Holy Week

Good Friday

Welcome to Grace for All, a daily devotional podcast written and produced by the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. Thank you for joining us today. This is Holy Week, a time when Christians everywhere observe the days leading up to the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Christ. This week, we present a special set of podcasts that day by day, trace the activities and words of Jesus during this time. Again, thank you for joining us on this journey.

Luke 23:44-49 (NLT)

By this time it was noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle. Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words, he breathed his last.”

When the Roman officer overseeing the execution saw what had happened, he worshipped God and said, Surely this man was innocent.’ And when all the crowd that came to see the crucifixion saw what had happened, they went home in deep sorrow. But Jesus’ friends, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching.

Luke gives us a description of what happens as Jesus dies. The darkness. The Temple curtain. And what the people present do, or don’t do. I’m drawn to an often overlooked phrase in verse 49: But Jesus’ friends stood at a distance, watching.

When I first became aware of that sentence, I was offended. Even angry. Really, his friends?? The crowd was up close, the soldier professed his faith. But his friends hung back. Stayed at a distance. At the time, Jesus needed them the most. So disappointing.

But I stayed with this passage. Continued to ponder it. And I came to realize that this is what I do. And I’ll bet you do. And it’s the reason we have what we call Good Friday. We are to spend Good Friday looking at Jesus die on a cross. And reflecting on it. And asking ourselves, what are we seeing, and what does it mean?

So today—Good Friday—I want to tell you what I see as I watch the Son of God die on a cross. Three things.

First, when I stand at a distance and see Jesus die, I see a God who understands my suffering. The oldest, hardest question for a believer is: if God is good, why does he allow the innocent to suffer? The most ancient book in the Bible, the book of Job, wrestles with this question. And doesn’t satisfactorily answer it. Truthfully, there is no completely adequate answer to the question. But when Jesus chooses the cross in obedience to God, he chooses suffering. Here we see a God who has decided to identify with the hardest things we have to face. Think of it: an all powerful God, a holy, righteous God, not only has come to be with us, but has chosen vulnerability, weakness, suffering. I read of a bitter, grieving father whose son had died in a terrible car accident and asked his minister, “Where was God when my son died?” With great compassion the minister said, “The same place he was when his own son died—on the cross.”

Life is not easy, and sooner or later we all are hit with suffering we don’t deserve. I don’t have an answer to why, but when I stand at a distance and watch the Son of God die on a cross, I see a God who chose to identify with me, who chose to understand my suffering.

There is a second thing I see when I stand at a distance. I see a God who understands my failures. By every human standard, Jesus’ earthly life ended in failure. He had early success and popularity, but over time opposition to him mounted. And finally, he was executed as a criminal, between criminals. Executed by a cruel method reserved for the worst of people. Isaiah 53 says, “He was despised and rejected.” So he was.

Have you ever failed at something big? A job? A marriage? Parenting? Something that truly matters? It is consoling to know our Lord experienced rejection in the worst way possible, the heart of his message ignored. He dies with only a handful of folks standing by him.

When my grandson, Jacob, was about 10 years old, I took him to the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola. It’s a fascinating place and we were having a great time. They have a Top Gun Simulator where a person can climb into the cockpit and experience what it’s like to fly a F-14 fighter jet. Jake, of course, wanted to try it. So he took the pilot’s seat and I sat behind in the copilot’s seat. He guided the controls as we took off, then zoomed over beaches and the Gulf of Mexico toward our destination, an aircraft carrier in the Gulf. The simulation was to end with a landing on the carrier. As we approached that narrow strip of ship bobbing in the water, I could see Jake tense up. When we began to get close I realized one wing was down and we weren’t lined up properly so I said, “Pull up Jake!” I didn’t have the controls, I could only speak into his ear. He managed to gain altitude and we circled back around. This time he was balanced and lined up correctly. But just as he was attempting to set down he got too low. Crash!! A huge X appeared on the screen. We had crashed and burned. Jake looked back at me with tears in his eyes. We climbed out of the simulator, I put my arms around his shoulders, and said, “Good try for the first time. Let’s get some ice cream, and I will be with you for the next time around. “

Sometimes we crash. It means the world to realize that we are not alone when it happens, but the one who loves us eternally pulls us in close and gives us another chance.

One more thing. When I watch Jesus die on a cross I see a God who does for me what I cannot do for myself. There are many things we can do for ourselves, and I believe God expects us to. Then, there are some things we do in partnership with God. Like farming or gardening. God supplies the soil and sun and rain, and we do the planting and tending and harvesting. Church is another example. God provides the grace and the Word, we are to do the hands on stuff. We work with God.

But there are two problems I can never solve: the sin problem and the death problem. The death problem is for later, for Easter. But my sin problem is solved by Good Friday.

When I see Jesus die despite his innocence and sinlessness, I realize that it is for me. There is no way that I, so flawed, so imperfect, could ever stand before a pure, holy, righteous God. Somehow, if I am to be connected with God, it must be by God’s initiative. Even if I could live an exemplary life from now on, there are the sins of my past that make me ineligible for fellowship with him. When Jesus dies on a cross he lays himself down over the chasm between my sinfulness and God’s holiness. When he dies he solves my sin problem. And yours.

So, on this Good Friday I join Jesus’ other friends to stand at a distance and watch. And as I do, I softly begin to sing,

What can wash away my sins, nothing but the blood of Jesus.

What can make me whole again, nothing…but the blood of Jesus.

Prayer:

Dear God, We are not our own, we are yours. On this day set aside for remembering the death of Jesus, we give you our sufferings, we give you our failures, and we give you our sins. In the name of our Savior. Amen.

This devotion was written and read by Herb Sadler.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.