Good Friday
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Luke 22:39-46
Luke 22:39-46
Good evening, church!
I am so thankful for a church that is willing to come out and worship on Good Friday night!
I am truly excited about tonight because I desired to have a Good Friday service for years.
One sermon on Easter is rightfully focused on the Resurrection and I have always felt like the cross is briefly touched on. What I am so excited about it to have this service to devote to focusing on the cross and then Sunday is free to fully focus on the resurrection.
But with tonight being able to fully focus on the cross, you might hear somethings that are hard to hear. Somethings that are not fun to think about and something that are even harder to comprehend or understand.
Tonight, we are going to talk about a side of God that is rarely discussed in today’s church. Our hearts and minds might revolt and try to turn away or add to this passages.
But i’m going to challenge you to listen to these passages for what they say. Don’t try to lessen them or rationalize them. Take them for what they say because they are truth!
The purpose of tonight and diving deeper on the cross and what it means is to remind us what He did for us, and then partake in the Lord’s supper together in remembrance of Him and then worship out of the renewed understanding and appreciation for the cross!
Tonight, I have a lot of scripture. And I’m going to put it up on the screen and I have instead of fill in the blank notes, the references for you to know where I am to be able to go back and study them on your own.
But let’s start from a passage in Luke from our reading plan.
And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
So, Paul Washer asks this question about this passage that I want to attempt to answer to the best of my ability tonight.
After Jesus ascends to heaven, men and women are martyred, crucified, stoned to death and light on fire to light gardens in following to example of Jesus willingly laying down His life.
Polycarp of Smyrna in 155AD
When he was tied to the stake to be burned, he didn't scream for mercy. Instead, he offered a lengthy prayer of thanksgiving, treating the moment like a sacrifice he was honored to give.
The Words: He famously prayed, "I bless you for having deemed me worthy of this day and hour," essentially celebrating his execution as a final "graduation" of faith.
Even the disciples celebrated when they were beaten because they were worthy of suffering for the sake of Christ.
Stories after story depict Christians at peace and singing going towards their deaths but here, in this garden, their captain, their leaders is suffering and sweating blood.
Matthew records Jesus saying,
Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”
So, why is Jesus acting and feeling like this, when His followers didn’t?
I think the answer is obvious but complex.
Jesus’ suffering was so much more than physical. Jesus’ suffering and death was going to be greater than anyone had ever experienced or will ever experience.
Jesus knew that He was about to experience a side of the Father, attributes of the Father few had ever experienced, but in the future many will experience.
Jesus knew that His suffering would be greater than suffering in the body, but it would also include suffering in His soul and Spirit as well.
Jesus’ suffering was body, soul and Spirit.
Something that the martyrs that follows would not have to experience.
Let me show you what I mean.
First, Jesus was able to experience attributes of God what few have ever experienced and should cause us to pause in reverencial fear and awe.
Nahum 1:2-6 explains these attributes well.
The Lord is a jealous and avenging God;
the Lord is avenging and wrathful;
the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries
and keeps wrath for his enemies.
The Lord is slow to anger and great in power,
and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty.
His way is in whirlwind and storm,
and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
He rebukes the sea and makes it dry;
he dries up all the rivers;
Bashan and Carmel wither;
the bloom of Lebanon withers.
The mountains quake before him;
the hills melt;
the earth heaves before him,
the world and all who dwell in it.
Who can stand before his indignation?
Who can endure the heat of his anger?
His wrath is poured out like fire,
and the rocks are broken into pieces by him.
This is a side of God rarely discussed in church, but it is just as real as His loving and merciful nature.
God is jealous, avenging and His wrath is poured out like fire.
Jesus knew that He was about to experience these attributes of God.
Jesus had walked in unity with the Father and the Spirit His whole life. He submitted to the Father’s will and instructions perfectly. He got alone with the Father and rejoiced in the Spirit.
But He was about to experience a side of the Father that Jesus knew about because He was and is God, but He had never been on the receiving end, certainly not in His 33 years of being human.
Scripture is clear though that God promises these attributes on all of mankind who are rebellious and sinful.
News flash, thats all of us.
Jeremiah prophecies these words of God to the wicked, rebellious Jewish people who were conquered and exiled by the Babylonians.
Thus the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of the sword that I am sending among them.”
So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand, and made all the nations to whom the Lord sent me drink it: Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials, to make them a desolation and a waste, a hissing and a curse, as at this day;
He goes on to list kingdom after kingdom and wraps up the list in verse 26
all the kings of the north, far and near, one after another, and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth. And after them the king of Babylon shall drink.
“Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink, be drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more, because of the sword that I am sending among you.’
“And if they refuse to accept the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: You must drink!
NASB says, “You shall surely drink!”
All of mankind, every nation because of its rebellion against God and sinfulness will not have a choice.
You shall surely drink of the cup of the wrath of God.
We seem to lessen this down to simplier, easier to digest language like “sent to hell” or “separation from God for all eternity” but the deeper and more meaningful truth is that those who are not found in Christ at judgement day will suffer the cup of the wrath of God.
Psalm 75 teaches us that.
We give thanks to you, O God;
we give thanks, for your name is near.
We recount your wondrous deeds.
“At the set time that I appoint
I will judge with equity.
For not from the east or from the west
and not from the wilderness comes lifting up,
but it is God who executes judgment,
putting down one and lifting up another.
For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup
with foaming wine, well mixed,
and he pours out from it,
and all the wicked of the earth
shall drain it down to the dregs.
When we talk about the gospel, and sharing Jesus with others, its vital that we understand that there is more at play that just an eternal destination.
We are talking about eternity either basking in the goodness and glory of God forever.
Or suffering under the wrath and punishment of God forever.
So much more than a destination!
I know that is not fun truth but according to the Word of God, it is the truth.
But here is where the promise comes in.
The Israelites were suffering under the hand of the Babylonians but God makes a promise to the people of the Earth.
Thus says your Lord, the Lord,
your God who pleads the cause of his people:
“Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering;
the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more;
What? God says that He will come and take the cup, He will come and take the bowl of God’s wrath and we won’t have to drink it?!
What do you think was in the cup that Jesus was praying about?
Jesus knew in that garden that He was about to fulfill this prophecy. He was about to take this cup.
Jesus was sweating blood because He did just remove the cup from us, He was going to drink it completely.
In that cup the wrath of God that melts mountains and dries up oceans was about to be poured out on Him. That He was about to willingly take that cup and drink it down to the dregs, to the very last drop.
How would you feel if you knew that’s what you were about to have to suffer?
It makes Matthew 10:28 feel very real.
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Now, how was Jesus going to experience the wrath of God. He was going to experience in body, soul and Spirit.
The Body
Jesus’ suffering the wrath of God in His flesh is the obvious way that we know of an talk about most often.
Scripture says, that they slapped him and punched Him. They beat Him with a rod. They placed a crown of thorns on His head and struck the thorns with the rod to drive them into His skull.
They whipped Him with the cat of nine tails that had glass, bone and metal chunks tied to the end of it that would grab a hold of His skin. So that the worst part was not the hitting with the whip but it was the tearing away when the guard brought the whip back.
He was drug naked through the streets and nails were driven through His hands and His feet and He was lifted up on those nails. He had to stand on the nail through His feet in order to be able to breath. Ever nerve ending was firing pain back to His mind and causing His heart to beat out of His chest.
The dehydration and blood lose likely gave Him an excruciating migrain.
It was said, to be crucified was to die thousand deaths.
But He willingly did it…
(pause)
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
On that cross, Jesus physically laid down His life as a sacrifice to God with the forgiveness of your sins!
Lambs and bulls where never enough! The sins of the world required the perfect blood of the spotless Lamb of God!
YOUR sins required the perfect blood of Jesus to pay for them.
The wrath of God towards YOUR sin was poured out on Jesus physically in every punch, slap, whip, tear, nail and excruciating breath that Jesus suffered.
Jesus not only suffered the wrath of god physically, but He suffering it in His soul as well.
Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”
Greater than physical, Jesus knew He was going to suffer the deepest and most agonizing pain in the crushing of His soul.
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.
(slowly)Jesus experienced crushing grief in His soul.
I can’t fully understand this.
But the closest thing that I can try to relate to is the crushing guilt of sin that breaks us deep within.
It says that “His soul makes an offering for guilt.”
Something we have to bring into this discussion is 2 Corinthians 5:21
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Now, hear me well, Jesus was still divine and stayed perfect, because He had to remain the spotless Lamb.
But there is a moment on Good Friday that Jesus takes upon Himself our sins as if they were His sins.
Imagine, the perfect innocent Jesus suddenly carrying the weight and burden of not just my sins, not just the sins of everyone in this room, but the sins of the world!
