Good Friday 2024 (Final)

TALK #1 FORGIVENESS_____1170_________

‘There is no future without forgiveness’

Those are the words

of South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu,

as he spoke to his beloved country

on the brink of turmoil.

There’s nothing more dangerous than holding out a posture of

“NO-FORGIVENESS” in the face of genuine remorse

When you do something wrong

You’re done … no more chances …

We call it “cancel culture”

But I prefer to call it “No-Forgiveness culture.”

Don’t expect things to go down nicely

when you reject

a hand offering peace

a genuinely remorseful heart

… seeking forgiveness

You will face Retaliation, Hostility, Conflict, Violence

This is where ‘NO-FORGIVENESS’ culture will lead us

A society littered with broken relationships

Instead of a world, united …

We’d be made up of 8 islands, isolated from each other

Because we’ve all cancelled each other out …

The world scoffs at ‘forgiveness’ …

But everything we long for …

Is only on the OTHER SIDE of forgiveness

You want restoration?

You want reconciliation?

You want relationship?

Forgiveness

And FORGIVENESS

IS at the HEART of the gospel!

It’s the heart of GOD!!

#1) Jesus offers forgiveness to the world

God’s mission in sending Jesus to the cross

Was God extending his hand of forgiveness

to: a broken and needy world.

#2) The world rejected him

In Pacific Islander culture, we always extend kindness and hospitality.

You treat everybody like family,

even if you don’t know them.

When you’re walking on the street,

You smile and say hi to everyone!!

I don’t know about you .. but something about Sydney smacks that out of me!

The typical Sydney greeting is

The look to the left and downwards

The ‘pretend you don’t exist’

The ‘mean mug’ …

It feels like a punch to the gut … you know what I do now?

I find myself fitting RIGHT in!

I tell myself, it’s not worth being kind, I’ll be cold and unwelcoming, you’re gonna get rejected anyway’ ….

You might have good intentions …

But when they Figuratively

slap your hand

Or spit in your face …

You want to do the same back!

God extends his hand of forgiveness through Jesus … But Jesus is rejected.

#1 Matthew 27:27-37, Luke 23:33-34 (pg 3)

- He is stripped of his clothes (Matt 27:28)

- The soldiers play dress-up with him. “You know what’ll be funny? Dress him up as a King – he thinks he’s one.”

o They throw a scarlet robe on him – because that’s the colour that kings wear (v. 28)

o They give him a crown, but made out of thorns (v. 29)

o A weak reed for a staff (v. 29)

- To top it off

o They Mock him, pretending to bow down to him “HAIL THE KING OF THE JEWS” (v. 29)

o Spit on his face (v. 30)

o Snatches the staff from his hand to smack him on the head AGAIN, and AGAIN, and AGAIN, and AGAIN (v. 30)

- When they’re done with this cruel dress-up game …

o They stripped him of his royal robes

o and sent him to be crucified (v. 31)

Usually, criminals carry their own cross … They’re literally carrying their death sentence …

Ain’t no Roman soldier gonna carry it.

No favours given here …

But Jesus was beaten and scorned so much

he was too weak to carry it …

#3) Jesus offers it anyway

How do we feel now?

Outrage?

Anger?

Surely … Jesus would defend himself??

Retaliate?

Can’t let these guys walk all over him!

Despite being in this weakened state … in a display of DIVINE STRENGTH.

Jesus does not retaliate,

But he prays these humanly impossible words

‘FATHER, FORGIVE THEM!!

For they do not know what they are doing.’ (Luke 23:34)

How can he still be so kind? So merciful?

How can Jesus still plead for their FORGIVENESS???

OH, what a love this is!!

I do not know of a love greater than this

And my dear brothers and sisters

Right now, you see the HEART of our KING …

When we would’ve given up

on forgiveness, and kindness and mercylong ago …

Jesus does not! He offers it ANYWAY …

This is a forgiveness, a love …

Like no other !!!

You might think it's weak to tolerate this,

Or to pray this prayer.

It actually takes EXTRAORDINARY, SUPERNATURAL strength to show mercy, kindness

When every fibre of your being wants to RETALIATE

______

This must have been a pathetic and ludicrous scene to an unknowing observer.

The ripped-up ‘royal robe’

The crude, thorny crown

The feeble stick for a staff

The mocking chorus

But to those who know Jesus is – see something totally different.

Not that we are to be indifferent to the humiliation of our Saviour …

But we see a King arrayed in his glory!!

