A
sermon for Good Friday 2020 – Fred Veerhuis
‘In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God
in the beginning. 3 Through him all
things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was
life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines
in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
14 The Word became
flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the
glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and
truth…
16 Out of his
fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was
given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.’ (John 1:1-5, 14, 16-17)
Since the beginning of October 2019 Australians
have lived within a bubble of crises. Following years of unrelenting drought,
the nation has experienced a summer of long-lasting, terrifying and devastating
fire-storms, accompanied by world-worst air quality. That crisis passed, but
then many regions experienced their highest ever rainfall, and in some cases, their
worst ever floods. The most frequent adjective used in the media, and by our
leaders, to describe these events has been the word, ‘unprecedented’.
Understandably! The personal, social and economic costs of what has happened
have left deep wounds and fears.
Even
that word, ‘unprecedented’, has been inadequate to describe the speed with
which the deadly coronavirus outbreak escalated to become the pandemic it has
in Australia, and indeed the whole world. So dramatic have been the
consequences for our daily lives, even our daily bread and butter - and yes, including
almost zero availability of toilet paper, hand sanitizer, flour, pasta and rice
- that many wonder if we can ever return to the unquestioned, comfortable and
secure life we envisioned even two months ago. The times are fraught with
anxiety. One recent headline in the Sydney Morning Herald perfectly captured
the spirit of uncertainty, fear and confusion which besets us: ‘A fractured nation is facing its greatest
foe.’
Coronavirus!
Generally we know what a virus is, but in the current crisis we are threatened
by a coronavirus. A corona is the
halo which, in certain atmospheric conditions, can be seen surrounding the sun.
The word ‘corona’ itself comes from the Greek and Latin word for crown. We can
see the meaning in the word ‘coronation!
What I will do in this message is to use the notion that the Word which came in
Jesus Christ was like a crown-virus.
How that virus is perceived is dependent on the way we relate to the Word
himself.
The view from unbelief.
For the majority of the great and
powerful among the Jews, the word which came in Jesus the Messiah was nothing
less than a virus inspired by the devil himself and which must be overcome. Everything
Jesus said and did, and who he was, even his very name, inspired fear and
loathing among them. The Gospel records attempt after attempt to silence Jesus
and suppress the Word he brought.
Right from the time Jesus commenced his
public ministry the leaders of the Jews - the Pharisees, Scribes and Sadducees -
regarded Jesus with suspicion. That is not surprising when we consider that
John the Baptist publicly proclaimed Jesus to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. (John 1:29, 36)
In making that declaration, John had announced that the Law was not going to be
the last Word of God. The time had come for the speaking of the Lord God’s
greatest Word which would bring to an end the necessity for the elaborate
sacrificial system of the Sinai Covenant.
It was therefore impossible for the
Jewish leadership to ignore John’s declaration. If we add to the Baptist’s
testimony the joyful outburst of innocent young Nathanael it is easy to see why
the Jews turned on Jesus with such hostility.
‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel! (John 1:49) For
the Jews, the truth which Nathanael had proclaimed, and which Jesus himself implied
and claimed with all his words and actions, was nothing less than a vile crown-virus, a blasphemy above all
blasphemies, an infection from hell, which must be eradicated at all costs.
The
single-minded efforts of the Jewish leadership to shut down Jesus and the Word
he spoke are revealed throughout the Gospel accounts.
When
Jesus cleansed the Temple – his Father’s House - with a whip of cords and a
holy anger, the Jews demanded to know under whose authority he had acted. In
his response, indicating that he himself would be the coming kingdom’s Temple,
he was announcing an end to the worship life of Israel as they understood it.
In
engaging with a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, and then spending days in her
Samaritan village, he was violating the very way the Jews understood themselves
to be the pure people of God. (John 4)
When
Jesus healed the invalid at the pool of Bethesda he did it on the Sabbath.
Given that for the Jews the observance of the Sabbath was an indicator of
submission to the Law of Moses, this healing was bound to generate anger. John
records that after this healing, the Jews commenced active persecution. (5:16)
When Jesus went on to imply that he was equal with God they tried all the
harder to kill him. (5:18) The Jews were increasingly ‘zealous’ in their goal
of getting rid of this deceiver with his crown-virus.
Jesus
continued his assault on all the Jews held dear. He told them in no uncertain
terms that Moses, whose disciples they claimed to be, would in fact be their
accuser before the Father! (5:45) They, in turn, repeatedly accused him of
being demon-possessed. When a woman was caught in adultery they were humiliated
when Jesus exposed their determination to condemn rather than to save. They
were misrepresenting the Holy One who desired mercy, not sacrifice. (8:2-11) Jesus
declared they were not in fact children of Abraham. Rather, they were slaves to
sin and their true father was the devil, the father of all lies.
It
is no surprise that twice they sought to stone him. The Scribes and Pharisees
prided themselves on occupying Moses seat in the synagogues’ and there claimed
they were the teaching shepherds of Israel. Jesus told them bluntly that they
were no more than hired hands with little care for the flock. And aggravated
them all the more when he declared in their faces, ‘I am the Good Shepherd’. He was asserting that he himself was the
true Teacher of Israel! (10:11,14)
It
is not difficult to grasp why the Jews believed Jesus, and everything he
represented, was nothing other than a crown-virus infection from hell.
The
raising of Lazarus from the dead (John 11) was the last straw which forced their
talk into action. He could not be allowed to continue. Jesus had to go. There
is no way he could be allowed to live.
‘Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a
meeting of the Sanhedrin.
“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man
performing many signs. 48 If we let him go
on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and
take away both our temple and our nation.”
49 Then one of
them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You
know nothing at all! 50 You do not realize
that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole
nation perish.”
51 He did not say
this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would
die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not only for
that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together
and make them one. 53 So from that day
on they plotted to take his life.’ (John 11:47-53)
This
crown-virus had now forced a state of emergency. Radical action was required. No
more dithering. The human virus that was the Word, Jesus the Christ, threatened
to overwhelm the world of the religious leaders of Israel. ‘So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this
is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!’ (12:19)
We know the Jews got what they wanted. With the
help of Judas, Jesus was arrested, convicted by the Sanhedrin for claiming to
be the Son of God, (John 19:7) and crucified by order of Pilate on the charge
of being a king in opposition
to Caesar.
“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.
15 But they
shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”
“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.
“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.
16 Finally Pilate
handed him over to them to be crucified. (John 19:14-17)
The Jewish leadership
could now claim victory and celebrate his extinguishment - his death by
crucifixion. But was this truly a victory?
We might
imagine the Scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees returning to their homes on that Friday
afternoon, tired but relieved, to belatedly prepare for the Passover. They may have
been saying to each other, ‘It is finished!’ Possibly, but, given that they were so passionate about the
holiness of their God, and their fervent loyalty to his holy name, it would be
no surprise if many of them returned home with a sickening unease of spirit. This
was not about the notice of the charge which Pilate had nailed above the head
of the crucified man, and which he had refused to change. ‘JESUS OF NAZARETH,
THE KING OF THE JEWS’. It was something more ominous.
What they
had done was blasphemously worse. The Jews had been manipulated to bring down a
curse upon themselves! In their lust for Jesus’ blood they had denied the Kingship
of the Lord God Almighty! ‘We have no
king but Caesar.’ They had denied their God. They had aggressively and
publicly confessed their unbelief. It is doubtful if many of the Jewish leaders
slept peacefully on that Passover night.
The view from faith.
There is, of course, another way to look
at this invasive Word of God in Jesus Christ, and that is from the standpoint
of faith. We look at the Christ story from the point of view of heaven. This
was a genuine crown-virus, a gift of love from the God the Father himself. As
the living and incarnate Word from the Father Jesus’ whole being was royal, as
the confession of Nathanael made clear.
‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel! (John 1:49) Jesus
was a holy infection from heaven, a counter-virus to overcome the works of the
prince of darkness.
‘The reason the Son of God appeared was to
destroy the devil’s work.’ (See 1 John 3:8)
Jesus’ purpose was nothing less than to
restore the Light which is the life of humanity and thereby to overcome the
darkness of sin and death.
