Anything: Darkest Before the Dawn

Intro

Married people, what would you be willing to do to protect your spouse? Parents, what would you be willing to do to protect your kids?

Generally, the answer to that question is simple: we would do anything. In fact, one of the most powerless positions any one person can find themselves is when a loved one is sick or hurting, and we are willing to do anything and can do nothing about it. There is no worse feeling in the world. Now I want you to hold onto to that idea as we dive in this morning.

To set up Good Friday, we have to go back to the beginning. In the beginning, there was a garden, and a man. God says to the man:

Genesis 2:15–17 ESV

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Later we learn that it is not the tree that will kill the man, but it is the willful disobedience of God’s command.

Romans 6:23 ESV

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Later God creates woman, and the man and woman are given free reign of the garden, except for this one rule; don’t eat from the tree.

In Genesis 3, we learn they do just that. The man and woman are deceived by the serpent, and together they eat of the fruit. In the 20th verse of the chapter, we read this:

Genesis 3:21 ESV

And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

Two questions emerge from Genesis 3: why didn’t the man and the woman die? Where did the skins for the garments come from? Suddenly we realize that the answer to these questions is connected. If the penalty for sin is death, then something died in the place of the man and woman, and God made the garments from the skins. They would wear this reminder, that something died for their sin so they didn’t have to.

Unfortunately, this was just the beginning. Sin had entered the world, and as we read the Old Testament, we watch as humanity wrestles with sin. Someone give up and give in to their temptations, some fight back, striving to honour God with their lives. Sooner or later, everyone stumbles, everyone falls, and the story starts to look pretty bleak. The sacrifice system God has established has been abused, and in is rampant in the hearts and minds of people. It doesn’t look good.

Except for a small glimmer of hope. All throughout the story, kings and prophets keep referring to someone that is coming. Someone that is different, and this man is going to change everything. When all seems hopeless, this person offers hope!

400 years after the last letter of the Old Testament is written, Jesus appears on the scene. He doesn’t explode with a parade and grandiose display of his greatness. He arrives in a manger, born to a carpenter and his wife. By the time he is grown, Jesus has fulfilled so many Old Testament prophecies that it is undeniable he is the one the prophets were talking about. The people are excited because he doesn’t teach like their teachers, and he performs miracles. He has huge crowds following him, hanging on every word that he says. Is this the one that everyone was hoping for? Everything seems to be pointing that way, except behind the scenes, there is group that is plotting to get rid of Jesus. The religious leaders aren’t convinced, and decide to get rid of him.

And so we find ourselves back in a garden. Jesus is praying to his father, asking for the strength to endure what is coming. It says that Jesus is sweating drops of blood, he is so stressed about what is literally around the corner.

Matthew 26, verse 47-56, Judas betrays Jesus, handing him over to the temple guards to be brought before the chief priest.

Verses 57-68, Jesus stands trial as false witnesses are brought before him, testifying against him. After he declares himself to be the Son of God, he beaten and mocked.

Verses 69-75, Peter, Jesus’s right hand man, denies even knowing who Jesus is. Officially, every single one of Jesus’s closest friends have abandoned him in his greatest need.

Chapter 27, 1-2 He is brought before the governor Pilate. The Jews can’t kill him because it is against the laws of their Roman overseers, so they bring him to the Romans to deal with.

Verse 11-14, Pilate is questioning him, but finds nothing to charge Jesus with. Pilate’s desire is to release him, but a crowd is gathering, and the priests have stirred the crowd, demanding that Jesus be crucifed

Verses 24-26, Pilate has Jesus beaten, and hands him over to the Jews to be crucified.

Verses 27-31, the Romans mock him, beat him, and parade him through the city like a common criminal, lead to be crucified for all to see.

Matthew 27:32–50 ESV

As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.

Jesus has been betrayed, abandoned, falsely accused of all kinds of things, beaten half to death. When Romans scourged someone, which they did to Jesus, it was refered to half death. At every turn, he was mocked and ridiculed. He was tortured and crucified. Crucifixion was meant to be a slow death. It was used by the Romans to remind the nations that they had conquered who was in charge. It was so painful and cruel that Romans wouldn’t crucify Romans. The idea was that it wasn’t the beatings or the nails that killed the person. The way that they were hung, the person’s lungs would eventually fill with fluid and they would drown.

Which brings me back to where we started. What would you do to protect your child? Your spouse?

Humanity was sick. Sin was the disease, and there was nothing we could do about it. Sin destroys our lives, causes pain to ourselves and others, and eventually sin kills all of us. God loves us so much that he was willing to do anything to protect us from that fate. He was even willing to send his one and only son to die that most horrific death that man could come up with. God loves you so much that he would pay any price, not withholding his own son.

The wages of sin is death. We all have sin in our lives, and no matter how good we are or how much we try to atone for it our own way, nothing could remove it without a sacrifice, a perfect sacrifice. Jesus lived the perfect life, to pay the price, to be the sacrifice we all needed. When there was nothing we could do, God did what only he could do.

That’s why is it called Good Friday. In the midst of the sadness and heaviness of the day, it is still good because of what it means for each of us.

But don’t worry. It’s not the end of the story. As pastor Lockridge says in the video, “Sunday is a coming.”

We’re going to close with prayer, but I want to invite you, whether you’re here or online. I believe that this morning stirred someone’s heart. If you need to talk or pray, or if you want to ask Jesus to forgive you, to recognize the sacrifice Jesus made for you, then don’t hesitate to reach out. Myself or any of the staff at OneChurch would love to pray with you and walk you through what’s next.