Good?
Commentary
What is good about Good Friday?
How can one look at what takes place and come to that conclusion? After all, Jesus is arrested, is lied about, is ridiculed, is pushed to and fro between the power brokers, is scourged, is made to drag a heavy cross, and finally to hang on that cross and die. Good? How? If one focuses attention on the events of that day there is not much to call good. But the Christian is always looking at every event through resurrection glasses. When the Christian attends a Good Friday Service he can do it with joy because he already knows how the story ends.
That is what matters.
What matters is what God did with these events. Man did his worst and then God did his best.
In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul reminds us that the last enemy to be destroyed is death. That is exactly what happened at the empty tomb. Death was demonstrated to not have the final word. And if death can be overcome, so can sin which leads to death (See 1 Corinthians 15 again).
It is important that we see what went on those days not as something foreordained and in which the characters move about without their own self will. If we do that we take both free will and responsibility actions out of the scene. Both are still there. Men act as they do, John says, because they love the darkness more than the light (John 3).
That is what makes this Friday good. When we gather in church to remember the events of that day we must not forget to keep our minds fixed on two days hence for even though we talk of shadows we know of the light yet to come.
OUTLINE I
Who is this?I
saiah 52:13--53:12
Introduction: Surely none of us needs to be told about the Suffering Servant of Isaiah's vision. We have heard of it all of our lives, probably even before we knew where it was.
What we do not know is what it is all about. Most just assume that it was prophecy that predicted Jesus' death and let it go at that. But there is surely more.
A. Then. Remember, this material is written down at the time the people are beginning to return from exile. The material begins with chapter 40 in Isaiah. There are probably two ways in which this material can be understood for them.
1. It could mean that there is someone whom God will choose to bring his people back home, to make sacrifices for them, and to become the instrument of his salvation.
2. It most likely meant that it was Israel herself being portrayed here. Just think of their experience and then imagine the nations of the world looking upon Israel's experience. Did God mean for them to be the instrument for the redemption of the world? Did they turn that destiny down and fail their calling? Is the Book of Jonah the story of that failure?
B. Now. Of course, for the Christian it seems clear that Jesus fulfilled the role of his servant. We look at this Scripture through crucifixion and resurrection glasses. And what we discover here, is the same as was meant to be discovered then, and that is that here is revealed the heart of a God who sacrifices for his people, not a portrait of a God who demands sacrifice.
Conclusion: Let the wonder of this selection sink in slowly. As whether these words have anything to do with our servanthood.
OUTLINE II
One who understands
Hebrews 4:14-11; 5:7-9
Introduction: When we read the New Testament there is some degree to which we cannot hear the original messages since we do not share their circumstances. This is in part true and in part not true as it relates to today's selection.
It is not true in the sense that we cannot know the intensity of the conflict the early church had with the gnostics. These people wanted to be high minded about Jesus and saw him as only divine. That was a compliment of course but it made him "not like us" and that had serious complications then and does now. It is true in the sense that we still have many in the church who push the divinity button so hard that they cannot hear that the "word was made flesh and dwelt among us." And that makes a mighty difference.
A. If he was only divine. Then what does his resurrection have to do with us? There is no trick in raising a God from the dead. But us, now that is another problem. We need him to be divine and we need him to be human.
B. If he was only human. Then things get backwards. We discover that he is the best man ever and that he was good enough to be chosen by God to be his Messiah. That was condemned early on in the church as "adoptionism." And it mattered then and does now. It matters that we know that in Christ God came to us and that makes the faith we hold both unique and effective.
Conclusion: Of course he is both. We have no intellectual solution for this paradox. We can only stand in awe and report what we know. He is one ofus and he is one with God. He is God become man so that we might know what man ought to be; he is man become God so that we might know what God is to us. Our creeds are not explanations, they are proclamations. They say what we know to be true even when words prove to be poor servants and trip us up in our language.
OUTLINE III
The story plays out
Isaiah 52:13--53:12
Introduction: Sometimes I hear some discussing today's selection and picturing Jesus as a victim, one standing in the midst of circumstances that are out of his control and pushed along to the cross against all common sense and odds. Others seem to imagine that there was some blueprint laid down long ago which has to be filled in. Jesus knows what is demanded and simply goes along. I have problems with both of these since it makes both Jesus and the other players on this stage marionettes who move around as if managed by some hidden expert and because of that are not truly responsible for what they do. Take another look.
A. Not contrived. There is too much dodging and trying to get someone else to take the blame to call this a blueprint being filled in. There is no marionette. Look closely and you will find people acting just like people usually act.
B. It could have been different. Of course it could or it makes no sense at all. But the right persons were not there to do it. With the mix of power struggle and self-concern among those on hand it was not going to change.
C. Why it did not change. It did not change, not because they had no freewill to do so, but because they had given their freewill over to the forces alive among them. Jesus could see that. He knew that if they did not get him one way they would manufacture another.
Conclusion: And Jesus was no victim. He is the only person on stage who is in charge. He is the only one who knows what he is going to do no matter what they do. He knows that God can take their worst and redeem it, use it to his advantage. While all the others shout and curse and deny and evade, Jesus stands there and offers himself knowing that since God is in control what happens to him matters only if he yields himself to God and trusts him. This was easy? Well, read the story of Gethsemane again.
