Good Friday: Signs and Symbols

Matthew 27:45-54

Tonight, we have read a portion of the most significant event in the history of the universe since it’s creation, as has been done for almost two-thousand years.

We get to share in the grand tradition of reading and reflecting on the death of our Lord, my Savior.

Something that I was reflecting on in my preparation for this is that I can’t take all of the details in. I have read this story so many times, I’ve even preached this story tons of times, and yet there is always something missed, there’s always something that I didn’t quite grasp or focus on.

I think the reason for this is the immense weight of what is going on.

We have here the most beautiful Person that has ever lived… if we’re to trust in the Bible, the first true Human since Genesis 3, and in this story He prepares us for His death, He is betrayed by His friends, beaten within an inch of His life, and brutally murdered.

I can’t begin to comprehend the vast meaning of this event! I can’t approach the cross of Christ knowing all of the agony that He endured. No human can, I don’t believe our minds can comprehend it.

And so, throughout this story, I believe that God providentially put signs and symbols in the life of the Son at this point to help anchor us in the reality and depth of what we just read. There are these little hints that hold us fast in the immensity of God, the weight of my sin, and the crushing agony of the Passion of Christ.

The Table

The first symbol we see here is at the table. Jesus, on the night that He was betrayed, took the bread and the cup and instituted a practice that we call communion, the Lord’s Supper, or even Eucharist.

This event is a symbol.

We see that He took the bread and broke it, and then gave it to His disciples, telling them that this is His body

This shows the way in which Christ’s body was rent and torn on the cross.

According to the prophecy in Isaiah, no bones we’re broken, but His body was immolated for us.

We also see that He took the cup and gave it, saying that this is His blood

This shows the way in which He must die.

Jesus’ death was not accidental or incidental, it wasn’t just blind butchery done by weak men (Although it was partially that). Christ’s blood was shed as a sacrifice for you and I.

His death played the blood price that you and I deserved to pay because of our sin.

And so, in the Last Supper, at the table, we see God providentially showing us an image that illustrates to us the reality of what’s happening.

The Kiss

And then we move on to the kiss.

After the Last Supper, the disciples except for Judas followed Him to the garden where He would regularly pray.

Judas, however, chose then to give Him over to the Jewish leaders.

The decided method was that Judas was going to do the traditional greeting of kissing someone on the cheek as an identification of who Jesus was.

This illustrates to us the betrayal of Christ.

My Lord was betrayed by one of His followers for a mere 30 pieces of silver.

Judas was despicable, and deserving of the immense judgement that he received.

However, the kiss also shows us that we are just as much at fault as Judas for Christ’s crucifixion.

It was my sin that held Him there, it was not just the actions of one peasant in Judea that the Lord of all creation gave His life.

I am the betrayer of Jesus. I have sinned and fallen short.

My Lord died because of my actions, that I might live.

The Cross

And then we move on to the cross.

My Lord was shuffled from the High Priest to Pilate. He was flogged mercilessly, He was given a crown of thorns and a purple robe, symbols of His Kingship and hardship.

And then my God was nailed to a cross to be murdered.

The cross is without a doubt the biggest symbol in all of Christianity, when we see if we can’t help but reflect on the moment in which our Lord died, and yet, we can lose it as well.

The cross is where the wrath of the Father was poured out on the Son so that you and I might be joined to the Triune God by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus suffered on the cross that my sins my be covered when I couldn’t do anything

The cross is an incredible sign of the love of God, that He might give Himself up for me.

It was in Jesus that the divine and human met, and it was at the cross that made that meeting complete

Because of the love and sacrifice of Jesus, we have been washed clean of our sin and can go before our Father in heaven knowing that we belong there.

It is because of the tragedy of the cross that the rejoicing of all creation can happen.

And yet still, I can’t comprehend the weight of that sacrifice. My mind goes too quickly to Easter, it goes too quickly to satisfaction and not sacrifice.

The cross grounds me in knowing HOW I’ve been forgiven, not just the fact of my forgiveness.

The Tomb

After this, my Lord was placed in a tomb that was given to Him by a secret follower of Jesus.

It was there that my Lord lay, having received the punishment that I inflicted upon Him.

I just want us to reflect on the silence that must have permeated that tomb. The sheer nothingness

Easter is coming, and yet at this moment 2,000 years ago, that tomb was very much full.

The only significance of the empty tomb is that it was full at this point.

The Table

And so, we come back to the table, where this all started.

The table now is a time for us to reflect on the past. It’s a time for us to see and feel and hear the death of Jesus; to see these images as something holy.

The table is also a time for us to think of the future. There will come a day when we will be at the marriage supper of the Lamb, and the pain of the cross and of this life will be a memory looked back on with joy.

Some even say that as we take the body and the blood, that by the power of the Holy Spirit, our souls are drawn to heaven and we take of the body and blood of Jesus even while we consume these elements.

This table, much like what we’ve talked about tonight, is a symbol. It shows us that the body must be given and the blood must be shed, but there is life in the sacrifice.

Set up the nails and communion.