The Lutheran Hour
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"God’s Friday"
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Text: John 19:30
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Christ has died. He has died, indeed! The promised work of our redemption has been finished on the cross when the Savior gave His life as a ransom to buy us back and restore us to God’s good grace. May this coming Good Friday be a time of remembrance and faith in His wondrous love. Grant this Lord unto us all. Amen.
The year was 1863 and the place was Vicksburg, Mississippi. The Civil War had come, in force, to that beautiful town. Under constant shelling, the residents of the community had felt it wisest to move underground. Rich and poor alike took refuge in cellars and caves. It was during those days of death that one family; a family named “Lords,” found themselves huddled in a dark, dugout cave. Giant mortar shells blasted craters all around, keeping them under a shower of dust and dirt. The family’s little girl, who had been stoic through most of the attack, was suddenly swept away by hysteria. Her mother cuddled and comforted her child, crooning the words: “There, there. Don’t cry. Don’t cry, my darling, Jesus will protect us.” The frightened reply of the child was poignant. Sincerely she sobbed, “But Mama, I’m so afraid Jesus has been killed, too!”
The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Savior of the world, did not die in 1863 during Grant’s siege of Vicksburg. He did die, almost 2,000 years ago, on a lonely cross lifted up on a skull-shaped hill outside the city walls of Jerusalem. That day, the darkest of days, is remembered this week in many Christian Churches. On your calendars the day Jesus died is probably labeled, quite strangely… “Good Friday.” “Good Friday?” To all who know of the Savior’s sacrifice that sounds wrong, a misnomer. Maybe that’s because, in the ever-changing English language, “Good Friday” originally was “God’s Friday.”
God’s Friday. I like that. That’s an appropriate description of the day when the Lord took back that which had been stolen from Him. God’s Friday, Good Friday marks the day when Jesus fulfilled the promise that had been given to our first ancestors. The book of Genesis records how Adam and Eve, having followed Satan’s suggestions and having rejected God’s grace and guidance, brought destruction and damnation into the world. That day, when God could have washed His hands of us, preferred to make a promise that was unexpected and most certainly undeserved. That day He pledged to send a Redeemer, a Substitute who would rebuild the bridges our disobedience had destroyed; Whose sacrifice would restore God’s kidnapped children, Whose blood would bring a transfusion of life to all who believed on Him as their Forgiver, Redeemer, and Lord.
Thousands of years separated the giving and the fulfilling of that promise. Still, in God’s time, on God’s Friday, Jesus’ blood was shed as He hung upon the cross to buy our salvation. If you look at the history and cultures of many and diverse nations, you will often find a common concept. That shared rule says, “royal blood shall never fall upon the ground.” That was the law, but it was a law with loopholes. In the 1200s, the powerful Mongol ruler, Kublai Khan grew upset with his uncle. Not daring to have a drop of royal blood fall to the ground, the Khan had the man placed into a blood-absorbent carpet and tossed around until he was dead. In 1688, the king of Siam grew displeased with one of his kinsman and ordered the man beaten to death in an oversized mortar and pestle. The man died but the law was kept: no royal blood fell to the earth.
But our ways are not God’s ways and our thoughts are certainly not His. While every ruler of this world will use security and surveillance, bullet-proof cars and a phalanx of body guards to keep him safe, on God’s Friday, the first Good Friday, the Lord decreed His Son, the rightful Ruler of the Universe, would die. On the first God’s Friday, Jesus boldly, bravely carried His cross so He might be sacrificed for the unappreciative, the unconcerned, and the unbelieving. From the first He had known death was His destiny. Long before He had been born in Bethlehem, inspired prophets had told how God’s Son would be mistreated and His blood would be spilled. Isaiah had said (50:6) the Savior’s back would be beaten and Zecheriah (12:10) had proclaimed His body would be pierced. Moses (Deut. 21:23) spoke of the curse which would be there as the Savior hung upon the tree and David (Ps. 22:1-31) declared Jesus’ hands and feet would be ripped as He offered Himself as our Ransom-price.
Sadly, Jesus’ people; the scholars, the priests, the students of Scripture who had studied and memorized these prophecies, the very individuals who should have identified Him as the Messiah, ended up opposing Him, hating Him, accusing and plotting against Him. They set the price paid for His betrayal; they planned His illegal trials and they demanded His murder. Jesus never had any doubt what would happen to Him on God’s Friday, the first Good Friday. He knew, He waited for the day His blood would be shed, the day He would die. Caring and committed, dedicated and devoted, He resolutely set His face toward Calvary where He would, unfairly, unjustly, most painfully be sacrificed so all who believe on Him as their Substitute might be forgiven and saved.