We see the beauty and majesty

of the one who was abused, derided

Who is powerful enough,

besides the King of Kings

to bear this vile treatment?

And STILL, extend a hand of forgiveness

to the very ones who want to kill him!!!

This is God’s Glory, power and love in FULL display …

You want to know how much God loves you?

Look no further than here

_________

If he prays this for his enemies

Imagine his love for anyone who is remorseful, wanting to repent and accept God’s forgiveness???

One of the criminals crucified with Jesus … arrived at this point … asking Jesus from a heart of remorse and repentance …

‘Remember me … when you make it your Kingdom’ (Luke 23:42)

Jesus responds

‘Surely … TODAY, you will be with me in paradise.’

(Luke 23:43)

Those words mean nothing … if Jesus wasn’t KING …

You can’t guarantee me a job TODAY … unless you were the boss

You can’t guarantee me a reservation TODAY… unless you own the HOTEL

You can’t guarantee me a place in the kingdom TODAY … unless you were the King

He can guarantee you a place in the kingdom TODAY

BECAUSE HE IS THE KING!!!

Conclusion

I don’t know where you’re at with God

Maybe you’ve rejected God your whole life

Maybe, feeling distant from him

Maybe weighed down by sin … guilt, shame … regret

I know when we feel like that … we wish we could turn back time and undo all our mistakes

I wish I could take back all my hateful comments towards God

I wish I could take back that life of sin I lived rejecting God

Jesus offers something infinitely better than turning back the clock and fixing your regrets

It’s called – forgiveness …

Because of God’s forgiveness – we have a future with him!!!

Jesus offers complete forgiveness

For your past sins, no matter what they are

And your future sin

No matter what you’ve done …

Given that you’re broken by your sin and seek God’s forgiveness

You will receive it in full!

And we can be sure TODAY, that our future is with him in his Kingdom!!

//END TALK #1

TALK #2: FAMILY ______1022______________

#1 John 19:25-27 – Woman, here’s your son, here’s your mother.’

Family means everything to me

Ask any Pacific Islander … they would say the same.

Nothing thicker than Blood …

Friends come and go, but

My brother will always be my brother

My mother will always be my mother

So, it’s so moving to see Jesus showing deep concern

for his family as he is dying

He wants to make sure Mum is okay! And his siblings are looked after …

Back then, by custom, the eldest child was responsible for looking after mum.

So, in situations where the eldest is gonna die,

he must hand over the care to the next eldest sibling …

The pacific islander culture is very similar.

I’m the eldest in my family …

Mum and Dad always entrusted ME to look after my 3 younger siblings - at school or going out together to the park

When someone teases them at school, I would deal with the bullies …

If they run out of lunch money… Don’t worry. I got chu. Take my $2

If we get in trouble for coming home late from the park … I’m the one that gets in trouble …

I’ll confess I wasn’t the best older brother. I did older brother things, like giving my siblings a hard time (sometimes).

But when push came to shove, I was taught to look after my siblings.

We were also taught that when we’re older - the siblings look after the parents (not necessarily the eldest like in Jesus’ time), the ones who gave up everything for us…

That’s family …

So … Jesus, acting as the firstborn son …

utters to Mary and John

“Mary … John is your son now

… he’s gonna look after you.”

“John … You’re the eldest now …

You take care of your mother” (John 19:27)

The fact that Jesus handed over this privilege to John –

Instead of one of his ACTUAL brothers

(Jesus had at least 4 bros)

Tells us SO MUCH about who Jesus sees as family.

Well … it’s not by BLOOD!

Jesus and John are not related in any way

and yet John is given this great privilege.

Jesus considers both as Family … it’s not by blood …

It’s because Mary and John

Know who Jesus is: God's Son, and King

And believe in Him …

That’s REAL family

____ applying to us___

We always talk about Jesus as King …that is true …

but I wonder if you’ve meditated on Jesus being our brother?

The older brother who takes responsibility for us,

to make sure we’re safe?

The older brother who puts himself in harm's way,

To die for our sins

So that we don’t have to?

Jesus has brought us all the way in

FROM ENEMIES

TO FAMILY

That is a great blessing!!!

#2 Matthew 27:45-46 – Eli Eli Lama Sabachthani?

This blessing

… came at a SIGNIFICANT cost.

We can feel Jesus’ spiritual, emotional, and physical pain as he cries with a loud voice:

MY GOD, MY GOD – WHY HAVE YOU FORSKANE ME?

