Sermon in Seattle 06.04.2012

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Let us join our hearts together in opening prayer.

Dear Heavenly Father, this evening, we, your children, have gathered around your holy and unperishing Word. Amen. Especially around that Word which relates to the atonement work of your Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Dear Father, we pray this evening that you could reveal to us our salvation, our reason for joy, even on this Good Friday. That, dear Father, we would be again given strength to take a few more steps along the way which leads to heaven.

Dear Father, we pray, though, that this Word could carry to those who travel without faith around us in the world. That they could, along with us, comprehend the depth and the width and the length of your love. Teach us, dear Father, as only you can. Amen.

Amen.

This evening hour, I thought to read from the Gospel according to Matthew, beginning with the 27th verse through the 37th verse in Jesus' name.

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. And they stripped him and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had plated a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head and a reed in his right hand. And they bowed the knee before him and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews. And they spit upon him and took the reed and smote him on the head. And after that, they had mocked him. They took the robe off from him and put his own raiment on him and led him away to crucify him.

And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear his cross. And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull, they gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall. And when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.

And they crucified him and parted his garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets. They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. And sitting down, they watched him there, and set up over his head his accusation written, This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. Amen.

Good Friday is one of those church holidays which is spoken of throughout the world. There is a well-known day, even in history. There are some of us who struggle sometimes with our own reason and understanding. But yet, this day is not only something recorded in the Bible, but it has been written of by other historians.

It was that type of event which, in an age and era when there was not technology as we have it today, nevertheless, the news must have traveled far and wide. What made it a more remarkable thing is this: that word had spread beforehand, though, of this man, Jesus, who performed miracles and did things which the world seemed to think were impossible and were not any different than them.

Perhaps we may think, from a temporal perspective, they're impossible things. Because if you pause to first consider, for instance, the first miracle which Jesus did, it was something which has not been done after, or perhaps before, where at his command, water was turned into wine.

But yet, when we pause to look at even that miracle from the eyes of faith, it seems to me quite fitting that the first miracle which Jesus performed was turning water into wine. And the last thing which the Scriptures tell of Jesus was that his blood, which we have, for instance, last night spoken about, which is commemorated in the wine, the wine turned back to water. He shed all of his blood until water came. A complete circle. It was finished.

So unless we understand this work which Jesus performed on our behalf by faith, we would be left with the simple historical perspective of a man who did many miraculous things and then died at the hands of those who tortured him.

I thought a little bit about this from my own perspective. These disciples and apostles wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, but yet they wrote that which they saw. And this was a culmination of those years of following Jesus, those three, four years, and it ended in this tragic death. They couldn't forget that.

These Gospels were written many years after Jesus' death, but yet when we read these stories of that first Good Friday, they're remarkably descriptive, even to the very last detail. It's not any different in our lives if we would look at it from that perspective. We remember things by what we experience, even though we don't always understand what it was when it happened.

I was married September 8, 2001. I don't need to go any further than that, and it brings unsure thoughts to your minds. I was on my honeymoon in the mountains of Canada, and I recall going into a small village store and hearing the person there saying, haven't you heard what happened? And I didn't want to hear it. We were simply trying to buy some things to bring back from our trip, and it took a while for it to sink in that this person really had something that I should take note of.

But looking at it from that perspective, even though it took time for it to sink in, it's unforgettable. There are other events, though, in our lives that are similar. We'll never forget them. It may be something which is our own personal life, which others may take no note of, but we will certainly remember them.

On this trip already, I've spoken to some about events which I'll never forget. They've asked, for instance, remembering my mother, wondering how long it has been since she passed from this life. 1995. And it's amazing how time flies by. Many of you here will not remember that date. Perhaps after the service ends, that I have even mentioned that. But it will always remain in my mind.

The events of that day, from the time I return home from work in the morning until the end of the day, I can tell you what I did. I remember how long it took me where I went. I recall who was in that hospital room there with us.

