April 18, 2025 – Good Friday
Kenny Faught
In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
who in the person of his Son loved us and gave himself for us. Amen.
“IT’S FRIDAY, BUT SUNDAY’S COMING!” That is – There’s bad news, but good news is on the way! But, today, it’s still Friday. Those first disciples did not know about Easter. They did not know it was “Good Friday.”
GOOD FRIDAY, when bad things happened. Good Friday, when an innocent man died. Good Friday, when the sky turned dark and the earth quaked. Good Friday, when rulers failed and disciples fled – when soldiers mocked and crowds jeered. When three years of ministry ended in three hours of suffering. When empathy was abandoned. What’s so good about Good Friday? There must be something – or we would not be gathered in this place, at this hour, at the beginning of a beautiful spring week-end.
TODAY THE SAD DRAMA OF GOOD FRIDAY UNFOLDS BEFORE US. The full cast of characters is there: Imagine you are in a theater. The credits are rolling: GOOD FRIDAY – Starring Jesus as the Savior. Judas as The Betrayer; The Temple Police as The Thin Blue Line; Simon Peter as The Wild Card; Malchus as The Man Who Lost His Ear; Annas & Caiaphas as Priestly Pawns; A brief cameo by a Slave who outs Simon Peter. Featuring: Pilate as The Weasel; Barabbas as The Bandit; The Three Marys as True Amigos; John as The Beloved Disciple; Two Thieves as Minor Characters; Joseph of Arimathea as 007, The Secret Disciple; and Nicodemus as the Surprise Guest Convert. We have a drama (and a cast) beyond Shakespearean proportions!
AND HERE IS A MOST INTERESTING SNIPPET FROM OUR GOSPEL: “Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate’s headquarters. It was early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters, so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover. [They are in the process of lynching an innocent man – but they don’t want to get their hands dirty!] So, Pilate went out to them and said, ‘What accusation do you bring against this man?” They answered, “If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.” [In other words, “We can’t really think of anything specific!”] Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.” The Jews replied, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death” (19:28-31). [That is, “We have already decided on his sentence!”] Charged – railroaded – convicted – BEFORE the trial! ANY lawyer worth half-his-salt, or worth no salt at all, could get a mistrial! Good Friday is a day for questions – and beyond all these characters in the drama, there are at least three pressing questions:
THE MOST BASIC QUESTION IS SIMPLY, “WHAT HAPPENED ON GOOD FRIDAY?”
WE KNOW, RIGHT? AFTER ALL, IT’S “THE OLD, OLD STORY.” Jesus is crucified. Dead. And buried. That’s Paul’s summary for the Corinthians (1 COR 15). And Psalm 22 gives us better details of what crucifixion was like than anything a scholar of capital punishment could deliver. The Creeds succinctly say Jesus, “Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried.”
SO, WHAT HAPPENED ON GOOD FRIDAY? Allow me to put it in words which are not mine but are what I believe: 2 COR 5:19, “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.” But—
A DEEPER QUESTION: “WHAT IS THE MEANING OF WHAT HAPPENED ON GOOD FRIDAY?”
FOR POLITICIANS IT MEANT DEALING WITH A RABBLE-ROUSER and restoring peace to the city. Palm Sunday now had been dealt with. They had prevented an insurrection, and the wrath of both Herod and Caesar had been avoided. All in a day’s work. That’s all it meant to the politicians.
FOR RELIGIOUS LEADERS IT MEANT ELIMINATING A THREAT to their security, orthodoxy, authority, and institutional privilege. They could go back to their prayers, offerings, and deal making. The incense could keep burning. The coffers would continue to be filled. Rome could tend to other matters. That’s all it meant to the religious establishment (the guardians of the Temple).
THE SCRIPTURES, OF COURSE, INFORM US OF THE REAL MEANING: The Prophetic lens of Isaiah told us: “. . . he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (53:5-6). It is the great mystery of salvation.
THE REALLY BIG QUESTION FOR US: “DO WE CARE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED ON GOOD FRIDAY?”
WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES ALL THIS REALLY MAKE? The author of Hebrews told us: “. . . we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (4:15-16).
FRIENDS, WE SHOULD CARE ABOUT THAT! We should care a great deal. That’s a very personal message. That’s a gift (“A High Priest”) and an invitation (to “approach the throne of grace with boldness”). If we care to accept them. We know what happened. We know what it means.
BUT, STILL. WHO CARES!? When I preach and go sit down, during the brief silence I pray that, having preached, I will not be a hypocrite – that is, someone who knows and understands, but doesn’t care.
G.A. STUDDERT KENNEDY was an Anglican Priest and poet who served as a Chaplain in WWI. Studdert Kennedy was nicknamed “Woodbine Willie” for handing out Woodbine© Cigarettes to the soldiers he encountered. He was awarded the Military Cross for bravery for caring for his men (and for the enemy wounded) in battle. After the war he was a pastor, a poet, and a pacifist. He was someone who cared. And he wrote these words:
INDIFFERENCE
-Geoffrey Studdert-Kennedy (1883-1929)
When Jesus came to Golgotha, they hanged Him on a tree,
They drove great nails through hands and feet, and made a Calvary;
They crowned Him with a crown of thorns, red were His wounds and deep,
For those were crude and cruel days, and human flesh was cheap.
When Jesus came to Birmingham, they simply passed Him by.
They would not hurt a hair of Him, they only let Him die;
For men had grown more tender, and they would not give Him pain,
They only just passed down the street, and left Him in the rain.
Still Jesus cried, “Forgive them, for they know not what they do,”
And still it rained the winter rain that drenched Him through and through;
The crowds went home and left the streets without a soul to see,
And Jesus crouched against a wall, and cried for Calvary.
“IT’S FRIDAY, BUT SUNDAY’S COMING.” But today . . . it’s still Friday. We need to linger for a while . . . with Friday. Amen.