GOOD FRIDAY SERMON 04-06-12
John18:1-19:42
“Weglory in your cross, O Lord, and praise and glorify your holy resurrection; forby virtue of your cross joy has come to the whole world.” (BCP p. 281) Today is the second hearing of the PassionGospel this week. On Palm Sunday we focusedon the shift from cheers of the crowd and the triumphal entry, to the rejectionand execution of Messiah. Today on GoodFriday, we hear again the dramatic reading of the Passion Gospel and through today’sliturgy and today, we focus on Jesus’ cross.
Thecross of Rome was used by an oppressive,violent empire as an instrument of torture, agony, and death. Its purpose was to keep the population inline, to maintain dominance, to stand as a sign of power wielded over thepeople it ruled. If one stepped out ofline, they were sent to the cross as a public spectacle. In many cases, the person crucified may havebeen a real criminal, but also they may have been an outspoken political figure,an advocate against Roman oppression, or even a victim of injustice.
Jesuswas a victim of injustice. The loving,reconciling, healing, presence of God among us became the target of Roman andthe religious establishment’s oppression. Jesus was a threat to the power systems, with his agenda of self-givinglove and the presence of the Kingdom of Heaven, he posed a great risk to thepower-wielders. What they failed torealize that the humble servant was God present with us.
Godwas with us, God was present in Christ as the willing victim, whose obedienceto forgiveness and non-violence, led him to the cross of Calvary. “We glory in your cross, O Lord, and praiseand glorify your holy resurrection; for by virtue of your cross joy has come tothe whole world.”
Jesus was faithful to love and non-violence until theend. When in the moment he needed thedisciples the most, he thought only of them, “Let them go,” was his cry as thesoldiers wanted to take them too in the Garden. When Peter resorted to violence and drew a sword to cut off the ear ofthe soldier, Jesus reminded Peter that non-violent love was the way ofsalvation. Then, as the terrible torturewas near its end, Jesus cried, “It is finished.” It is complete. The work of Christ was complete and heremained the loving servant, even up to the very last.
Jesusdid not engage in vindication against the atrocities waged against him, nor didhe retaliate against those who crucified him, he remained the loving, obedientservant to the last, and He fulfilled the abundant love of God that has nobounds, even love in the face of rejection and death on the cross.
The cross for us is a symbol of the salvific work ofChrist for all of creation. Over thecenturies there have been multiple theories about the significance of the crossand Christ’s death. The work of Christis for us, our salvation and life lived in a reconciled relationship withGod. God in Christ made possible thereconciliation of humanity unto Godself by making a way for our mutual sharingof the divine life. This greatreconciliation became a reality through God’s full participation in human lifein Christ.
Godin Christ experienced birth, suffering, betrayal and death. Our salvation began on the initiative of Godin Christ, who came to participate fully in humanity’s destiny, which bringslife and does not end with death. Faithful to his mission of love and grace,Christ did not give in to the threat of death, and engage in the often normal humanresponse of vindication or retaliation. Jesus revealed God’s love and forgiveness even in the face of persecution,torture, and death, but his death was not the story’s end.
In those moments, the tide of the world had changed,life would never be the same, because God declared that death’s sting wasdefeated. The cross has now been transformedfrom a sign of torture, death and power, and has become for all of creation, thesign of the new reality of God’s presence with us who with outstretched arms, Goddeclares, “I love you this much.”
By the cross, God in Christ subverted the power of retaliation,violence, and vindication. Through thecross of Christ, God lived out in us a love beyond imagine. The cross declares that in God’s kingdom, allare called to participate in the divine life of God without bounds. We who have received the grace of thatparticipation, stand as witness to the world that God invites us all toparticipate in the divine life of reconciliation, love, grace, forgiveness, andmercy.
Thatdivine life, rejects violence in all its forms and thus, we must love withoutbounds. We must take up the banner of suffering,of reconciliation and restoration, and we must demonstrate Christ’s love in theworld. In a few moments, a cross will bebrought into the church and each of us will be given the opportunity to expressour devotion to the one who bore it for us. “We glory in your cross, O Lord, and praise and glorify your holyresurrection; for by virtue of your cross joy has come to the whole world.”
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