be done

because he has

already done it.

There's no more

work left to finish.

He has finished

everything.

The second

we not only need

to believe

but the second

we need to accept

that the job

is already done.

When there's

a big job

to do

it is so tempting

to try and jump

in there

and help

in some way.

Go out to the garage

and fire up a lawnmower

maybe I can

help.

When it comes

to our sins

and brokenness

we come up

with all kinds

of ways

to kind of

pay that off.

Fix our problems

with God.

We know that

they're deep

and significant.

We try to do

the right things.

We try to live

pretty good lives.

We keep up

our faithful

religious rituals

to keep God

happy.

The right

political views.

But that is

exhausting.

It's so tiring

and exhausting.

It wears us out

and there's so much

pressure on us.

And not only that

but it does not

work.

It doesn't work.

Do we honestly

think

that living

a pretty good

life and giving

money to the

red cross

and voting

the right way

and keeping

up some

religious rituals

do we honestly

think that that

is going to cure

the darkness

that we sense

in our own

hearts?

And that that's

going to fix

the brokenness

that we see

all around us?

It says in

Ephesians 2

that we are

dead in our

sins.

We are lost.

We are cut

off from God.

You can't bring

someone back to

life by being

pretty good.

It doesn't work

that way.

There's nothing

that we can do

to get rid of

our sin and to

make things right

with God.

But fortunately

Christ hangs on

that cross and

he says I've

already finished

that job.

I've already

paid for those

sins and

completed that

work of salvation

and there's

really nothing

left for you

to do.

So just take

it easy.

And so third

we need to

rest.

We need to

rest.

Because now

that Christ

has said

it is

finished

we can have

peace.

We can have

a clear

conscience.

Some of the

things we

know this

some of the

things that we

do are so

wrong.

we do

we do some

pretty bad

things.

We hurt

people.

We say

awful things.

We think

awful things.

We do

things that

are deviant.

And it's so

easy to torment

ourselves over

that and to

think about how

shocking it is

that we would

do that thing,

that we would

look at that

thing, that we

would think

that thing.

we're

embarrassed.

We feel the

shame burning

on our faces

and we beat

ourselves up

with self-loathing

and guilt.

But if we

have accepted

that Christ

has finished

the work,

if we have

let him finish

the task

for us,

then it's

taken care

of.

If we have

confessed our

sins and

turned away

from our sins

then they are

finished.

Christ has

finished them.

And so we

go to Christ

and we say,

my sin is so

terrible, how

can you ever

stand to look

at me?

You may be

surprised at

what I've

done.

And it's as

though Christ

says to us,

what are you

talking about?

What sin are

you talking

about?

I took care

of that.

My job was

to take care

of your sin

and I finished

that job.

It's done

now.

I once

heard a

pastor tell

a simple

story that

I love

so much.

A man

goes to

his pastor

and he

says,

Pastor,

I've

sinned and

I feel

terrible

about it

and nothing

will ease

my conscience.

I have

confessed a

thousand times

and I still

don't feel

better.

And the

pastor says

to him,

well,

there's your

problem right

there.

You should

have confessed

it one

time and

praised him

a thousand

times.

when Christ

had received

the sour

wine,

he said,

it is

finished.

And then

he bowed

his head

and gave

up his

spirit.

We must

believe that

and be

saved from

our sins.

We must

accept it

instead of

wearing ourselves

out,

trying to do

his job

over and

over again

ourselves.

and we

must rest

because our

sins are

gone and

we are

now free.

Thanks be to

God for his

inexpressible

gift.

Amen.

Let's pray

together.

Father,

what a joy

it is to

read this

passage in

this holy

week and

remind ourselves

of what you

accomplished on

the cross.

This is not

the way that

we're geared.

We're geared

to do these

things ourselves,

to try and

maintain our

own control

over the

situation.

We are not

geared to let

go of these

things and let

you handle it.

But I pray

that you would

help us to

believe in

what you

have done,

to believe in

you,

to accept

that that

work has

been completed

and then to

have the joy

of our

salvation,

of walking

with you,

knowing that

we are in

Christ and

that you have

brought us near

to yourself

through him.

We praise you

for your work

on the cross.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

Amen.