Good Friday
The Facts of Faith: Jesus Died
St. Matthew 27:50-54
18 April 2014 – Redeemer
And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
Jesus of Nazareth died. It is a fact. The Romans were skilled at crucifixion. They had thousands of clients on their resume. They made sure the dead were dead. Broken legs. Pierced sides. Dead. Jesus didn’t need his legs broken, but His side was pierced. The Romans knew exactly how to crucify and they crucified Jesus dead.
Jesus of Nazareth died. It is a fact. When Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus’ body down from the cross, don’t you think they would have noticed any sign of life? His body would have grown cold and stiff as they wrapped Him in linen. They buried Him. If there had been any doubt they would not have sealed the tomb.
Jesus of Nazareth died twice. That also is a fact of faith. The death that is obvious to our eyes is the death when He breathed His last and gave up His spirit – the death of His body. The other death was far worse and we only learn of it from Jesus’ Words, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” With those words God the Son cries out from the death that happens when God leaves you. Big D death – the Death of Damnation – the death that sinners deserve. Not one of us knows what it is like for God to leave us alone – for since creation He has never left His creation alone. Even the unbelievers and despisers of God live by His sustaining hand. He causes the earth to spin, the planets to orbit, the sun to shine. He has given us the gift of reason and conscience which means most of us most of the time treat each other with respect and decency. There isn’t a kid robbed at gunpoint everyday in Sauk Rapids and there isn’t a shooting every day by some white supremacist. But if God withdrew His hand, if He forsook us, all hell would break upon us and from within us. And in a moment all would be lost.
Faith believes that the physical death of Jesus is nothing compared to this death, this God-forsakenness in which Jesus endures all of His Father’s wrath for our sins. What does an adulterer deserve? What does a liar deserve? What do you deserve? It is hard to imagine the mockery Jesus experienced at the hands of sinful men. He was whipped to the very edge of death. Spit upon by a hundred men. Dressed up as a clown prince and mocked by the soldiers. Scorned by men, women, and children. Tempted by the devil. Nails were pounded through His flesh into the timbers of the cross. Yet, that death is not our salvation – our salvation is in the death of hell and judgment, the death where God the Father said nothing to His Son, where He turned His back, pulled back His hands, closed His mouth and shut His eyes to His beloved and only begotten son. That is what you deserved and that is what Christ took in your place.
Faith believes you will never know the seriousness of your sin if you do not meditate upon and believe in Christ’s work on the cross. Your sin can not be taken care of at a distance. It is not something that God overlooked. God must come Himself in the flesh of His Son to take it, carry it, and be consumed with it. How is your sin finally forgiven? By the Son of God enduring the burning anger of His Father. By the Son of God being cast out of the land of the living and enduring the eternal torment of hell upon the cross.
Faith believes that the cross is our hope and our life and our salvation. Strangely faith believes the cross is beautiful and the most glorious work God has ever done. Surely you know that there is no other religion in the world where a god dies for his people. In every other religion you had better die for God, and if you die in just the right way, you might even get a special slice of “heaven” for yourself. The Cross of Jesus Christ stands opposed and in stark contrast to every other religion under the sun. We do not all believe the same thing, nor do we have the same god.
Faith believes that the cross is a victory and a triumph. When Saint Matthew records Jesus’ death He writes, “Jesus cried out again with loud voice and yielded up His Spirit.” I always assumed that this was the last gasp of Jesus. He finally gave up, but that is not the case. By the time Jesus dies He has already endured this worst – God has forsaken Him and now that He has died the death of the damned sin, is forgiven. His work is finished. He willingly goes to death in His body. He chooses to die – that is why He died earlier than the other two criminals and without His legs being broken.
His final cry is not a cry of defeat, but the cry of victory. It’s the unintelligible cry of the hockey player who scores the winning goal with .6 seconds in regulation. It’s the war cry of a defensive linemen who sacked the quarterback and sent him limping to the sidelines. This is the cry of soldiers overrunning the trenches of the enemy and scattering them in defeat. One of our Lenten hymns confesses it with these words:
Then, for all that wrought my pardon,
For Thy sorrows deep and sore,
For Thine anguish in the Garden,
I will thank Thee evermore,
Thank Thee for Thy groaning, sighing,
For Thy bleeding and Thy dying,
For that last triumphant cry,
And shall praise Thee, Lord, on high.
(Christ the Life of All the Living – Public domain)
All the signs that accompany Jesus’ death are signs of victory. The temple curtain is torn in two, a sign that sacrifices for sin are at an end. The earthly temple serves no purpose. God’s final and ultimate temple is Jesus Christ. Sacrifice complete. Sin forgiven. Temple finished.
And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. Satan’s domain is crumbling and his coup of mankind is coming to an end. Jesus Christ has accomplished the forgiveness of sins for the world. There is nothing to hold us back from life forever. There is no keeping those who believed in Him in their graves.
On that Friday when Jesus died God the Father was already rubbing Satan’s nose in the cross. Jesus had entered the strong man’s house, clothed in the flesh of a man, but He was stronger than the strong man. He plundered Satan’s kingdom. By His death He has brought us victory – our sins are forgiven – Satan has nothing on us. Death has lost its sting. The grave has lost its grip. Hell is shaken. Satan’s falling. The fact is that Jesus died, but faith believes this death of God for sinners is the death to end all deaths and that makes for a Good Friday. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Pr. Bruce Timm
18 April 2014