That is the way it was God’s Friday, the first Good Friday. Of course, I probably haven’t told you anything you don’t know, have I? You know these things, but do you believe these things? It amazes me. If I told you where you could buy gas for $1 a gallon, you would be all ears and if I shared I could, without any fear of contradiction, tell you what stocks were going to go up and which would bottom out this year, you would have your pen and paper out in a second. You would pay attention because these things are important to you; you would listen because these things affect your future and could influence your fortune.
Amazingly, not everyone reacts with the same enthusiasm, has the same interest, shows the same degree of concentration when it comes to hearing of God’s Friday, the first Good Friday, the day the Savior died to save their souls from the bondage of sin. Indeed, ‘What is your interest level; how do you respond to this sacrifice that determines your fate and eternal destiny?’ Is it possible you don’t know about Jesus and His sacrifice? Are you among the few who have never heard of His unjust death?
Have you never heard how He left His throne in heaven so He might be born in Bethlehem, true Man and true God? Have you never been told how every day of His life was spent in keeping complete the laws that you and I and all of humanity have broken? Has nobody ever explained He did this for you and not for Himself? Have you never heard of the Savior Who loved you when you hadn’t earned it; Who gave Himself for you when you wanted no part of Him. If you are in ignorance today, do not be that way tomorrow. Read His story as it is told in the four Gospels. If you do this, you will see how, for you, He resisted every sin, every temptation, ever trick Satan placed in His path. Do not be ignorant of how on God’s Friday, the first Good Friday, He gave His life for you, and how, three days later, in resurrection victory, He conquered death itself.
God’s Friday. Good Friday. How do you respond to the Savior Who shed His blood so you might have life? Does the old, old story and the old, rugged cross of the Christ bore you and leave your heart untouched and unmoved? Years ago, poet and author Carl Sandberg was compelled to attend the dress rehearsal of a very serious play which had been written by a very serious author. He slept through most of the performance. The dramatist, noting Sandberg’s lack of involvement, was outraged and gave Sandberg a serious dressing down. Almost shouting, the play’s author demanded to know, “How could you do this to me? How could you fall asleep when you knew that I wanted to hear your opinion?” When he had heard enough, Sandberg quietly countered, “Young man, sleep is an opinion.”
Now that play may have been boring and unworthy of any reaction other than a short snooze, but Jesus dare not be called boring and His suffering and death cannot be considered ‘inconsequential.” During His ministry His enemies considered Him a sinner, a party-goer, an insurrectionist, a devil, someone who was too dangerous to let live. His friends saw Him as a Miracle-worker, a Wise Teacher, a Savior, and the Defeater-of-death. If Jesus is boring to you, then the problem is not with Him. Look, if the Publisher’s Clearing House people came knocking at your door with a multi-million dollar check that had your name on it, you would not greet them with a yawn and tell them to put it in your mailbox. If your boss showed up in your office offering you an unearned promotion with a mega-raise you wouldn’t order him to come back later. If that is true, then why, in heaven’s name, would you react to the Savior’s sacrifice with such indifference and apathy? On God’s Friday, the first Good Friday, Jesus went to the cross for you so you might have the best news ever. Understand, He didn’t have to go; no one forced Him to go and no power could have kept Him there against His will. He went for you. He sacrificed Himself for you. He shed His blood so you might be forgiven of all you have ever done wrong. And that is true good news.
God’s Friday; the first Good Friday. How do you respond to this great and gracious gift of God that cost the life of His Son? In this age of self-assuredness and self-delusion, have you managed to convince yourself you don’t need this blessing of grace that forgives the worst of sinners; have you cocooned yourself in a moth-eaten robe of fake self-confidence and false self-security? That kind of false fantasy can be fatal. In the beginning years of the 20th century, Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria was a great and powerful man. He had it all: wealth, power, position, and admiration. When Francis Ferdinand went to a special occasion, when he walked the “red carpet,” he tried to shine; shine brighter than anyone else. So he might look… “perfect,”he had his tailor sew him into his uniform. That’s right, he was stitched into his uniform. At Sarajevo, on June 28, 1914, Francis was wearing one of his sewn-on-uniforms. That’s when an assassin shot him. Those who tried to help, who tried to get to his wounds, found they couldn’t unbutton his uniform, because every button he wore was decorative. By the time a scissors was brought, the Archduke had bled to death and World War I had begun.
