LutheranLectionary.org

1 Year Lectionary – Good Friday – Friday, April 15, 2022 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:28	the passion of our lord Jesus Christ recorded for us in the gospel of john chapter 19.
0:37	then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him and the soldiers twisted together a
0:42	crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe
0:48	they came up to him saying hail king of the jews and then they struck him with their
0:53	hands Pilate went out again and said to them see i am bringing him out to you that
0:59	you may know that i find no guilt in him so Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns
1:05	and the purple robe Pilate said to them behold the man when
1:10	the chief priests and the officers saw him they cried out crucify him crucify
1:15	him pilate said to them take him yourselves and crucify him for i find no guilt in
1:20	him the jews answered him we have a law and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the son
1:28	of god when pilate heard the statement he was even more afraid he entered his
1:33	headquarters again and said to jesus where are you from but jesus gave him no answer so pilate
1:39	said to him you will not speak to me do you not know that i have authority to
1:45	release you and authority to crucify you jesus answered him you would have no
1:52	authority over me at all unless it had been given to you from above therefore he who delivered me over to
1:58	you has the greater sin from then on pilate sold to re sought to release him but the jews cried out if
2:04	you release this man you are not caesar’s friend everyone who makes himself a king opposes caesar so when
2:11	pilate heard these words he brought jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called the stone
2:18	pavement and in aramaic gabatha now it was the day of preparation of the
2:23	passover and he was it was about the sixth hour he said to the jews behold your king they cried out away with him
2:31	away with him crucify him pilate said to them shall i crucify you’re a king
2:38	the chief priest answered we have no king but caesar so we delivered him over
2:43	to them to be crucified oh lord have mercy on us so they took jesus
2:49	and he went out bearing his own cross to the place called the place of a skull which in aramaic is called golgotha
2:57	crucified him and with him two others one on either side and jesus between them pilate also wrote an inscription
3:04	included on the cross it read jesus of nazareth the king of the jews many of
3:09	the jews read this inscription for the place where jesus was crucified was near the city and it was written in aramaic
3:15	in latin and in greek so the chief priest of the jews said to pilate do not write the king of the jews but rather
3:21	that this man said i am the king of the jews pilate answered what i have written i have written
3:28	when the soldiers had crucified jesus they took his garments divided them into four parts one part for each soldier
3:36	also his tunic but the tunic was seamless and woven in one piece from top to bottom so they said to one another
3:43	let us not tear it but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be this was to fulfill
3:50	the scripture which says they divided my garments among them and for my clothing they cast lots so the soldiers did these
3:58	things oh lord have mercy on us standing by the foot
4:03	of jesus cross where his mother and his mother and his mother’s sister mary the
4:08	wife of clopas and mary magdalene when jesus saw his mother and the and
4:14	the disciple whom he loved standing nearby he said to his mother woman behold your son
4:20	and when he had said to the disciple behold your mother and from that hour the disciple took her to his own home
4:27	after this jesus knowing that all was now finished said to fulfill the scripture
4:33	i thirst a jar full of sour wine stood there so they put a sponge full of the
4:38	sour wine on a hyssop branch and held up to his mouth when jesus had received the
4:43	sour wine he said it is finished and he bowed his head and he gave up his spirit
4:50	since it was the day of preparation and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the sabbath for that
4:56	sabbath was a high day the jews asked pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away so the
5:02	soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the others who had been crucified with him but when they came to
5:09	jesus and saw that he was already dead they did not break his legs but one of the soldiers pierced his side with a
5:15	spear and at once there came out blood and water he who saw it has borne
5:21	witness his testimony is true and he knows that he is telling the truth that you also may believe for these things
5:28	took place that the scripture might be fulfilled not one of his bones will be broken and again another scripture says
5:35	they will look on him whom they have pierced and after these things joseph of arimathea who was a disciple of jesus
5:42	but secretly for fear of the jews asked pilate that he might take away the body of jesus and pilate gave him permission
5:49	so he came and took away his body nicodemus also who earlier had come to jesus by night came bringing a mixture