This was an event, though, which we read here tonight, which is far above and beyond anything we can comprehend. Because it affects the entire world. It affects every sin-fallen man.

I don't intend to dwell on all the details of this text. They speak so clearly themselves. But yet it's good for us to read these things, to recall them again and again. And it's good that we have days like today set aside specifically to remember them. Because it is an event which we need to remember.

This text began with these words, The soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. And they stripped him and put on him a scarlet robe.

Immediately we can know and understand that something different had happened. This man, Jesus, who they thought was just some man causing an uprising in Jerusalem. They nevertheless took steps to do things to him. And if we read scriptures, we find how God had prepared that way.

Even though perhaps these soldiers began to do things which they thought was from their own thoughts and understanding and desires what they wanted to do. Nevertheless, we find when we read scriptures that God's word became fulfilled. His way is so much higher than our ways in ways we can't comprehend.

Our dear brother Randy Harla told once at a meeting at the LSE office for a few of us that were there, told us an example of this, how God's way is so much higher than our way. He was recalling his latest trip to Togo.

And he said it was one of those trips where they had the trip was planned that at this day and this time we'll go to this city and then at this time we'll move on to the next. It was a set schedule and they began that one particular day he said that it seemed to him that so many things began to go wrong.

One of the first cities they were approaching they tried to call ahead to the believers and when they called it was very apparent that they called the wrong person. They had called the chief of that city the tribe chief they had called his assistant instead of the believers.

And when they showed up there they didn't dare to tell this assistant that they had called him an heir so they explained to him simply what they were doing that they were coming there for services and when they showed up into that city the tribe chief and all of his assistants were sitting under a tent all in a row and they had set up chairs facing them all in a row and there the brothers were brought to explain why they came.

The story didn't end there though after that they were able to meet with the believers and it seemed like the time schedule was now out of order all the times that they had decided to do things it would no longer work that way.

After that they decided to take a lunch break on their way to the next city they said it didn't matter anymore they were already late they stopped at the side of the road and there was a building near the road they stopped near that and they sat down to eat it appeared to be abandoned but then this man drove up on a motorcycle and went into the building.

Randy said his companion Mikko Kinunen who was the principal at Reis at the Opisto became interested because he saw that on the building there was an old sign that looked like it said something about education so he wanted to go speak to that man.

The translators tried to convince him that there was no time to go speak to him that they needed to get to the next city but as the others were still eating Mikko decided that he would go talk to him by himself even if he couldn't have a translator and he disappeared and the translators decided they better go follow and they went inside.

Randy explained in this way that he was patiently waiting outside and they didn't come back out and they didn't come back out so he decided he better go and check and when he got inside the door he could hear their conversation through the translator.

Apparently Mikko was very diligently asking this man about the education system in Togo and what and how things were done there and that part was done and like any other conversation it turned to what are you men doing here and in very simple terms they began to tell them that we're on a mission trip we're preaching the gospel and it became apparent very quickly that this man's face fell began to cheer up and he said I have prayed to God for months that he would show me the way and he sent angels.

Our ways are much lower than God's ways even in this text it seems as if the soldiers took Jesus of their own volition and did what they wanted to him but yet when we read scriptures it is scripture fulfilled it happened according to God's will.

It's interesting to think of this though when they began to mock Jesus they put this scarlet robe on him they took that robe which he had on him and placed a different robe on him.

I can only think of this in this sense that they didn't want to see Jesus as the innocent son of God as one with no sin they placed on him this scarlet robe signifying the sins of the whole world our sins and they accused him with those sins.

There is nothing of Jesus himself that they could accuse him of but yet they accused him with the sins of the entire world.

When they had plated a crown of thorns they put it upon his head and a reed in his right hand and they bowed the knees before him and mocked him saying hail king of the Jews and they spit on him and took the reed and smote him on the head and after that they had mocked him they took the robe off from him and put his own raiment on him and led him away to crucify him.

