Good Friday - 2017

TEXT

20 After they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple robe and put his clothes on him.

They led him out to crucify him. [As they were going out, they found a Cyrenian man named Simon. They forced him to carry his cross. - matt)]

22 They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of the Skull). 23 They tried to give him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.

24 Then they crucified him and divided his clothes, casting lots for them to decide what each would get. 25 Now it was nine in the morning when they crucified him. 26 The inscription of the charge written against him was: The King of the Jews. 27 They crucified two criminals,al with him, one on his right and one on his left.

29 Those who passed by were yelling insults at him, shaking their heads, and [were mocking him]. Even those who were crucified with him taunted him.

LUKE

39 Then one of the criminals hanging there [was] yelling insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

40 But the other answered, rebuking him: “Don’t you even fear God, since you are undergoing the same punishment? 41 We are punished justly, because we’re getting back what we deserve for the things we did, but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me,m when you come into your kingdom.”

43 And he said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

OPENING REMARKS

Good evening...My name is...Pastor

We gather tonight on the most solemn occasions.

We gathered to  the death of not only a good man, but of THE GOD MAN.

What is curious about this is that it is good news.

HOW is The death of Jesus good news?

Why do we call it Good Friday?

To answer this we must ask three questions:

Why did Jesus have to die?

What is crucifixion?

What did the Cross accomplish?

The CROSS is perhaps the most recognized symbol in the history of the world.

Perhaps some of you are wearing a cross today

Yet this instrument of death is a symbol of hope.

WHY WAS JESUS CRUCIFIED?

Very simply, Jesus was crucified for you

It was our sin that made it necessary

God’s Love, God’s Justice

Sin is Real and it is repulsive

Everyone of us has done the wrong thing at times and

we have failed to do what is right

also fallen short we call this SIN

Sin separates us From ourselves, from each other and ultimately from God

SIN  leads to DEATH

From Adam and eve until now

Jesus sent not to condemn the world but to save it (John 3:17)

God’s love desires reconciliation, demands justice

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (john 3:16)

Love DEMANDS it,  justice REQUIRES it

WHAT IS CRUCIFIXION?

This would have been commonplace in their day, With no need to explain it

but in ours we have lost the HORROR of the Cross, as we have also lost the horror of our sin

The most horrific, despicable, shameful and agonizing form of death.

Invented by the Persians but perfected by the Romans

Cicero - “The most cruel and disgusting punishment”

“Decent Roman citizens should even think about crucifixion let alone speak of it.”

Jewish Historian Josephus “the most wretched of deaths”

Roman citizens were exempt from crucifixion except for the most heinous crime of treason

Reserved for the lowest of society

So horrendous that we had to invent a name for it “excruciating” meaning “from the cross”

Additionally, Almost always men, because couldn’t see the sight of agony on a woman's face

Furthermore, done in public.

Public shame and exposure

Not done in obscurity but at the parking lot at Publix or Walmart

Or along the 408 corridor

Altogether an incredibly painful and shaming experience

PROCESS:

Criminal would be flogged or scourged by a flagrum (cat of nine tales)

Consisted of several leather thongs of different lengths.

Tied to these leather thongs were small iron balls or sharp pieces of sheep bones.

The victim was stripped of his clothing and his hands were tied above him to a post.

The back, legs and buttocks would then be flogged until the person collapsed.

With the back and legs thus torn open there would be extensive blood loss.

This blood loss from the flogging often determined how long it took the crucified person to die on the cross.

Some died from flogging

JESUS couldn’t even CARRY HIS CROSS which as NEXT STEP

Criminals would carry the 75-125 lb crossbar to the place of their execution publicly through the streets

Criminal would be given a drink of wine mixed with myrrh (gall) as required by law.

This was intended to be mild narcotic that would deaden the pain.

It is significant that Jesus refused this drink

Criminal was then NAILED to the CROSS with 7” iron spikes through his wrists and feet.

DEATH

Then the real torture would ensure

Person labored for each breath against searing pain having to push himself up on his impaled ankles to get a breath

A person could suffer for days

There the crucified would hang, naked, the object of jeering and ridicule, insects landing in their mouth, eyes, and open wounds, and unable to remove them, exposed to the elements, unable to eat or drink.

On the cross every breath would be an agonizing affair and finally in combination with exhaustion would lead to asphyxiation

The legs of the crucified were broken often out of "mercy."

Without the support of their legs, the crucified were unable to raise up their bodies, which in turn made it impossible for them to exhale properly thus greatly speeding up death, often within minutes.

Why describe this horrific process?

Because that is how our sin is to god, horrendous, grotesque, disgusting

WHAT DID JESUS ACCOMPLISH ON THE CROSS?

This is what Jesus accomplished for us.

Took on the full measure of the awfulness of Sin

Jesus Accomplished Atonement: “At-One-Ment”

The Greatest act of Reconciliation in the History of the World

Meaning he took the payment for our sins so that we could be reconciled to the father and not face the consequences of sin.

There is no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood (Heb 9:22)

and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

Jesus on the Cross absorbs the wrath of God

The Penalty for every sin ever committed

And cleanses us from EVERY SIN against us or to us

He becomes sin itself on the cross and dies so that death experience the death of its reign over us.

He cleanses us from all sin.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU

CHRIST DIED FOR YOU

CHRIST DIED FOR ME

CHRIST DIED FOR HIS PEOPLE

We all hate SIN AGAINST US

We need forgiveness for our sins

Sin must be payed for

Yours against others and others against you.

Christ died for you!

Freeing you from the bondage of sin, the reign of death.

THAT YOU MIGHT BE resurrected and made new.

Gal 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ.”

Gal 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—

1 Pet 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25

This is why the CROSS is GOOD NEWS for you and me

That's why we are here to celebrate the death I'm not just a good man but the GOD MAN

IN OUR PLACE FOR OUR SINS

CHRIST DIED FOR YOU

Elders & pastors to pray with you.