Good Friday
Rev. Thomas Van Hemert
John 18:1-19:42
Good Friday
April 15, 2022
In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit.
There is a very important distinction we must make if we are to understand rightly what occurred on the Hill of the Skull on Good Friday, some 2000 years ago.
When we speak of what happened on Good Friday, usually we use terms like “crucifixion” or “atonement.” Now both of these words would perfectly describe what actually happened on the Hill of the Skull on Good Friday. But in order to truly understand what our Savior accomplished for us, we need to be able to speak rightly of these two terms.
While the crucifixion and the atonement are synonymous—for when Jesus was crucified, He made atonement for the sins of the whole world, that is, His blood covers and washes away all our sin—while these two things are the same, the crucifixion and the atonement differ in regard to time.
If you talk with anyone who has studied the differences between eastern culture and western culture in our world, they will tell you that we think of time differently. In the East, the way they generally think of time is cyclical, whereas we in the West, generally think of time as linear—things that occurred in the past are behind us, we are currently in the present, and things to come will be in what we call the “future.” And so it is that these two things—the crucifixion and atonement—while they are synonymous, they are the same thing, they differ in regard to time.
When we speak of the crucifixion of Jesus, we mean that time and place when He was nailed to His cross on Golgotha. When someone is nailed to a cross, it is called a crucifixion. It is a means of torture and execution. This happened to Jesus at a single fixed time and place. Jesus wasn’t crucified or nailed to His cross before He was nailed to His cross. Nor is He still nailed to the cross. If you go to Jerusalem today and walk around outside the city gates, you won’t find Jesus still nailed to His cross, you won’t find Him there on the Hill of the Skull crucified. That’s because He has since come down from the cross, in the past, and He has since been raised from the dead and He has ascended to the right hand of His Father.
So even though I may like the Beatles, that is, the rock and roll band, I would never say that I was there at their concert when they performed at Shea Stadium in 1965. I could be the biggest Beatles fan of all time, but it wouldn’t make sense for me to say that I was there, or that I was there “in spirit,” because I wasn’t there physically nor was I there in spirit. I wasn’t alive at that time. That event occurred at a fix point in the past before I was even born. Physically, I was not there. Spiritually, I wasn’t there.
Likewise, I may be the biggest Iowa Hawkeye Football fan in the world, but I would never say that I was present at their 1957 Rose Bowl win when they beat Oregon State 35-19. First of all, I wasn’t even alive in 1957. So for me to say that I was there would be absurd. That football game took place in the past, at a fixed point in history. History is behind us. We cannot go back in time. So it is with the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So. Were you there when they crucified your Lord? No, you weren’t. You are here, stuck in time. No one here tonight is two thousand years old. And if you’re still confused, if you still think you were there when they crucified your Lord, check and see if you have a pulse. If you have a pulse, trust me, you were not there when they crucified your Lord. Because if you were there, you would be dead right now because that event of Christ’s crucifixion is in the past.
All this just goes to show and my point in all this, is that it’s important that we rightly understand Christ’s death, which is His atoning sacrifice for the sins of all men who ever lived. Our doctrine matters. The way we rightly understand, teach, and confess Christian doctrines as Lutherans matters. Correct and orthodox doctrine matters. It’s important. It’s important because doctrine divides, it separates. It divides and separates us from those who are not Christians. We’re not time-travelers here. We were not there when they crucified our Lord, no matter how much someone wants to make this seemingly pious statement. Admittedly, some things do sound nice in our ears. We may like certain tunes and melodies of certain songs or hymns but if they’re not doctrinally sound, if they don’t teach orthodox Lutheran teachings and doctrine, then we become just like Eve, who in the Garden of Eden heard words from the serpent that were pleasing to her ears. Just look at how that worked out for her.
But even so, even though you weren’t there two thousand years ago, the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ does, in fact, affect us. We actually do benefit from Jesus being crucified. This is what we call the “atonement.”
Our doctrine is this: Jesus Christ gave His life as a ransom for sinners. All men stand justified in God’s eyes because of Jesus and this justification, this righteousness, this separation from sin, death, and the devil is apprehended and taken hold of by faith. So it is, that Abraham believed, and God counted to Him as righteousness. By Christ’s crucifixion, every human being who ever lived, every human being who ever believed, received the benefits of Christ’s atoning sacrifice. Thus, even though the crucifixion happened at a point in the past, the atonement, that is, the covering of our sins by blood and the benefits of that cross are given to all who believe. All those in the past benefit because Jesus was crucified. All of us who now live, benefit and are covered because Jesus was crucified. All those in the future, those who will live hundreds of years after us, if they have faith, will receive the benefits of Christ’s atoning sacrifice. So it is, that the atonement—the covering and washing away of sins by Jesus’ blood—is not only for just those who were alive during that time, but for all people as the writer of Hebrews says, “For by a single sacrifice, [Jesus] has perfected for all time those who are being made holy.” Here, the writer of Hebrews speaks of you and me. We are being made holy. We receive what Christ did on the cross through the Means of Grace. Let us never stop celebrating them and let us never stop receiving them.
And whenever we see the cross, we should never think of it as empty, for the cross is always associated with Jesus. The tomb is empty. But we should always let the cross be a reminder for us of that great and terrible cost associated with it: that the Son of God, out of love for men, laid down His life and was lifted up upon it for the world to see. The body of Jesus on the cross is the epitome, it is the paragon of God’s love for men. Let this cross always be a symbol of victory for you. Whenever you look at it, let it remind you of God’s love for you. For by this tree of death, life has come into the world.
Tonight is not a funeral for Jesus. For on a night like this, Eve’s Seed, though struck by the serpent, crushed the serpent’s head.
In +Jesus’ name.