5:56	of myrrh and aloes about 75 pounds in weight so they took
6:01	the body of jesus and bound it in linen claws with the spices as is the burial
6:07	custom of the jews now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden and in the garden a
6:13	new tomb in which no one had yet been laid so because of the jewish day of preparation since the tomb was close at
6:20	hand they laid jesus there oh lord have mercy on us in the name of jesus
6:27	today is the day of atonement ah you know the sacrifices of the old
6:32	testament they never could wash away our sins but the once for all sacrifice of jesus who is the sinless
6:39	spotless lamb of god who takes away the sin of the world he is our passover lamb he is our high priest he is our king he
6:47	is the great prophet prophesied by moses and here we find jesus doing exactly
6:55	what he came to do the scriptures cannot be broken
7:00	christ knows the scriptures and scriptures foretold that god would provide the lamb that he would provide
7:07	the sacrifice necessary for the sins of the world for your sins and mine
7:14	thinking on this idea that all of this was planned ahead let me remind you of one of our christmas hymns we sang this
7:20	just a few months ago and i thought the white was disappearing and gone for good it’s come back it
7:25	feels like christmas today as we get ready for easter but here again the words of this
7:31	very well-known christmas hymn what child is this who laid to rest
7:37	on mary’s lap is sleeping whom angels greet with anthem sweet
7:42	while shepherds watch are keeping this this is christ the king
7:49	whom shepherds guard and angels sing haste haste to bring him lord
7:55	the babe the son of mary but it’s that second stanza that really stands out in
8:01	this christmas hymn and one that is appropriate i think to consider in light of what we are remembering
8:07	today why lies he in such mean a state where ox and ass are feeding
8:14	good christians fear for sinners here the silent word is pleading
8:19	nails spears shall pierce him through the cross be born for me for you
8:26	hail hail the word made flesh the babe the son of mary
8:31	you see christ humbled himself although he was by nature god he humbled himself and took on the form of a servant and
8:38	was obedient to the father obedient even to the point of death death on the cross
8:43	because it was the will of god the father to save us
8:48	through the son jesus christ and it’s in this regard then we consider
8:54	a portion of our gospel text it begins with the words pilate took
8:59	jesus and he flogged him the details of flogging are gruesome
9:06	and the romans were really good at it basically if you take a whip put nine
9:11	leather lashes on it and then just to make sure that it really does the intended job that it was created for you
9:18	take bits of bone and glass kind of work it into the leather
9:24	so that when the soldier takes that whip
9:30	and throws it onto the back of its victim the lashes stick
9:36	and then you just yank that thing off and off comes flesh and there’s blood
9:43	and there’s quibbling quivering muscle christ’s
9:48	passion is truly in gear at this point
9:55	i think about the fact that this lenten season we worked our way through the story of joseph and in the opening scene
10:02	the first scene that first chapter of the story act one
10:08	there you have joseph his the dearly beloved favorite son of
10:14	his father sounds a lot like jesus if you think about it and well being the favorite he
10:19	has this multi-colored coat multi-colored kind of invokes if you would
10:25	the throne of christ read the book of revelation the throne of christ this glassy sea before it but behind him
10:32	there is this multi-colored rainbow of precious stones of onyx and carbuncle
10:37	and other things you know that well that multicolored coat of joseph kind of looks a lot like that
10:45	so joseph being hated despised and his brothers being jealous of him
10:51	they plot to murder him but here’s the difficult thing in the types and shadows how can you have joseph
10:57	be a type and shadow of christ if you kill the fellow you’d have to raise him from the dead and that’s a unique thing to christ so the next best thing rather
11:04	than murder him they sell them off into slavery and then they take that coat of many colors rip it into shreds dip part
11:12	of it into goat’s blood and then take it to their father
11:17	and say to him tell us if this is your son’s coat
11:24	and israel recognizes it and from that moment he begins to mourn
11:30	surely my son has been torn to pieces by wild animals
11:38	but he hadn’t but jesus was literally torn to pieces
11:45	by wild sinful humans you and i so the soldiers then twisted together a
11:51	crown of thorns put it on his head arrayed him in a purple robe
11:57	and they came up to him saying hail king of the jews and then they struck him
12:04	with their hands and i would note christ is in complete control here at no
12:11	point does he wave off or buckle
12:16	buckle with doubts and think that maybe he needs to go a different route at this point no he’s
12:23	dead set on obeying the father if it’s possible let this cup pass from me but not my will but your will be done in the
