Today is Good Friday. When Dad first asked me to preach my immediate response was of course! But then as the weight of the day, and what we are here to remember intruded, I questioned my initial enthusiastic response. What in the world was I thinking? What could possibly be said about today that you all would want or need to hear? What else did I have to learn about today that was new or different? Pretty much the only ones who would show any interest in being here today are already converted Christians. We already what today is about, and what Jesus did. He died! Right? He died to save us from our sins, and reconcile us to God the Father. We say it every Sunday in the Eucharist; we read the same passages every year from scripture. The words do not change. So what new could be possibly be said? Maybe some of you are even thinking it? Here we are, another Good Friday sermon.
Well, if you are here, you are probably not thinking those things. The fact that you are here shows that you know today is different, important, and special. But as I was thinking about today, and praying about what to say, my daughter Tessa asked me a question. She asked me why Jesus had to die. She said, “I know he died to save us. But why did he do it?” And her simple question brought today into focus for me. And I realized that that is the question we need to ask and attempt to answer. How did we come to this time and this place? How did we get to Calvary and why did Jesus do what he did?
When discussing questions of ontological significance, or how we came to be, it is best to start at the beginning. The 1st chapter of Genesis tells the story of creation, and here we see God take the first step towards Calvary. Ge 1:26-27
26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
He created male and female in his image, in his likeness. He chose Adam and Eve to be in relationship with him, and he walked with them in the Garden. Then we know what happens. Adam and Eve rebel and the whole of the human race falls as they bow down to Satan’s hand and turn their backs on their creator. Have you ever wondered what God felt in that moment? I have. A vital connection between him and his creation is gone. Where there was perfection and life and relationship and harmony between all of creation, now there exists death, destruction, and brokenness. I can only imagine the pain God must have felt. I can only imagine the pain he still feels.
As the story of Bible progresses, we find humanity falling farther and farther away from the God who loves them, who chose them. Desperately he cries out, “I choose you! Please, choose me too.” And we find that Noah and his family hear God, and so they are saved from the cleansing waters of the flood. The earth repopulates, and again God’s creation falls away, and becomes corrupt worshipping false idols. Again God cries out “I choose you! Please, choose me too.” And now Abram hears, and responds and a covenant is made between God and his people. An everlasting covenant. Once again God’s people fall away, and find themselves enslaved. He cries out, “I choose you! Please, choose me too.” And Moses hears, and God’s people are saved. But this generation does not even die out before they start worshipping idols. Once again God cries out. “You are my chosen people. I long to bless you. Please, choose me.” The people choose God, and immediately sink into rebellion.
Do you see the pattern? The entire Old Testament is the story of God’s people and their rebellion against him. Even when they reach the Promised Land, they still would rather worship foreign gods then be in relationship with their creator. And God’s endless love keeps reaching out to them. In 2 Chronicles he says “If my people called by my name, turn from evil and seek my face. I will hear, I will forgive, and I will heal their land.” He sent prophet after prophet to call his rebellious people to return to him. Sometimes they listened, and repented, and for a short time they returned. And yet, no matter how many times God begs his people to choose him, they turn away. Can you imagine how painful this separation is for Him? How deep his love for us must be that he keeps calling us back.
Have you ever been in love this way? Has there ever been anyone in your life that you would go to any lengths for if it meant you would never have to be separated from them? Finally, when the time is right God makes his final attempt to reconcile his creation to himself. In the ultimate moment of choice, he became one of us. And what happened? In the Gospel of John it says:
Jn 1:1-5
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The Word became man, and took on all the frailties of human flesh. And we come to back to Tessa’s question. Why did he do this? Why was it necessary? Let’s start with why it was necessary. By becoming human, Jesus became subject to the same stresses of human life that we are. He now had the opportunity to sin, to rebel, to turn away from his creator. But he did not. He chose obedience, and he chose God. Because he retained his nature as God at the same time was human he had an ability that we lost at the Fall. He had the ability not to sin. He chose, and by doing this he undid the choice that Adam and Eve made. He broke the curse of sin and the eternal separation from God by taking all of our sin onto himself. He in fact became sin. He took upon himself all the sins that were ever committed and all the sins that would ever be committed. And when he died upon the cross, he defeated sin itself for all time. So what does this mean for us? It means we now can be free of sin, if we choose. We can be Sons and Daughters of God if we choose. If we accept the sacrifice of what Jesus did, we too can have the ability not to sin. It sounds pretty good. So why is there so much resistance in the world, among our families, friends, and neighbors; among us in accepting this?
We tell this story of God and our rebellion, of Jesus and his sacrifice in our liturgy every Sunday. In the words of the Eucharist we remember every week what Jesus did for us. But sometimes I think the words are too clean. Or we become too used to them. Or we really do not want to understand what they are saying. Because our pride gets in the way. Because it makes us uncomfortable to think of God pleading with us to return to him. To think of him calling out to us in longing and in pain.
As we approach Calvary we see Jesus choose to give up his life for us. When we see him choose to be broken, beaten, and bloody we become uncomfortable. I imagine the reactions to this will differ among us. Some people will look on Jesus, hanging on the cross by choice, and react with disdain. They will turn their backs on him and say “I never asked you to do this for me.”
Some people will look at him and become angry. They will raise their fists to him and shout, “I never asked you to do this for me!”
And finally some people will look at him hanging on that cross. They will flinch with every blow, they will cringe with every strike of hammer on nail, and they will kneel weeping at his feet. And crying will say, “I never asked you to do this for me.” They weep, we weep, because we know in our hearts and feel it in our souls that we should be the ones on that cross, enduring that punishment.
I found out something about myself this week. I discovered I was a coward. I have always known the theology behind the crucifixion; I have mourned each Holy Week as remember the steps Jesus took towards Calvary. I felt in my spirit the presence of God, and I rejoiced each Easter as Jesus rose from the dead. I could even accept in intellectual terms what his sacrifice meant. But I have continually shied away from the reality of his death. I could not bring myself to watch Mel Gibson’s The Passion, because I did not want it to be that real. Because if it was, then I could hold nothing back. Such a complete and total surrender by Jesus demanded nothing less from me in return. So today, I find myself one of those who kneel before him weeping, more aware than ever before in my life of what he did for me. And I find myself uttering the words “I never asked you to do this for me.”
And now, when I am broken before him, I can finally hear the answer of why he died. Of why he chose to stay on that cross and endure those agonies. If you listen, you can hear his words too. See him stretch out his arms to you and say, “My beloved, I chose to die for you, to endure these agonies, because they were nothing compared to love I feel for you, and the agony I would feel at being separated from you forever. Before you were born, I chose you. I called your name with all the love and longing in my being. I choose you. Please, choose me too.”