They led the innocent lamb of God away the scarlet robe was removed the innocent son of God was brought to die on Calvary's cross.

In my mind it seems though I'm as human as anyone else after all this mocking and torture wasn't that enough wasn't it enough to bring him to the cross to crucify him?

God it says here that when they were come to the place called Golgotha that is to say a place of a skull they gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall. Gall being one of those substances used to prepare bodies for burial it was poison it was a drug that was what they offered him to quench his thirst was a drug.

He was tempted to the last moment by difficult temptations troublesome temptations but yet it hasn't been said in scriptures in vain in this way that he was tempted in all things like as we are sometimes wondered about that because some of the temptations which we have around us today are very difficult things for instance as I mentioned drugs.

It's not always so sure when we read scriptures what it says we're given understanding as God sees fit to give to us.

In years past I've simply read this as vinegar and gall and not knowing what it was it seems to me anyhow that this is what was in question at that moment but yet Jesus being tempted in all was not as we are he was sinless.

In the midst of such difficult mocking scourging sin he was tempted with such great temptations yet without sin.

It says when he had tasted thereof he would not drink he would not drink it was a way to escape the pain of torture but yet he would not drink.

And then they crucified him.

Each of these verses if we wish to we could find those references in Old Testament scripture which tell us of the prophet's testimony of the Messiah to come who would suffer as this and those prophecies were so precise it even tells us as in this thirty-fifth verse about how when they crucified him they parted his garments casting lots for them.

In fact this evangelist thought it important that we would remember that he says that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets and then he quotes it: They parted my garments among them and upon my vesture did they cast lots.

And sitting down they watched him there after all they did they sat down to watch him.

What did they see? They saw the Son of God die for the sins of all men.

The soldiers there watched as Jesus bore your sins and mine and suffered for them and took them to death.

They watched when the Son of God paid our sin debt and then they set up over his head his accusation: This is Jesus the King of the Jews.

It was not meant to be some nice placard above him it was meant to be a slur.

This man says that he is the king of the Jews they mocked him for that.

He was not just the king of the Jews he was as the prophet writes he was the king of kings the Lord of lords he was the savior of mankind.

They mocked him for that but we praise him this evening hour that he bore our sin that we don't need to bear it.

He bore our sin so we don't need to fear he bore it that believing on him we have hope of eternal life.

It is for that reason dear brothers and sisters we have gathered here tonight to recall that that day which the disciples saw as a terrible day but it was a wonderful day it was a perfect day after all was said and done because because of that we don't need to live in sin this evening our dear brother and sister we can remember that day with love remember it with praise in our hearts to the heavenly Father that he allowed his Son to suffer and die for us.

But nevertheless when we remember it we remember it knowing that of ourselves we are sinful and erring and in need of his care.

The caring arms of the gospel reach forth to every sinner every man woman and child they reach forth to enfold you in the care of the gospel tonight dear brother and sister you can uplift your heart to believe all of your sins and doubts and failures of the journey forgiven in Jesus name and precious atonement blood believe it unto peace and freedom and joy.

One of the songs of Zion over the years has come precious I spent a few years on our hymnal committee looking at some of these songs and there were some songs where earlier on I would have suggested rethinking melodies or words and this was one of them.

But in our hymnal process we wondered what reason we would change or even remove songs if we were planning on doing that we thought of them in a little different way.

The reason why I initially thought about removing the song is because I don't like refrains it seems like refrains are things it's a musical way to repeat things in which many times is not helpful.

But then I was able to be I was given this understanding that if the refrain is something that says something important then by all means let's keep it.

And we came to this song on Good Fridays and Easter I remember it often now it says in the refrain that Gethsemane Gethsemane I must remember thee I must remember thee.

That is the source of the strength of our lives of faith is found in the victory which was performed which began in the garden of Gethsemane and ended at the tree of Calvary.

That victory gives permission tonight to believe sins forgiven so again dear brother dear sister believe your sins forgiven in Jesus name and blood believe it unto peace and freedom and joy.