Good Friday

For Sheep that Loved to Wander, the Shepherd lays down His Life

My brothers and sisters in Christ, we come to Good Friday, that day when our Lord, the LIght of the world, the one through whom all things were made, whose birth was heralded by Angels in the sky over Bethlehem, and had performed miracle after miracle is stripped, his back left bloody a crown of thorns pressed down upon His brow, and nails are driven through His hands and feet and He is left gasping for breath waiting to die. Why did this happen? Why is the Son of God crying out and asking why has he been forsaken? The answer is that He is suffering on your account.

What we witness on this day is the terrible cost of sin, many make light of sins and try to pretend that they are not as bad or as evil as Bible claims. Some think sin small because of how easily forgiveness is obtained, you just confess and are absolved. It seems so simple and think that since forgiveness is given freely that there must be no great cost for this forgiveness, but while forgiveness is freely given, it must not forget that forgiveness not free, there was a cost, a great and terrible cost, and we see it here tonight upon Calvary.

For the Shepherd of the sheep is suffering for the flock that loved to wander, He suffers for sheep that ignored the voice of God, for sheep that had fallen into sin, sheep like you and me. The pain, the anguish , the rejection that He suffers this day is what the punishment of sin is. As you look at the Cross you begin to understand how horrible sin really is that is the sinless Son of God, Second person of the Trinity through whom not just you and I exist but galaxies were made through him, and He is in great anguish on account of your sins. For He is suffering for what you have done. So see how awful your sin is.

Because he is suffering for your sins that is brings his bitter pain, and each lash of the whip that tore his back, every time he was struck, spit in his face and mocked, that is Jesus is taking upon himself what you deserve for wandering away from the truth. This Wrath that God has against sin, and is to be poured out upon sinners on the final day of judgment, and a wrath that is so great, that when object of God’s hate, that is sin, rested upon His only-begotten Son, God crushed him for our iniquities, and struck Him dead.

Now you might say, well this is not my fault, it was the Romans who put the nails in his hands, it was those in the crowd that shouted Crucify him, Crucify him. What did I do? On the day of Pentecost Peter strikes all of that down, when he says to the Crowd, that you crucified him. For even though it was not your voice that shouted out crucify him, or your hands that held him down as nails were driven in, and thorns pierced his brow, those are your sins that rest upon His head, and He is pierced for your transgressions. It is on account of your sin that He suffers and dies.

Whoever refuses to believe this or accept this, you reject the work of the Holy Spirit who was sent to convict your heart. Which is even more tragic, for here a dear friend is suffering on your account, and would you harden your heart to his plight and the suffering that you brought upon him? I pray not. Let each of us take a few moments to meditate and reflect upon your sins that Christ suffers for on Calvary.

***PAUSE***

By God’s grace, you now understand why Jesus is hanging there, suffering and dying for you. Let us now also consider the great comfort and hope that we have in the Cross of Christ, and why we want it held before our dying eyes. Christ submitted himself to this punishment, the punishment you deserved, because He considered you his dear friend. There is no greater love than that a man lay down his life for a friend. That is who is on the Cross suffering and dying for you, your friend who saw you while you were in dire trouble and were in great need, and He knew that you could not pay the price. It was a price you couldn’t even begin to understand. A price that would not only cost your life, but would you destroy utterly body and soul.

So what did your friend do this day, He stepped between you and the wrath of God, and the suffering and anguish that you would have experienced He took upon Himself for your sake, knowing that it would cost Him his life. He took upon himself your sins that you might walk away from Calvary not bloodied, beaten, and lifeless, but safe and whole.

So hurl your sins on Jesus cast them all upon that dear head for He is there for you, He is there to take away all your sins even though he will be stricken, smitten and afflicted, he bears this for you, because of his great love.

That is what makes the cross so beautiful, that in spite of the blood, the thorns, and the nails, we look past all of those things and there see the love of Christ and God the Father for you. You see the great lengths that God is willing to go to save you even though you are a sinner. On Good Friday we not only see the great and terrible wrath of God against sin, you also witness God’s great desire for you to be in heaven and for you to live and not die.

When People want to know does God care about us? Where is God in all the pain and suffering that they see in this world? In the midst of all the evil that we see men commit against one another, and wonder what God is doing about it. Doesn’t God care that we are perishing? Point them here to the Cross to see that Jesus didn’t hide away or turn his back on us. They can see what Jesus was willing to suffer to bring us through this sinful broken world and into paradise.

We must understand and see both of these sights to meditate upon the Cross rightly. For if we only see the first part, the wrath of God then we do not see the heart of God, and we will still be afraid for who after suffering for us would treat us so kindly that He would open his arms and still call us beloved, and if we try to focus only on the love of God here on Good Friday, we will think that what Jesus did for us was good, but very cheap and not worth much.

See the Cross my Brothers and Sisters and may it ever be before your eyes, that you remember that God has terrible and great wrath against your sin, but Christ stepped between you and the wrath of God that He might be condemned and that you might be saved. In Jesus name. Amen.