(Heb 10:16-25; Mk 15) J G White

10:00 am, Good Friday, March 29, 2024 ~ FBCA

Words of an American folk hymn:

What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!

What wondrous love is this, O my soul!

What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss

To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,

To bear the dreadful curse for my soul?

Today’s story is remarkable, in part, because it is telling of a wondrous love, & a good deed, offered to the world by Jesus.

Our Epistle reading this morning, the alternate reading, from Hebrews, urges: let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds. That is a nice use of the word ‘provoke,’ I think. We are gathered, together, to spur one another on, when it comes to this Christ upon a cross. Jesus’ love and good deed is at the heart of us being provoked to be loving and do good.

I notice three things about what Jesus famously does today. First, He is very quiet. Mark’s telling is briefest of the four Gospels. And Jesus speaks very little; just one response to Pilate. Once Christ is being tormented and executed, all sorts of people make fun and offer verbal abuse. He remains quiet. Here, He is non-violent in His communication.

An American spiritual says: They crucified my Lord,

and he never said a mumbalin’ word.

Jesus dies to put an end to the kind of violence He was suffering. Let our speaking be in His spirit of peace.

Second, He is not physically violent at all. His resistance to the powers that be was in the style of non-violent resistance. Jesus did not invent this; He did use it. The Roman forces in power thought they knew what He was up to. Mark points out a number of times Jesus was called ‘King of the Jews.’ This was a title used by the rulers in the region, such as Herod. And the big title, “Son of God” was used by the Roman Emperors. Remarkable that a Roman Centurion, on duty, declared of Jesus at His death, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”

This was just five days after He paraded into Jerusalem. He peacefully submitted to the crucifixion path. Let our actions be in His spirit of mercy.

Thirdly, the Saviour is honestly expressive of His emotion, His experience. He uses a Bible quotation to cry out from the cross, in the Aramaic language: “My God, my God, why have your forsaken me?” Some bystanders do not understand what He is saying. Others surely recognized Psalm 22, which is a desperate plea for help and justice, yet ends with hope and faith:

From you comes my praise in the great congregation...

All the ends of the earth shall remember & turn to the LORD.

Today, we are together in these scenes from Jesus’ life, and should I say, death. Again, we gather to provoke one another for our own love and good deeds. Let our hearts be open with His spirit of honesty.

What else can I say? On Good Friday, as a preacher, I often feel like the priest in that old, medieval story. The priest in the dark, stone church, stands before his big congregation on Good Friday. It is time for his homily. He speaks not a word. He takes a candle in his hand. He approaches a statue, a large crucifix, as we still see in Catholic Churches today.

The priest slowly, purposefully, holds the candle up to Jesus feet, pierced by a great nail. Moves the candle, in the dim church, to the wounded hands upon the cross. Then to the bloody mark of the spear in Jesus’ side. And then to His bowing head, with that crown of thorns.

The priest blows out the candle. His sermon is complete.