12:29	will of god it was to crush him so that he can bear our sin and you’ll know being in charge here
12:35	this is the coronation ceremony the christ chose for himself
12:43	even the official roman government recognizes him as king
12:52	pilate went out again said to them see i’m bringing him out to you so that you may know i find no guilt in him and with
13:00	these words pilate condemns himself he condemns himself because his job is
13:07	to execute justice there are courts there are actual procedures there are well roman law the
13:13	pax romano demands certain things be done a particular way none of that’s going on and he’s given his official
13:19	judgment as the governor the man is not guilty
13:25	but is he now it’s true christ was tempted in
13:30	every way that we have been tempted yet is without sin but the word of god cannot be broken
13:37	cannot be broken he was pierced for our transgressions
13:44	he was bruised for our iniquity the punishment that brought us peace was upon him
13:51	god has laid on him the iniquity of us all
13:58	although pilate sees that he’s not guilty what he doesn’t see
14:04	is that christ is carrying the load of the world’s sin christ is as guilty
14:10	at this moment as you and i are of being innocent of any sin
14:17	because of what christ has done for us god laid on him the iniquity of us all
14:22	and by faith god clothes us in the righteousness of christ
14:28	well jesus’s substitutionary work is already in full swing
14:34	so jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe pilate said to them behold the man
14:41	when the chief priests and the officers saw him they cried out crucify him crucify him ah the mob speaks
14:48	and here’s mob justice in full swing if you want to know the mob is alive and
14:55	well today they hold court on twitter and facebook the court of public opinion
15:02	you could say and it’s not a twisting of scripture jesus was legitimately canceled that’s exactly what we’re seeing
15:08	happening here and note everybody who’s canceled in the court of public opinion
15:14	it’s the same injustice today as it was then
15:22	crucify him pilate said to them take him yourselves and crucify
15:27	him i find no guilt in him twice he exonerates christ so the jews
15:32	answered him we have a law according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the son of god ah and
15:39	there’s where you lie christ did not make himself the son of god he truly is that he never lied once
15:46	it is the devil who lies so when pilate heard this this hit this statement that he was the son of god
15:52	he was even more afraid and this is out of character for pilate pilate was not exactly known for being
15:59	timid in fact he was known for being brutal and a little bit bloodthirsty a little bit too much so so much that he
16:06	was recalled by the roman emperor later after this because he was just too
16:11	brutal even for roman standards but here hearing that jesus is the son of god
16:16	he’s kind of doing the math and saying you know what something’s wrong here 2 plus 2 doesn’t equal 22. this guy’s not
16:22	even defending himself something’s off and so he’s afraid at this point and remember we learned from one of the
16:28	other gospel texts from the gospel of matthew his wife has already sent a note saying have nothing to do with that
16:34	fellow that righteous man i’ve had a terrible dream about him let him go let him go
16:41	so now pilate goes in and talks to jesus
16:46	where are you from what a stupid question
16:52	but the reality is that we all ask this question our god stands before us
16:59	and we don’t even know him that’s the blindness of sin
17:05	his god is standing right there the god who created him formed him in the womb of his mother
17:12	called him into being by his word and he doesn’t even know him where are
17:18	you from jesus gave him no answer pilate said to him
17:25	you will not speak to me do you not know i have authority to release you and i
17:30	have authority to crucify you it’s as if he’s saying come on give me something here jesus i want to let you
17:37	go i know you’re innocent jesus answered you’d have no authority over me unless it had been given to you from above
17:42	therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin and note by
17:47	saying that jesus is making it clear to pilate he has sin in this matter
17:53	there is blood on his hands jesus truly is innocent his own words condemn him
17:59	so from that point on silent pilot sought to release him the jews cried out if you release this man you’re not
18:06	caesar’s friend everyone who makes himself a king opposes caesar so when pilate heard these words he
18:11	brought jesus out sat down on the judgment seat at a place called the stone pavement and in aramaic gabatha
18:18	that was the day of preparation of the passover and here’s an interesting note
18:23	put put this together here the day of preparation of the passover didn’t jesus
18:28	just celebrate the passover with his disciples yes he did
18:34	and he celebrated it a day early it’s kind of like well
18:40	celebrating christmas on christmas eve if you’ve ever done that i give you an absolution you’re forgiven but you get
18:46	the idea it’s along those lines christ and in celebrating the passover on the eve of the passover he changes