You should know, the Archduke’s death is not the last that will be caused by vanity and self-delusion. Right now, millions of souls are dying because of their misplaced-mindsets, because they have sewn themselves into their own egos and convinced themselves they are f-i-n-e, beyond any kind of criticism f-i-n-e. If that’s what you believe, watch out. There are assassins out there. Without Jesus, without His redemption, they will succeed in knocking you off. What do you think God sees when He looks at you? The answer is simple: God sees a helpless sinner; God sees a lost sinner; God sees a sinner who needs a Savior.
God’s Friday, the first Good Friday, the day on which the Savior died to save us from all the wrong we do; all the wrong we are. What is your response to God’s great Gift of His Son? Do you have any response to God’s love as shown on the Christ’s Calvary cross? If there is no reaction, you, my friend, have the wrong priorities? Johann Karl Friedrich Gauss was a man with wrong priorities. Just to refresh your memory: Gauss was a child prodigy, a genius who contributed to the fields of number theory, statistics, analysis, differential geometry, astronomy, and optics. Some have called him the “Prince of Mathematicians”; others hail him as the “greatest mathematician of modern times.” Maybe so, but there was that night when Gauss was working on a problem and his wife was sick, deathly sick. When the doctor came and told Gauss she was dying, he, without looking up from his project, waved the doctor away and muttered, “Tell her to wait a moment till I’m through.”
I pray, I beg, that on this God’s Friday, this Good Friday, you will not wave aside the sacrifice made for you by the Savior. No, this God’s Friday, this Good Friday, is the ideal time for you to enter a church and see the Savior and His sacrifice. Although I do not often know the subject of the sermons or the emphasis of the worship in our Christian churches, this week is different. These next seven days, those who already follow the Savior will take you to a place where you can watch with Him in the Garden of Gethsemane. Stand there and see Jesus as He prays. If you have always thought that prayer is a peaceful, gentle thing, then watch carefully. Put aside the artist’s depictions of Jesus kneeling by a rock with a look of serenity upon His face. Instead, observe as He wrestles with the hours of suffering which were coming; watch as He, burdened by all we have done wrong, all the sins which He carried, was driven with His face into the dirt. Watch as blood from the King of Kings falls to the ground; wonder, “How many of those sins which so encumber Him have your name on them?”
Watch. Jesus’ time of prayer was not long. All too quickly His solitude was interrupted by men who came to arrest Him. A kiss of betrayal, and He was taken to trial. Those examinations took place on God’s Friday, the first Good Friday. Jesus knew it was to be the last day of His life. Go to worship this week and see Jesus appear before the Jewish Supreme Court, before Herod, and Pilate. Jesus does not defend His innocence as lies push aside truth and a guilty verdict becomes more important than justice. Watch as He is laughed at, taunted, mocked, beaten, whipped, crowned with thorns, and taken to be crucified. It is God’s Friday, the first Good Friday and rough, square-headed nails were pounded through His wrists, His feet, into the wood. The cross was set, the soldiers kept watch, the crowd passed by, the sky went dark and then it was over. God’s Friday was over. The work of the first Good Friday was complete. The Son of God was dead so sinners might live. With the shout, “It is finished” Jesus proclaimed an end to His work; the end of the devil’s domain and the beginning of hope and salvation for all who believe. It was God’s Friday, the first Good Friday. It is the day of our salvation that we remember this week, and we invite you to remember Jesus’ love upon the cross, and next Sunday before His empty tomb of resurrection.
Years ago, or so I’ve been told, a Sunday school class was informed their pastor was going to visit them. So her students might be prepared, the teacher rehearsed them about the questions he probably would ask. When the minister asked, “Who did Jesus die for?” one of the students was supposed to say, “Jesus died for me!” The next Sunday, when the minister came, he asked, “Who did Jesus die for?” There was a long pause. Finally, a little girl raised her hand and volunteered, “The boy Jesus died for isn’t here today.” Friends don’t let that missing child be you. Come, see the Savior whose royal blood fell on the ground for you. Come, see His conquering of sin and devil. Come and watch as His resurrection defeats death. Come next week and hear the angel’s glorious proclamation: Christ is risen and with a faith-filled heart, reply, “He is risen, indeed.” Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for APRIL 5, 2009
Topic: Two Questions on PrayerMark: Now, Pastor Ken Klaus answers questions about prayer. I’m Mark Eischer
Ken: Hello, Mark.
