John 18:1 – 19:42;
2 Corinthians 5:14-21; Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12
In the Name of the Father and of the
+ Son and of the Holy Spirit.
You all know
the story of Good Friday and of your Lord’s Passion pretty well. You hear it recounted
year after year, and rightly so, for it is a central tenet of our Christian
faith. You also hear it weekly, in part, in our Divine Service and in the
Gospel rightly proclaimed. To be sure, the story of Christ’s Passion is
emotionally provocative. It inspires sadness and remorse, pity and anguish,
revulsion and anger. It moves, not a few, to tears. But, what lasting impact, I
wonder, does it have upon you? Has it changed you for the better in any
particular way?
This Good
Friday, I encourage you to focus upon the effect that Jesus’ suffering and
death has had upon you and how you live your life today and from now on. While
your Lord suffered scourging, crucifixion, and death to redeem you from your
sin and guilt, and that fact is the primary truth we remember this day, that is
not the only thing that Jesus has done for you in His Passion. Indeed, Jesus’
death was not merely for you, so that
you are the benefactor, which you surely are, but Jesus’ death was also as you. Likewise, Jesus’ resurrection was
both for you and as you as well. This means that Jesus’ death and resurrection was
your death and resurrection. Not only does it count for you, but it happened
to you.
Jesus
proclaimed this fact when He taught about serving others saying, “As you do to
the least of my brothers, you do to me.” And, what our Lord proclaimed
matter-of-factly, St. Paul has explained more theologically saying, “Do you not
know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into
His death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order
that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we
too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a
death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like
His.” Thus, when you serve your brother, sister, and neighbor in Christ, you
serve your Lord Jesus in whom they are baptized, have died and have been raised
from death. And, even when you serve your neighbor who does not believe in
Christ, you still serve Christ who died for
them and as them as well.
This Lenten
season we prayed the Litany together throughout our midweek Vespers. In one
petition of that great prayer we prayed, “By the mystery of Your holy
incarnation; by Your holy nativity; By Your baptism, fasting, and temptation;
by Your agony and bloody sweat; by Your cross and passion; by Your precious
death and burial; By Your glorious resurrection and ascension; and by the
coming of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter: Help us, good Lord.” We appeal to God
on account of these His works in His Son Jesus. In and through these, God
became what we are. All that He did He did for
you as you. All that He did you did
in Him. And, what is true for you is true for your brother, your sister, your
neighbor as well.
Thus St. Paul
exhorts you saying, “The love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded
this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and He died for all,
that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who for
their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one
according to the flesh.” What does it mean to “regard no one according to the
flesh” than to recognize that every person you know, will meet, or encounter,
every person on this planet now, or ever has been or ever will be, is not
merely a man, woman, or child, but each and every one of them – good or bad,
rich or poor, likeable or unlikeable, Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist,
Atheist, or any other – is an enfleshed soul created by God and redeemed by God
in the incarnation, nativity, baptism, crucifixion and death, resurrection, and
ascension of Jesus Christ.
The rat race
of your lives can easily lead you to have a pragmatic and utilitarian view of
life and the world as you go to work, pay your bills and taxes, struggle to
keep up your home, educate your children, and worry about things you cannot
control in the world: wars, terrorism, violence, death. That view might
conclude: “Whatever works is good.” Jesus died to cleanse you from your sin and
failure to keep the Law that enslaved you to futile and fruitless obedience
with death being your only reward. Jesus rose from death to raise you to new
life in Him that you might “be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and
serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He
is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity.”
“If anyone is
in Christ, He is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has
come.” Christ’s death and resurrection are both for you and as you. In
Christ, you are a new creation. But, do you know this? Do you feel this? Do you
live this? This is no preaching of the Law telling you what you must do, but
this is a proclamation of the Gospel telling you of the freedom you have and
enjoy in Christ! Don’t place yourself back under the shackles of the Law. Don’t
let Satan lie to you and deceive you so that you believe, feel, and live as
though you are not free. The hallmark of living freely in Christ is not being
enslaved to the Law and material, worldly, and fleshly desires, values, and
goods. The fruit of living freely in Christ, the fruit of the Gospel and Spirit,
is giving freely of what you have freely received: love, mercy, grace,
forgiveness, charity, kindness, gentleness, patience, long-suffering,
perseverance.
What all this
means is that your life is not your own – and that’s a good thing! You have
died and have been buried with Christ; likewise you have been raised with
Christ. Christ’s life is your life, and your life is His. Christ died for you and as you that He might cleanse you from sin and guilt and free you
from slavery and condemnation under the Law. If the Son has set you free, then
you are free indeed! And, what He has done for
you and as you He has done for all.
Therefore, regard no one according to the flesh alone, but everyone as Christ –
“When you did it to the least of these my brothers you did it to me.”
It is finished
– all that was necessary to make you right with God, all that was necessary to
redeem you from sin and death, all that was necessary to free you from slavery
and condemnation under the Law is finished, completed, and fulfilled in Jesus’
death on Good Friday. Jesus took all of that upon Himself and He died for you and as you and was buried. However, He did not remain in that tomb, but
He rose from the dead on the third day just as He had said. To remain in sin
and death and worldly, fleshly, and material desires, pleasures, and pursuits
is to remain in death and the tomb; it is to return to a rotting, stinking, filthy
corpse. But, Jesus has died and has been raised that you might live for Him and as Him. And, while this new life is not always easy, Jesus promises
to be with you through it all. When you give to others, you give with His
gifts. When you forgive others, you forgive with His forgiveness. When you love
others, you love with His love.
You are not
the same. In Christ you have been reconciled with God; therefore, be reconciled
with your brother, your sister, and your neighbor. You are a new creation in
Christ, and so also your brother, your sister, and your neighbor. You are
blessed to be a blessing. This is why we call this day good. Jesus’ death is for you and as you. Jesus’ resurrection is for
you and as you. In Christ, you are a
new creation. Glory be to God alone.
In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment