Good Friday (2026)

Psalm 22

We come to this night and reflect upon the reality of sin, we have spent the past 6 weeks in Lent reflecting on sin, and what it looks like, and the terrible cost that it has incurred upon mankind. The desperate need that each of us has for a Savior, for the Law has condemned us all, and the price that we are required to pay is beyond our comprehension. For all who seek to minimize sin, to think that it isn’t a big issue, that’s its a small problem in the history of mankind must be brought here to the foot of the Cross.

For when we look up and we see that upon the Cross is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who has committed no crime, has not been found guilty by any courts, but He suffers because the sins of others rest upon His sacred head. We as Americans, want the world to be a fair place, we want it to be just, and we are frustrated when there is an imbalance, when someone has to pay for the failings of another, and that a person should get a fair deal.

If a person does what is right they ought to be rewarded for it, and if a person does what is wrong, then they deserve to be punished. We like the balances to be paid, debts to be settled, and we want to make sure that we get what is ours. Which is what makes the cross such a scandal. What has Jesus done wrong? Who has He failed? What evil has He worked against his fellow man? If a person cuts us off on a highway and then gets into a accident, we hope its not too bad, but we say they got what they deserved. If a person lies, steals, or cheats, and then suffers some similar misfortune, we say this is good that evil is being punished, but what has Jesus done that would deserve this? The answer is nothing, He did nothing wrong that would merit or deserve this level of punishment, but it has been laid upon Him.

We might look at this and say that’s horribly unfair. Just like it’s unfair that the reason you and I die, and are born sinners is because of Adam sinned in the garden thousands of years ago. We look at this and say that it’s unfair, and we can complain about it, we can rage against it, but where did we get this idea that life was going to be fair? We can look at our sin, and try to distance ourselves from its consequences and say, well I didn’t know that was a Law that God had made, or they were just idle words that slipped from my lips, surely God wouldn’t be upset about those? It was just a quick look of the eye, I didn’t actually do what I was thinking about, or is it really wrong when they’ve got so much if I take a little bit from them?

Why does this book written so long ago, that it gives me guidelines on how to live and holds everyone accountable to it? How is that fair for folks that never knew in the first place? Just because something is unfair, doesn’t mean its not real, that its not true. Is it tragic that children are born into slavery because of the fault of their parents? Yes. Is frustrating that you inherit not just good things from your parents, but illnesses and diseases as well, even though you didn’t have a say in it at all? Being frustrated that the Bible doesn’t match our understand what’s fair and unfair doesn’t really matter, God is still the creator, Adam’s sin still condemns us all, we complain about things being unfair that we might reject God, and reject his Law and determine that we know better than He does, because it looks unfair, and yet where is God this night?

There upon the cross. There is he who cries out my God my God why have you forsaken me? The suffers pain that we cannot imagine, as the one through whom all things were created has born the suffering and punishment for our sins in His flesh while we sit back and complain, about what? Our jobs? Our health? all the work we put in that goes unnoticed? Yet the Son of God bleeds because we have sinned. How’s that fair? So why is he there with nails through hands, thorns piercing his brow, and flesh ripped and torn? It’s because there was no other way to save you.

There was no other way to redeem you and bring you back into God’s grace. We complain about it being unfair, but He doesn’t. He pleads for mercy, He asks for help, but He submits to the will of His father and is crushed for our iniquities? Because it was the only way to save those whom He loves. That’s why He is there suffering for sins that aren’t his own, for evils that He hasn’t committed. It’s love, love covers over many offenses.

The reason we are so vexed about things not being fair, is that we don’t have that love in our hearts, Love for God, or for our neighbor. We only care about what we believe is ours by right, and we don’t want to let it go, and have to suffer on account of someone else, because that is the selfishness that has corrupted our bones, and Christ laid all of that aside, and took on the form of a servant becoming obedient unto death, even death upon the Cross, because He did not want you to die. Because the reality is that if God who is the judge were to treat you or I fairly and give us what we deserve, that would be you on the Cross, that would be me, that would be everyone here, and yet the Son of God goes forth to die for sinners.

Tonight we come together because there upon the Cross is our dear friend, and He demonstrated that by saving us in our hour of need. He didn’t stop and say its not fair, I shouldn’t have to do this, He asked if there was any other way, and when the Father said no, He endured the Cross scorning its shame, and commended his spirit to God, that He might save us.

So my brothers and sisters in Christ, when your judgment gets clouded and you want to complain about it being unfair, and not getting what you deserve, before you get pulled too far in, look at the cross, and see your dear friend, who knows what it is to suffer on account of others, and for others, and remember He isn’t there for His sins, but our sins. That love that he has shown to us, we wish to show to others, do not let that root of bitterness grow in your heart, but remember what Christ did for you this day, and that He begged that the Father might show us mercy even when he suffered at our hands. In Jesus name. Amen.