18:53	everything and that’s where he institutes the new covenant the sign of the new covenant his body and blood
18:58	given in shed for the forgiveness of our sins seen with our eyes then in the
19:03	lord’s supper and here it’s the day of preparation which means something
19:08	important is going to happen at twilight if you remember the monday thursday old
19:14	testament text from the book of exodus was the instituting of the passover they were to take a lamb it could be a lamb
19:20	from either the sheep or the goats and it had to be a certain age it had to be spotless and it was to die at twilight
19:27	and you were to take its blood and put it over the lentils of your house or your door so that when
19:33	the destroyer who is god when he passes through he would pass over your house and you would not perish
19:40	twilight what time is that three in the afternoon
19:46	and you’re going to note when christ says it is finished and he gives up his spirit he gives up
19:53	his spirit after being on the cross for six hours from nine in the morning at noon the sun
19:59	disappears and goes dark and then in the dark at three in the
20:04	afternoon he dies the exact time
20:10	that all those jews were killing their passover lambs
20:15	concurrent same time it’s not an accident christ knows what he’s doing all of this
20:22	was planned this is what it takes to save you and to save me
20:30	it was the day of preparation it was about the sixth hour he said to the jews behold your king they cried out away
20:35	from away with him away with him crucify him pilate said to them shall i crucify your king
20:42	the chief priests answered we have no king but caesar
20:48	so he delivered them over to be crucified we know the details
20:55	nailed to the cross after stumbling on the way to golgotha
21:00	nailed to the cross suspended between heaven and earth between two thieves while people walking by
21:07	mocked him and derided him and well the pain the agony the blood of it is
21:14	just a mess gore is a good word it’s in this regard then
21:21	that i consider the meditations on god’s divine mercy
21:27	written by the great lutheran theologian johann gerhart in this classic treasury
21:34	johann has a chapter specifically dedicated to meditating on the severity
21:40	of divine wrath against sin considered in the passion and death of christ and it’s here then where the
21:48	rubber meets the road for you and for me because as we look at christ hanging on
21:53	the cross what do we see aside from everybody
21:59	just completely failing christ being in complete control and winning the victory by dying there’s something more than
22:06	that here and if you look just a little harder you can see it quite clearly the cross is the collision point
22:13	between the love of god for his fallen creation and the wrath of
22:19	god both of them are fully on display uncut 200 proof
22:27	and it causes us to have to take pause and consider our own culpability
22:34	in the death of christ and also the great love that god has for us
22:40	gerhard writes o holy god and just judge
22:46	i see your son hanging on the cross streams of blood
22:51	flowing freely i look at him and behold
22:57	i become weak with terror those cruel nails are my sins
23:05	with which i have pierced his hands and his feet
23:15	and that’s right so this good friday
23:22	let the mob just get it out of your head don’t talk about them sinners
23:30	it’s time to get real here we even sang about it in our hymn let me
23:36	remind you of the verse a child of woe
23:42	who struck the blow that killed our gracious master
23:49	it was i thy conscience cries i have wrought disaster
23:59	it is my sin that nailed christ to the cross
24:05	it is my sin that has brought about the disaster that
24:10	the author of life the very son of god god of god light of
24:16	light very god a very god begotten not made one substance with the father it is
24:22	my sin that destroyed him
24:30	those cruel nails are my sins with which i have pierced his hands and his feet
24:36	those horrible thorns are my sins with which i have crowned his holy head the
24:42	head worshiped and honored by the whole angelic host in all powers
24:47	those sharply pointed lashes are my sins with which i have scourged his faultless
24:55	body which is the permanent temple of divinity a terrible beast has torn jesus
25:03	to pieces this heavenly joseph and has stained his robe with blood and i
25:10	i a wretched sinner am the terrible beast because it is my sins that have
25:15	rushed in mass against this your beloved son
25:21	if this your obedient son suffers in anguish because of the sins
25:26	of another what will be meted out to disobedient and wayward children because of their
25:33	sins truly the wounds of my soul must be great and they must be deadly if they
25:40	can only be healed because your only begotten son is so wretchedly struck
25:46	down and these are true words the wounds of our soul and our body
25:53	because of makes us children of wrath
25:58	like all the rest of mankind the wounds of my soul are great and so are yours if
26:05	they can only be healed because jesus was struck down and that’s the point they are
26:12	truly the disease of my soul must be great and deadly if it can only be cured
26:18	because the heavenly physician the author of life itself dies
26:24	on a cross i see the torment of my savior i hear his wretched wailings on the cross he is
26:31	tormented because of me he complains loudly that his father has
26:38	forsaken him because of my sins
26:48	now sin doesn’t seem so safe
26:58	christ’s cry of dereliction is one of the frightening most frightening bits of his suffering
27:03	my god my god why have you forsaken me and gearhart rightly points out
27:10	it is my sins that caused jesus to be forsaken
27:18	if the weight of another sins strike down the all-powerful son of god
27:25	how unbearable will the wrath of god and his inestimable fuhrer be against the unprofitable servant o dry and
27:32	unfruitful wood sold to the fires of eternal hell what will be your lot if
27:38	this is what happens to the green wood christ is the green tree of life christ is a
27:45	vigorous tree rooted in divinity part and parcel of humanity famed for his
27:50	virtues possessing leaves of holy words and yielding the fruit of good works
27:56	he is the cedar of modesty in the vine of peace the palm of patience
28:02	and the olive of mercy but if the fire of god’s divine wrath burned against this green wood the tree
28:10	of life because of the sins of others how much more will it completely consume
28:16	the sinner as a dry tree because of unfruitful works how great
28:22	and bloody the letters of my sin appear when written on the body of christ
28:28	i’m going to read that sentence again how great and bloody the letters of my
28:34	sin appear when written on the body of christ
28:40	paul writes in colossians 2 that the record of debt that stood against us the record of dead is a
28:47	portion of that book all of our sins are recorded in the books but the record of debt the record where
28:53	all of our sins are recorded it says it was cancelled the whole thing ripped out
28:58	nailed to the cross but here’s the thing those sins have names
29:04	your sins and mine they have names names like idolatry
29:10	and blasphemy sins of well being tepid towards the
29:15	word of god or dishonoring our parents or the sin of murder and adultery and
29:21	stealing and lying and bearing false witness and coveting they all have
29:26	names there are words that describe them
29:33	and when they are recorded their names and their details were recorded
29:39	in that portion of the book and johan just picks this up with this
29:45	idea that there’s christ being whipped and the lash that it leaves on his back
29:52	is not a lash just of a straight line but of words
29:58	idolatry murder theft
30:04	coveting not in the abstract
30:12	your idolatry your murder
30:18	your lying your theft your dishonor your adultery
30:24	the lot
30:30	how great and bloody the letters of my sin appear when written on the body of christ
30:37	how striking almost righteous god is your wrath against my iniquity and here’s where we see it what jesus is
30:44	suffering is what you deserved you want to see how serious it is
30:49	there’s the son of god bleeding and dying in your place that should have been you
31:02	how tightly i must have been held in captivity because so precious a ransom was given to release me
31:09	how great the stains of my sin must have been because streams of blood from the
31:15	body of christ flowed to wash them all away
31:21	almost righteous god yet most kind father
31:27	behold how unjustly your son suffered for me forget how unworthily i your wretched
31:33	servant have acted look then to christ’s deep wounds
31:38	and plunge my sins into the deepest depths of the sea of your mercy
31:44	and as that is exactly what is going on here because christ has died for you and this
31:50	was his plan this is the victory this is what was promised all the way back in the garden
31:56	the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent and he does so because he labors for six hours on
32:03	friday afternoon three of them in the dark suffering bleeding dying so that you can be forgiven and
32:10	reconciled to god and that’s what he did it was not a defeat it was a victory
32:16	and so we hear then the words of our responsory because of what christ has
32:21	done we have an advocate with the father and jesus now is the propitiation for
32:26	our sins he was delivered up to death he was delivered for the sins of the people
32:33	and we who meditate on this and trust in him having had our sins washed away we
32:39	are those who are numbered with the blessed blessed is he
32:45	whose transgression is forgiven and whose sin is put away
32:51	it was your sin that put you on the cro but christ on the cross but his death that makes you blessed
32:58	because by his death he has killed death forever he’s atoned for your sins
33:03	canceled the record of debt that stood against you and you are blessed because you are forgiven
33:09	and your sins have been put away forever into the sea of god’s mercy and
33:14	his forgetfulness cast as far as the east is from the west this is not a day
33:21	to consider defeat this is a day
33:26	to humbly thank God for his victory
33:32	so that we can be saved in the name of Jesus amen

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