(Matthew 27:46)

These are Jesus’ raw emotions. No filter. No front.

He feels betrayed … by his own father!

Out of everything he’s endured to this point –

this is the most painful.

Sure,

- one of his closest friends betrayed him

- All his ‘loyal’ disciples deserted him

- And now … his father, too?

You can sense the emotional pain,

the relational strain that

Jesus doesn’t even call God ‘FATHER’

But … Jesus always called God, Father!

And when he taught us how to pray, we start with

‘Our FATHER in heaven’

Yet he starts this with a ‘My God’, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME???’.

Jesus feels betrayed. Distant from God …

This is still a cry of faith!

He’s saying ‘MY’ God …

Not ‘God, where are you?’

or ‘If there is a God out there, save me.’

God is still ‘his’ God. Relational language is still there.

#3 John 19:28 – “I am thirsty”

John’s account of this … seems to give a different perspective …

According to John - Jesus says, “I’m thirsty” …

That’s the understatement of the millennium WOW …

Did John mishear Jesus or something?

or trying to suppress Jesus’ suffering?

No … He wants to give us a different perspective of Jesus from Scripture!! To complement Matthew’s…

Matthew emphasises Jesus’ raw, human emotions.

John emphasises Jesus’ determination to carry out God’s mission, regardless …

Reading John 19:28

“Later, knowing that everything had now been finished,

And so that scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said,

‘I am thirsty’”

Finished what? God’s mission

And Fulfilling? God’s Scripture

So, to get the complete perspective of Jesus’ words,

We need to go to scripture!

What we find is … Matthew and John both to the same exact, Psalm … Psalm 22 to be precise.

Which is a Kingly Psalm written by King David

Like Jesus

David was called God’s son, as well as God’s King

Being God’s Son, also meant to be God’s King – SAME THING

King David writes Psalm 22 from a place of Pain.

He begins the psalm like this:

‘MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME”

WHY ARE YOU SO FAR FROM SAVING ME,

SO FAR FROM MY CRIES OF ANGUISH???”

Later on, he describes how he feels this betrayal physically… talking about his thirst

“MY MOUTH IS DRIED UP LIKE A POT-SHERD

MY TONGUE STICKS TO THE ROOF OF MY MOUTH

YOU LAY ME TO THE DUST OF DEATH “

As Jesus shouts these two seemingly contrasting cries

Scripture teaches us:

God’s King, God’s Son … is meant to suffer.

He feels the pain, but is also determined to persevere through it.

Conclusion

On the cross, Jesus acted like God’s King …

He protected his people by putting his life on the line

And he acted like God’s son

taking care of his family …

taking the punishment we deserved

So that we might be brought in as family

So that we can be sons and daughters, too

and have the joy of calling God “Our Father.”

//END TALK #2

TALK #3: FINISHED ______1112___________

One of the most iconic moments in Australian history is:

Cathy freeman’s historic Gold Medal

at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

There was something bigger about that win that went beyond the athletic field …

She wasn’t carrying her life hopes and dreams,

She was carrying Australia’s hopes and dreams ….

The hopes of a nation forced to face its sins

of how we’ve mistreated our indigenous people

for hundreds of years.

This win was a step towards

Healing.

Reconciliation.

For Jesus, the cross is what he prepared his whole life for!

What he RESOLUTELY set his eyes towards.

To accomplish the mission his father sent him to do.

The mission was to DIE …

We know he is to die as God’s Son and King, serving his people

He was to die as God’s Passover lamb,

To be the sacrifice that will take away the sin of the world

So, it’s no accident that this is all happening

… during the Passover festival…

So, as we hone into the final moments of Jesus’ life …

This is THE moment where God can point to and say:

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

IT IS FINISHED.

Because Jesus definitely died.

#1 Jesus’ death is a definite death

His death is a DEFINITE death.

This is why John goes to GREAT lengths to assure us,

that Jesus did die

Jesus - GAVE UP the spirit

He didn’t ‘pass out’ or ‘play dead’

as some people falsely claim.

Jesus really did die.

His death is CRUCIAL to the success of God’s mission to rescue humanity.

If Jesus didn’t die, the mission ain’t done,

God wouldn’t have to stamp in bright red letters

F A I L

On the mission brief

God’s plan would’ve stayed a plan …

No death would’ve meant:

No forgiveness

No life

No family.