Mark: A listener writes: “Recently I attended a banquet and a pastor gave the prayer before the meal. I noticed that, at the end of his prayer, the pastor did not say anything like, ‘This we ask in Jesus’ Name.’ I was told that every proper Christian prayer should always end that way. So, I’m wondering, was it a real prayer and did God hear it?”
Ken: Mark, it’s a simple enough question, but I’d like to answer it two ways.
Mark: Two unconfusing ways?
Ken: I hope so.
The first answer is: The Lord’s Prayer, although it was first spoken by the Savior doesn’t have His Name in it. So, on the basis of that perfect prayer… the prayer after which all others are modeled, we would have to say, “No, it’s not necessary to have Jesus’ Name for a prayer to be proper.
Mark: That’s easy enough. But you said there was a second answer.
Ken: The second part is this: without putting down that pastor who prayed at the banquet, I would ask, ‘why wouldn’t a Christian end their prayers with the Savior’s Name. After all, it is the Savior Who commanded us to pray; it is He who is our Intercessor, the Person Who speaks in favor of us and our petitions; He is the One Who promises to answer our prayers. I could go on.
Mark: So, you’re saying it’s a good practice, but not necessarily a commandment?
Ken: That would be an excellent summarization… but we need to remember in the sixteenth chapter of John, and elsewhere, the Savior said, “whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.”
So we say your prayers in Jesus’ Name, but not because those words are a magical formula, or because without them God won’t listen.
Mark: Although when a prayer is offered in Jesus’ name, it’s quite specific and clear as to Who’s being addressed.
Ken: Yes, and there’s much more we could say about that.
Mark: I think this next one might be a bit harder. Our listener also wants to know if it’s ever proper to bargain with God. When she said, ‘bargaining with God’, she meant promising God something in return for granting their request.
Ken: All right. First, if the person is asking, “Is it even possible to bribe God?”, I would have to say ‘no.’ First, think about it, what do any of us have that would serve as leverage or somehow enduce God to be good to us?” I mean, He is the almighty Creator of everything! If He wants something, He can make it happen. Second, all who are saved have been adopted into the Lord’s family of faith. A respectful, thankful child doesn’t have to bribe his or her father to get his attention or to motivate him to do what is right.
Mark: I don’t know if the person was thinking of “bribery.” What if it’s more along the lines of, “Lord, if you get me out of this one, I’ll give all my money to the poor?”
Ken: All right. Like those old Reader’s Digest articles where the person would say, “I was never religious and really didn’t believe in anything, but as I was being attacked by the bear, I promised the deity, if he exists and would get me out of this, I’d try to be a better person.’
Mark: No, this is more along the lines of a thankful response, not a quid pro quo.
Ken: Understood. Our listener needs to know that there isn’t anything she can do to make God more ready to answer her prayer. God is ready. He is listening. He is even eager to hear the requests of His people.
If I could Mark on the spot for a moment. Let me ask, when your children were small, did they have to promise you something before you would listen to them?
Mark: Of course not. And, I believe the same would be said of our Father in heaven. Even more so.
Ken: Exactly. Now, having said that the answer to the person’s question is: “Thanks to the Lord is always appropriate. Next, if you want to make such a thankgiving gift to God for blessings requested or given, by all means do so. The Bible is filled with examples of such actions.
Of course, I might add… if this really is a thanksgiving offering, why wait? Why not do it right now?
Mark: Pastor, anything else?
Ken: Just this caveat, Mark. I spent as much time as I did today talking about bribing God because there are a lot of preachers out there, in pulpits and in media who say you have to give something to God before He gives anything to you. That is incredibly wrong… and I want people to understand God loves first, gives first, does what is right… first.
Mark: This has been a presentation of Lutheran
Music selections for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by John Leavitt. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth” by Paul Gerhardt & Wolfgang Dachstein, arr. Gerhard Krapf & Richard Wienhorst. From Heirs of the Reformation (© 2008 Concordia Publishing House)
“All Glory, Laud and Honor” by Michael Burkhardt. From Hymn Improvisations, vol. 1 by Michael Burkhardt (© 1993 MorningStar Music Publishers)