Think about Riker’s Island prison. Imagine just the guilt of that prison!
Can you imagine how soul crushing the guilt and grief of that would be?!
He saw not only the faces of the guilty but the faces of the one’s the guilty hurt, murdered, abused and took advantage of! He experienced all of the guilt from all of the sins of the world!
He went from holiness and perfection to pouring His soul out in anguish, agony and guilt for the sins that you and I commit every day.
And it crushed His soul!
You know a tiny fraction of what that feels like. David describes it as his bones wasting away, groaning all day long, drinking his tears. He calls it the heavy hand of the Lord.
Jesus experienced all of the guilt of your sins and it crushed His soul to the point of death.
The wrath of God was poured out to crush Jesus’ soul by Him carrying the guilt of all the sins of the world.
Christian, do not allow that to cause you to feel guilty. If you are in Christ, and have repented from your sins, do not take off of Jesus your guilt and place it back on yourself!
He willingly took the guilt of your sin so that you don’t have to!
Do not take off of Him what He willingly took off of you.
Lastly, Jesus experienced the wrath of God in His Spirit.
Back to 2 Corinthians 5:21
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
When Jesus took on Himself your sins, He not only suffered the guilt of your sin, but He also suffered the consequences on your sin in His relationship with the Spirit of God.
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
When you and I sin, the Holy Spirit that is within is grieved! It hurts the heart of the Spirit. It makes Him sad.
And if we continue in sin, 1 Thess tells us that we can quench the Spirit.
That word means to extinguish, to put out something that is burning. To completely put it out.
Listen, I have gone back and forth on this topic for years of my life. But I am convinced that when the Father put the sins of the world on the back of His Son, the Father was removed His presence and comfort from Jesus on the cross so that He could fully experience the right wrath of God for sin.
The Holy Spirit is the felt heart of God. So there must have been some separation of lessening of the Spirit for Him to not be able to experience the goodness of God in that moment!
I don’t know how that works, but Matthew records that there was 3 hours of darkness and some believe it was darkness like in the plague in Egypt, that He couldn’t see His hand before His face.
And Jesus is on that cross in total darkness for three hours as wave after wave after wave of the wrath of Almighty God is poured out upon Him and the Father leaves Him in udder darkness and alone, and out of the physical anguish, the crushing guilt of His soul and the separation between the Him and the Father and Spirit, in the darkest moment of all human history,
our Savior cries out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?!”
He is quoting from Psalm 22 where He says,
Psalm 22:6 “But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people.”
Psalm 22:14–18 “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet— I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.”
And He is crying out to His Father,
Psalm 22:19–20 “But you, O Lord, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid! Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog!
Church, the wrath of God is hell. Jesus sweet blood in the garden because He was going to experience hell on earth.
It was more that separation from the Father. This Father that He spent 33 years following, listening to, obeying, getting alone with, being loved by has not only turned His goodness away from Him but has turned toward Him in righteous, wrathful anger!
All of God’s anger and hatred toward sin lashes out upon Him repeatedly! Wave after wave in complete darkness as the Father pours out the cup to the very bottom.
And listen to me very closely, He did that to Jesus, so that the Father doesn’t have to do it to you.
Every single bit that Jesus experienced on that cross, you absolutely and completely deserve for every one single sin in your life.
All of it, God could justly pour out on you.
And one day, if you are not in Christ, He will.
Listen, the point of these message is not to weigh you down or make you cry.
The point of this message and this entire service tonight is to remind you that
It’s not just about Jesus dying on a cross. Its about Jesus dying on your cross.
It’s not just that Jesus died. It’s that He died the death that you deserve!
It’s not just that Jesus took on sin. It’s that Jesus took on your sin!
The wages of sin is not simply physical death. It’s suffering the wrath of God, the condemnation, the judgement of God for all eternity!
That is what you and I justly deserve!
We deserve everything that Jesus suffered. Body, soul and Spirit.
(long pause)
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
Somebody say praise God! Alleluia!
So let’s make this personal and physical before us now.
Let us gather around this table and remember His body that was broken and His blood that was poured out.
Let us remember His soul was crushed with guilt so that mine doesn’t have to be.
And let us remember, that because of Jesus separation from the Father is impossible now. That we can right now be partakers in Christ, basking in His goodness, approaching the throne of grace, and enjoying His glory forever and ever Amen!