I don’t know if you’ve ever had that over-enthusiastic friend who likes to narrate the movie as you watch?

… So that’s Keanu Reeves, he’s the main character

… okay they’re in Paris now,

… oh btw, do you know I’ve been to the Eiffel Tower

… don’t worry - he’s gonna beat up the bad guys

There’s a big difference between me doing it, and Keanu Reeves doing it during his movie.

If he stops the film

WE LISTEN! It must be something IMPORTANT…

That’s what John does (John 19:35)

He stops the narrative, inserts himself here to tell us something REALLY IMPORTANT

He saw Jesus die with his own TWO eyes

BECAUSE HE WAS THERE

AT THE CROSS …

HE WITNESSED the blood and water flowing from Jesus’ body when the soldier pierced his side

Jesus’ death is a DEFINITE DEATH

The other witnesses (4)

There were other witnesses, too.

I’ll point them out as we go

The first 2: The Jewish leaders and Pilate

The Jewish leaders wanted to make sure Jesus was dead so that they could remain ‘pure’ for the Passover festival

So they ask Pilate to BREAK Jesus’ legs to make sure he’s dead

So … Pilate sends some soldiers to do the deed

One big problem: The Passover lamb cannot have its bones broken …Let’s see if the soldiers actually go ahead with the deed.

This brings us to the third set of witnesses: the Roman soldiers

If there was anybody who knew if a man was dead

It would’ve been a Roman soldier.

I mean, it was the ROMANS who invented crucifixion:

Designed to maximise pain

as you SLOWLY torture you to death

So, when the soldiers came to Jesus

intending to break his legs

They knew immediately Jesus was dead.

No need to break Jesus’ legs.

BUUUUT Just for good measure …

One of them grabbed his spear and PEIRCED Jesus’ side

And immediately water and blood came flowing out!!!

Yep … Jesus is definitely dead …

We’ve got multiple witnesses on the ground

The fourth and final witness comes from SCRIPTURE (v. 36)

Hundreds of years BEFORE this happened. This is God’s witness …

This time - John DOES give us the exact Scripture references, unlike last time …

One comes from the beginning of Israel’s history – Exodus 12

One from the tail-end – Zechariah 12

Everything that Israel looked forward to,

from the beginning of their history to the end –

Is fulfilled in JESUS’ death!

Exodus 12 tells us of the requirement that the Passover lamb is to NOT have its bones broken.

Next Sunday, I’m preparing to go on a 10-day mission to the Solomon Islands… Our primary goal is

- to preach the gospel,

- support the local churches…

We’ve been mission planning for 2 months, ensuring we’ve covered all bases.

- I got my Vaccinations for Malaria and hepatitis Yesterday

- Insurance is locked in

- I’ve got 5-6 sermons ready to go

But there’s only so much we can control!

What if I get there …

And I’m hit with food poisoning, Out for 3 days

Maybe the truck meant to take me to that remote village breaks down…

We can plan, but things out of our control can spoil the mission

God even has control of these ‘uncontrollable’ details

Jesus couldn’t say before he died, ‘BTW can you make sure to not break my bones, 'cause I’m meant to be the Passover lamb to take away the sins of the world’ …

Despite the Jewish Leaders' EVIL intentions – God had control over that …

NOTHING was going to get in the way of God getting his perfect Passover lamb.

Jesus voluntarily gave up his life. It was on his own accord.

Jesus was in full control all the way to his last breath …

The one from Zechariah 12– prophesies

that his people will PIERCE Their King …

but then they’ll mourn what they did …

Seeking forgiveness …

God promises – that the one whom they pierced

will be like a fountain

of life and forgiveness

that they can come and drink from

WE SEE BOTH SCRIPTURES BEING FULFILLED HERE!

Jesus Died as God’s perfect Passover lamb – HE TAKES AWAY YOUR SIN!!!

JESUS is the one whom they pierced

The one who is a fountain of forgiveness and life

That’s what the blood and water (from Jesus’ side) signifies

The blood: signifies FORGIVENESS

The water: signifies LIFE – we’re God’s family now

Conclusion

Pack up your bags, let’s go home

Jesus has done it all!

Close your laptops

Pack away your tools

Pack up shop …

There’s no more work to do!! The Job’s done

SHUT DOWN THE ARENA

TURN OFF THE LIGHTS

The games’ over. The victory is won

As we look at that old, rugged cross

We can declare along with Jesus … IT IS FINISHED

#END TALK 3