Good Friday 2023

My name is Mark. I'm one of the pastors here and I just want to welcome you again, all of you that are here in this room. Those of you joining us on our live stream, we are so glad that you are with us.

One of the things that strikes me about the crucifixion is this. As soon as they nailed Jesus to the cross, everyone starts telling him He should come down. For example, there are people passing by like rubberneckers at a car crash, but instead of expressing sympathy or even curiosity, it says, "Those who pass by hurled insults at Him, shaking their heads and saying, 'So you who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself.'" And these words, come down from the cross and save yourself, represent one of the most prominent details in the crucifixion story.

I mean, check this out. Just like those folks that were passing by, the chief priests and religious teachers shout, "He saved others, but He can't save Himself. Let Him come down now from the cross that we may see and believe." And then even though they don't really have a dog in the fight, the Roman soldiers chime in. They're like, "Yeah, if you are the king of the Jews, save yourself." And if that wasn't enough, even one of the criminals hanging on a cross next to him says, "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us." This guy's dying on a cross, yet he still has time and energy for sarcasm. It's amazing.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, they all put a spotlight on these words, "Come down, save yourself." Now, of course, this is all happening while Jesus is suffering unimaginable pain. But perhaps out of reverence, the gospels don't dwell on the grisly details. For Mark, it was enough to simply write, "And they crucified Him." Four words. And yet he follows with a whole paragraph describing how Jesus was being taunted to save Himself. So like I said, this is no small detail. And why is that?

Well, could it be that some of the people there thought that maybe Jesus just might have one more miracle up his sleeve? Some of those same folks had seen Jesus save others with their own eyes. And no one questioned that Jesus had healed scores of people with diseases and disabilities. They didn't even question that He could raise the dead. Like when the chief priests hear that Jesus has raised a guy named Lazarus. Did they say, "No way. That's got to be a hoax." They faked it somehow? No, not at all. What they actually said was, "Here is this man performing many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him. And if he comes down from the cross, well, we might just believe in him too."

But on the other hand, they'd seen their fair share of crucifixions and they all end the same. Once they nail you to that cross, you do not come down alive. Period. So, yeah, He saved others. But He can't save Himself. And you know what? They're almost right. They say almost because Jesus did have the power to do anything He wanted. I mean, He could have gone all superhero on them and just blown them all away like the crowds chanting, "Save yourself, save yourself," and He hits the wall. And His eyes flash like lightning and His muscles bulge. He clenches His fists and the nails in His wrists just pop out like ping, ping. He kicks His feet free, lands on the ground in front of Him, and it's like, "Now." Now do you believe?

Jesus could have saved Himself any number of ways. And every time they taunt Him, they unknowingly point to an even greater miracle, the miracle He did not perform by coming down from the cross. In fact, in the early hours of the very same day when Peter's trying to save Jesus from being arrested, Jesus tells him to knock it off. He says to Peter, "Do you think I cannot call on my Father and He will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?" Twelve legions. That's 60,000 angels. And if you know anything about angels, it really would only take one. So it's not a question of power. Jesus can save Himself. But then, where would we be? Where would you be? Me.

As Jesus continues with Peter, He asks, "But then how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?" Scriptures, like Isaiah 53:5 that was written six centuries before Jesus was born, before they had even invented crucifixion, and yet it says, "But He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed."

You see, God had already rescued His people through a show of force. In fact, they had just celebrated this at Passover, which hearkens back to when God rescued and redeemed them from slavery out of Egypt. But the big story of Scripture says that true freedom and renewal doesn't come through sheer power. It comes instead through God's self-giving, unbreakable love. So make no mistake, it wasn't the nails that kept Him on the cross. It wasn't soldiers. It was love, love that He has for you, love so vast, not even the worst, most horrific death that hell and human beings ever devised could deter Jesus.

As John's gospel says, "He had loved His disciples during His ministry on earth, and now He loved them to the very end." Listen, at some point in your life, if not already, you may find yourself wondering, "Have I gone beyond the limits of God's love? Have I blown it so bad that even God has given up on me?" Have you ever been there? And I'm not just talking about, you know, breaking the rules. Sin is so much more than that. It has to do with missing God's purpose for your very existence, who He created you to be.

But what sin has taken from us, Jesus has taken upon Himself. So if you ever doubt God's love, I want you to remember why Jesus stayed on the cross. Because contrary to what that criminal said on the cross next to Him, Jesus could not save Himself and us. If He had, we'd still be under the curse of sin and death with no hope, no way out. But on the cross, while every nerve in His body was screaming for relief, and the very people He was dying for are shouting, "Save yourself! Save yourself! Come down from the cross!" He stays. He suffers. He dies. Which, as it turns out, is the greatest news of all.

Because let's face it, you can't save yourself, but on the cross, Jesus has already done it for you. Wow. Let's pray.

Father, thank You that You so loved this world You gave Your one and only Son, so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. For God, You did not send Your Son to condemn the world, but save it and us through Him. And so we thank and praise You and we do so in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And all God's people said, "Amen."