Jesus Died

Good Friday has always had special meaning to me.  The texts are so powerful that not a lot needs be said by the preacher.  So here is one of the shortest sermons I have ever written.  And like Maundy Thursday I preached more on the day then on the text, but the two are so intertwined that it is hard to separate them.  The gospel for the day is John 18:1-19:42.


Enjoy

Jesus died.  In one of the cruelest forms of capital punishment ever thought of, Jesus was put to death.  But first he was whipped, he was beaten almost to death, he was given one less lash than the number that was considered to be inhuman.  They publicly humiliated him by pushing a crown on his head, one made of thorns that pierced his skin.  They then forced him to carry his cross, a heavy burden upon his back that was raw and bloody from the all the lashing he had received.  Just this process was so exhausting that in the other gospels we hear that Jesus collapsed under weight and the Romans had to get a bystander to carry the cross for him. 

And then after the Romans had humiliated him, beaten him and physically exhausted him, they then nailed Jesus to a cross.  Stabbing him through the wrist and feet with nails in order to place him up on the cross, so that he would surely die of suffocation if he did not first die from blood loss. 

But not being satisfied that Jesus had been humiliated enough, they continued to mock him while they waited for Jesus to die.  They placed bets for his clothes, maybe whoever most accurately guessed how long it would take him to die got his best tunic.  They placed a sign over his head saying “here is the king of the Jews.”  They mocked and teased him from the ground, commanding him to come down from the cross.  Even when they gave him wine, something that we often think of one moment of mercy and dignity, it was actually just another moment of humility as a sponge on a stick was commonly used as toilet paper in the ancient world.  And when it was over, to make sure that he had died, they then pierced Jesus’ side.  The Romans and the crowds did everything in their power not just to make sure that Jesus had died, but to make sure he would not have wanted to continue to live.

And it is this body, this lifeless, bloody body, full of wounds on his head, hands, feet, back and sides that was give to Joseph of Arimathea.  It was this body, that was humiliated, mocked, cursed and spat at, that Nicodemus helped place in the tomb for burial.  It was this body, one broken and weak, not strong and with a perfect physique, that Mary and the other woman helped wrap in linen cloth with spices and aloes.

It was this body that has been given to us.  Jesus body, bless and broken.  It is this body who’s footsteps we are called to walk in.  It is this body who carries us and supports us when we are not able to support ourselves. 

And it is this body who in a few days will be resurrected from the grave.  No longer bloody, no longer broken, no longer humiliated.  And it is that body who give us life.