Three
times in this Gospel Jesus depicts his mission as a mission against the prince
of this world, the prince of darkness.
·
‘Now is the
time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.’ (John
12:31)
·
‘I will not
say much more to you, for the prince of
this world is coming. He has no hold over me…’ (John
14:30)
·
‘…about judgment,
because the prince of
this world now stands condemned.’ (John 16:11)
How did Jesus conquer this enemy from the spirit
realm? We turn to his last words, uttered moments before his last breath.
‘It is
finished!’
Most Christians apply these words to the atoning price
for the sin of humanity. But in fact, the price for our sin – the wages of sin
– was his death. Thus the phrase ‘It is finished’, applies not to his death,
but to the life he has lived up to the very moment of his death. So what was it
that Jesus had done which allowed him to say, ‘It is finished’? It is clear
that Jesus knew he was on earth to work. Listen to just some of the verses John
records from Jesus’ own lips.
·
“My
food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish
his work.” (4:34)
·
‘In his
defence Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too
am working.”’ (5:17)
·
‘The works that the Father has given me to
finish—the very works that
I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me.’ (5:36)
·
‘As long
as it is day, we must do the works
of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.’ (9:4)
·
‘Jesus
answered, “The works I do
in my Father’s name testify about me…”’ (10:25)
·
‘I have overcome world.’ (16:23)
·
‘I have
brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.’ (17:4)
·
‘Jesus
knew that everything had now
been finished…’ (19:28)
·
‘It is
finished.’ (19:30)
These verses
are just a sample. Time after time John records the fact that Jesus only ever
said what the Father commanded him to say. He only did the things the Father
commanded him to do. In his very being, and in all he said and did, he was the
Word of God in action. His whole life was marked by his absolute and unflagging
obedience, even to death. How can that be described?
One way to
describe ‘the work of Jesus’ is to consider the prayer Jesus taught the
disciples to pray - the prayer we now know as The Lord’s Prayer. It provides an
excellent guide to the works he performed. In every circumstance he glorified
his Father’s name. He lived and proclaimed the Father’s kingdom. Not once did
he deviate from his Father’s will. He trusted for daily bread and everything
else. On that cross he demonstrated the forgiveness he had always taught. The
tempter and his temptations could not break his faithfulness.
Another way
of describing his work is to note that he perfectly fulfilled all the
requirements of the Law of Moses. His whole life was a perfect expression of the
10 commandments as they were meant to be lived. That is what the scriptures
calls righteousness. Because of cross-won forgiveness that righteousness could
be counted. By grace through faith, as our righteousness.
Perhaps the
best way to describe what Jesus did is to acknowledge that he revealed His
Father and his Father’s holy and gracious heart. In him we know a love which
defies knowing, a love which is beyond human understanding. This was, and is,
an embracing, welcoming, inclusive love which can, and does, win over even the
worst of enemies. He revealed a Father who rejoices in being in fellowship with
those he created and who did whatever was required to make that happen.
This was truly
a royal and holy virus which could only come from heaven. Jesus the incarnate
Word was sent to seek and save - to redeem humanity. The only way that could
happen was for Jesus to be implanted in the world, live the life of perfect
righteousness, and then freely offer his life in atonement for sin. This is
precisely what he did. At the very end, his coronation took place on his timber
throne, humbly wearing his crown of thorns, knowing that his work was finished.
The powerful crown-virus of grace and truth was ready to be released into the
world.
More than a good story.
Please
understand that this work of the almighty God is more than a comforting and
holy tale. It is nothing less than a welcome call to the thirsty to repent of
all that is ungodly in our lives, and to receive what has been promised – which
in its most profound sense is to receive him,
the living Word of God, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. As you and I
are drawn to him, we become participants in the life of God himself. Our future
is embraced in the Father’s holy light and love.
‘In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God
in the beginning. 3 Through him all
things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was
life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines
in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
14 The Word became
flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the
glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and
truth…
16 Out of his
fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was
given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.’ (John 1:1-5, 14, 16-17)
