+ Good Friday – April 3rd, 2026 +
Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Psalm 22; Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-9; John 18-19
Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church
Milton, WA
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
When it’s the middle of the night and you can’t find your way around your house, your big toe is sure to find the coffee table or a stray chair leg.
When the power goes out, even for an hour, you realize how helpless we are in the dark.
When you go for a drive or a walk, it’s impossible (and inadvisable) to do so with your eyes closed.
When it comes to our daily life, we don’t do well in the dark. How much more so is true in our spiritual life. We don’t do our best in the dark. Just the opposite. We do our worst in the darkness.
No wonder Scripture, time and again, compares our sin and death to the darkness.
We’re right there with Adam and Eve, in the shade of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, trying to cover our guilt and shame and the shadow of death with fig leaves.
We’re right there with Israel on the dark side of Mt. Sinai setting up our own idols to fear, love, and trust in, when the road grows deep and dark on the horizon.
We’re right there alongside Israel in the days of the judges, everyone doing what is right in our own eyes, each of us blind to our own folly.
We’re right there with David, coveting Bathsheba and sneaking her into his home at night while sending her husband off to die.
We’re right there with Jonah, in the depths of the sea, in the deep, dark abyss of our rebellion against God.
We’re right there with the people of Israel in Isaiah’s day, imprisoned in death and darkness of idolatry and exile. On our best days we’re faintly burning wicks. And on our worst, our sinful hearts and mouths are a minefield of deep, yawning, cavernous open graves.
In the darkness, we stumble and fumble. Gripe and grope in the dark. Sitting in darkness for too long leaves you feeling lost. Helpless. Alone. Blind. In the dark we are full of dark deeds; we are selfish, self-serving, self-righteous, lying, sneaking, hiding, gluttonous, greedy, murderous and adulterous and covetous. In the darkness of Good Friday all our darkness of sin is revealed for what it is: death. The death of Jesus. The death of the Son of God.
But here’s the difference. And it’s the difference of night and day. Death and life. The grave and the empty tomb. Our works and God’s works. Dark and Light.
While we do our worst deeds in the dark, our Lord does his best saving and delivering work in the dark.
In the shadows of paradise lost, God promises a Son and Savior and a Serpent-Stomper.
Out of the abyss of the deep flood waters, God brings forth a new creation. Sets his bow in the sky as a promise never again to flood all creation.
Up in the night sky the Lord beckons Abraham to look and behold the stars. Number them if you can. So shall your offspring be, in the blessed Seed of Abraham.
On the night of Israel’s exodus from Egypt, the Lord spared his people from death and darkness by the blood of the Lamb.
In the thunder and quaking and clouds of thick darkness on Mt. Sinai the Lord sends Moses as a mediator, and promises a prophet like him, only better. One who is Mercy incarnate. Not only a Law-giver, but the Law-keeper. Law-fulfiller. Jesus the Mediator and our Great High Priest.
In the dark days of the Judges, the Lord delivers in the dark. Gideon and his 300 unarmed soldiers win the victory because YHWH fights for them in the night.
From David’s line comes the perfect, holy, and righteous King, David’s Son and David’s Lord, who is crowned in thorns and robed in mockery and enthroned on the cross to save you.
Out of the dark belly of the great fish, the Lord delivers Jonah after three days in the heart of the sea, pointing to Jesus, our Greater Jonah who spends three days and nights in the belly of the earth before rising again.
Our Lord brought his people back from their darkness and wandering in exile. A down payment of the greater exile and return Jesus accomplishes on the cross, through the grave, and out again in his resurrection.
Jesus was born in the darkness of Bethlehem for you.
Jesus slept under the stars of night, and walked from town to town in the dark for you.
Jesus made his way to Jerusalem with the clouds of Good Friday on the horizon for you.
On the night he was betrayed in the darkness of the garden, he took bread and broke it and gives it to you still. This is my body. He took a cup of wine. Pour it out for you still. This is my blood. Blood of the Lamb. Shed for you.
In Gethsemane, Jesus prayed in the dark for you. Jesus was betrayed, tried, mocked, and sentenced to death, in the dark, for you.
On the cross, in the thick clouds of darkness, Jesus cried out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And he did this for you.
From noon to three, Jesus bore our the darkness of our sin and death as he hung in darkness. Then his disciples laid his body in the deep, dark dungeon of the grave. The sun set. The stone was in place. Jesus rested in the dark. Friday came and went. Saturday passed too. Sunday morning finally came.
But remember. God does his best work in the dark. And there, in the darkness of dawn. Just before daybreak. Before the light cracks the lid open on the eastern skies, our Lord cracked open the seal of the grave. Darkness cast out by the Light of the world. Death defeated by the Lord of Life. Sin, sorrow, and the shadow of death dispelled in resurrected glory.
So whenever you find yourself sitting, weeping, mourning, living in darkness, even when you’re resting in your own grave. Remember this: On Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, Jesus does his best work for you in the darkness.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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