How can one look at what takes place and come to that conclusion? After all, Jesus is arrested, is lied about, is ridiculed, is pushed to and fro between the power brokers, is scourged, is made to drag a heavy cross, and finally to hang on that cross and die. Good? How? If one focuses attention on the events of that day there is not much to call good. But the Christian is always looking at every event through resurrection glasses. When the Christian attends a Good Friday Service he can do it with joy because he already knows how the story ends.
That is what matters.
What matters is what God did with these events. Man did his worst and then God did his best.
In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul reminds us that the last enemy to be destroyed is death. That is exactly what happened at the empty tomb. Death was demonstrated to not have the final word. And if death can be overcome, so can sin which leads to death (See 1 Corinthians 15 again).
It is important that we see what went on those days not as something foreordained and in which the characters move about without their own self will. If we do that we take both free will and responsibility actions out of the scene. Both are still there. Men act as they do, John says, because they love the darkness more than the light (John 3).
That is what makes this Friday good. When we gather in church to remember the events of that day we must not forget to keep our minds fixed on two days hence for even though we talk of shadows we know of the light yet to come.
OUTLINE I
Who is this?I
saiah 52:13--53:12
Introduction: Surely none of us needs to be told about the Suffering Servant of Isaiah's vision. We have heard of it all of our lives, probably even before we knew where it was.
What we do not know is what it is all about. Most just assume that it was prophecy that predicted Jesus' death and let it go at that. But there is surely more.
A. Then. Remember, this material is written down at the time the people are beginning to return from exile. The material begins with chapter 40 in Isaiah. There are probably two ways in which this material can be understood for them.
1. It could mean that there is someone whom God will choose to bring his people back home, to make sacrifices for them, and to become the instrument of his salvation.
2. It most likely meant that it was Israel herself being portrayed here. Just think of their experience and then imagine the nations of the world looking upon Israel's experience. Did God mean for them to be the instrument for the redemption of the world? Did they turn that destiny down and fail their calling? Is the Book of Jonah the story of that failure?
B. Now. Of course, for the Christian it seems clear that Jesus fulfilled the role of his servant. We look at this Scripture through crucifixion and resurrection glasses. And what we discover here, is the same as was meant to be discovered then, and that is that here is revealed the heart of a God who sacrifices for his people, not a portrait of a God who demands sacrifice.
Conclusion: Let the wonder of this selection sink in slowly. As whether these words have anything to do with our servanthood.
OUTLINE II
One who understands
Hebrews 4:14-11; 5:7-9
Introduction: When we read the New Testament there is some degree to which we cannot hear the original messages since we do not share their circumstances. This is in part true and in part not true as it relates to today's selection.
It is not true in the sense that we cannot know the intensity of the conflict the early church had with the gnostics. These people wanted to be high minded about Jesus and saw him as only divine. That was a compliment of course but it made him "not like us" and that had serious complications then and does now. It is true in the sense that we still have many in the church who push the divinity button so hard that they cannot hear that the "word was made flesh and dwelt among us." And that makes a mighty difference.
A. If he was only divine. Then what does his resurrection have to do with us? There is no trick in raising a God from the dead. But us, now that is another problem. We need him to be divine and we need him to be human.
B. If he was only human. Then things get backwards. We discover that he is the best man ever and that he was good enough to be chosen by God to be his Messiah. That was condemned early on in the church as "adoptionism." And it mattered then and does now. It matters that we know that in Christ God came to us and that makes the faith we hold both unique and effective.
Conclusion: Of course he is both. We have no intellectual solution for this paradox. We can only stand in awe and report what we know. He is one ofus and he is one with God. He is God become man so that we might know what man ought to be; he is man become God so that we might know what God is to us. Our creeds are not explanations, they are proclamations. They say what we know to be true even when words prove to be poor servants and trip us up in our language.
OUTLINE III
The story plays out
Isaiah 52:13--53:12
Introduction: Sometimes I hear some discussing today's selection and picturing Jesus as a victim, one standing in the midst of circumstances that are out of his control and pushed along to the cross against all common sense and odds. Others seem to imagine that there was some blueprint laid down long ago which has to be filled in. Jesus knows what is demanded and simply goes along. I have problems with both of these since it makes both Jesus and the other players on this stage marionettes who move around as if managed by some hidden expert and because of that are not truly responsible for what they do. Take another look.
A. Not contrived. There is too much dodging and trying to get someone else to take the blame to call this a blueprint being filled in. There is no marionette. Look closely and you will find people acting just like people usually act.
B. It could have been different. Of course it could or it makes no sense at all. But the right persons were not there to do it. With the mix of power struggle and self-concern among those on hand it was not going to change.
C. Why it did not change. It did not change, not because they had no freewill to do so, but because they had given their freewill over to the forces alive among them. Jesus could see that. He knew that if they did not get him one way they would manufacture another.
Conclusion: And Jesus was no victim. He is the only person on stage who is in charge. He is the only one who knows what he is going to do no matter what they do. He knows that God can take their worst and redeem it, use it to his advantage. While all the others shout and curse and deny and evade, Jesus stands there and offers himself knowing that since God is in control what happens to him matters only if he yields himself to God and trusts him. This was easy? Well, read the story of Gethsemane again.
