+ Good Friday – April 19, 2019 +
Beautiful Savior Lutheran, Milton
Isaiah 52:13–53:12; Hebrews 4:14–16; 5:7–9; John 18–19
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Why?
It’s one of humanity’s most basic questions. Children are famous for asking, “Why?”
As we grow older, the reasons may change, but we still find ourselves asking the same question. “Why?” “Why did I get sick? Why do I hurt? Why did my friend or family member die?”
Jesus himself asks this question on the cross. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Good Friday brings this question to the front of our minds once again. Why does Jesus hunger and thirst? Why does Jesus allow himself to be beaten and mocked? Why did Jesus take on human flesh only to be betrayed, ridiculed, crucified, dead, and buried? Why did God become man?
For this day. For the cross. For you. On the cross, God is forsaken so you will never be forsaken. On the cross, Jesus bears our sin and our death so that we will bear his forgiveness and life. On the cross, we behold the God who became man to bleed and die for us.
Behold Jesus’ hands. The night before they were washing His disciples’ feet. Now they are pierced with nails to the cross for you. Behold the hands that formed Adam out of the dirt, now stained with blood and dirt for you. Behold the fingers that touched land healed lepers, stuck into the ears of a deaf man, and picked up bread to declare it to be His body. Now they tremble with pain as he is crucified for you. This is why God has hands. For you.
Behold Jesus’ skin. Lacerated. Bruised. Beaten. Bleeding. His knees skinned and bruised from falling under the weight of the cross. This is why God has skin. For you.
Behold Jesus’ feet, nailed to the cross, bearing His weight as He dies. Behold the feet that walked from town to town as He taught His disciples, healed the sick, and preached the good news of our release from captivity to sin and death. Behold the feet that Mary anointed with a pound of expensive ointment, washed with her tears, and wiped with her hair. Behold the feet that are now bound in place. Behold the feet that must endure stabbing pain as he struggles to draw each painful breath. This is why God has legs and feet. For you.
Behold Jesus’ heel, which, by his death, is crushing the head of the serpent, destroying the kingdom of Satan, answering for mankind’s sinful rebellion. This is why God has feet. For you.
Behold Jesus’ head. Blood drips and flows from the place where the thorns press through His skin. Behold the head over which has been hung the sign listing the charge that brought this death sentence: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. This is why God has a head. For you.
Behold Jesus’ face. A face that is swollen and bruised from the blows dealt by the High Priest’s officer, and later by the soldiers, jeering at Him to “Prophesy! Who is it that struck You?” Behold the eyes that looked with mercy and compassion on the crowds, on His disciples, on the sick. Behold His lips, which spoke words of absolution and now cry out in thirst. This is why God has a face. For you.
Behold Jesus’ lungs as they slowly fill with fluid. Behold the lungs that breathed the breath of life into Adam’s nostrils. Behold the lungs that in this hanging posture cannot exhale without the man pulling His whole body up on the nails to open His airway. Behold the lungs that expel one final breath as He cries, “It is finished,” gives up His spirit, and dies. This is why God has lungs. For you.
Behold Jesus’ bones, which remain unbroken. Behold the reason every sacrifice, every Passover lamb, every bull for the whole burnt offering, every scapegoat, every ram, every turtledove had to be healthy and intact, with no broken bones or disfigurement. Perfect. Holy. Spotless. Unblemished. Jesus is everything we are not, so in his death we receive everything he is and has to give. Jesus is truly bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, God as man to save man. This is why God has bones. For you.
Behold Jesus’ side, into which the soldier thrust his spear, causing a river of blood and water to pour out. A witness that he is dead. His heart has stopped. His synapses no longer fire. As God completed creation on the sixth day of the week, so too, Jesus has completed his work of crucifixion on the sixth day. And from the side of this crucified man, God will fashion us into His Bride, the Church, and give her to Him when He wakes. This is the same side that Jesus will invite Thomas to touch and no longer disbelieve. This is why God has a side. For you.
Behold Jesus’ blood, shed on the cross for you. The blood He first shed when He was an eight-day-old boy, undergoing the sign by which all Jewish boys were made Israelites. The blood that was foreshadowed on every Day of Atonement when the blood of the sacrifice was splattered on the mercy seat, on the altar, and on the people. The blood He gave to His disciples in the cup the night before, telling them its purpose: shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins. The blood that reveals that Jesus who is true God is also true man, our brother and redeemer. The blood by which this eternal High Priest enters once for all into the Most Holy Place, us sinful men access to a holy God. This is why God has blood. For you.
Why?
Why does God have a heart that beats, lungs that breathe, a brain with synapses that fire? For this day. For the cross. For you. God is man so that He can die, and in three days, rise again. For you.
A blessed Good Friday to each of you…
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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