Good Friday (John 18-19)
St. Anne’s Episcopal, Conway
April 18, 2025
Video starts at 26:00
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts, be always acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer.
At the beginning of John’s gospel, we have Jesus walking towards John the Baptist, and the Baptist proclaiming, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!” But, the Baptist’s statement is very general and universal such that it often loses its power in our lives. The problem of sin is not simply a problem on the cosmic level, but is a problem on the very personal level. In John’s Passion narrative, we see the very real personal sins and rebellion that Jesus takes upon himself to the Cross. A rebellion that is not unique to the characters in the story, but a rebellion that is very real in each of our lives.
Think about the part that your sins play in the Passion narrative and that take Jesus to the Cross.
Look at Judas. He betrays Jesus, and he betrays his friends. He does it for thirty pieces of silver, and he does it for power. He wants to force Jesus’s hand to inaugurate a political rebellion. Jesus takes Judas’s sin of betrayal and lust for power to the Cross.
Look at Peter. Peter denies Jesus out of fear. Love drives out fear, but Peter doesn’t love enough. His love of himself and his own preservation prevents him from standing beside Jesus during his trials. Jesus takes Peter’s sin of denial and sin of fear to the Cross.
Look at the Caiaphas. The high priest knows that Jesus is a good man, but he also knows that Jesus is a threat to his power and believes him to be a spark for revolution. For the sake of peace and expediency, Caiaphas hands Jesus up to the Romans as a scapegoat. Caiaphas believes an innocent man should suffer and die than for an artificial peace to be broken. Jesus takes Caiaphas’s sins of expediencey and victimization to the Cross.
Look at the Roman Soldiers. They take a man who is weak and vulnerable; someone different than they are; someone who cannot protect himself – and they bully him him, they beat him, and they mock him so that they feel stronger. Jesus takes the soldier’s sins of violence to the Cross.
Look at the Crowd. They have been wilfully mislead and whipped up into a frenzy by their leaders. They want a show. They want a crucifixion. Jesus takes their sins of blood-lust to the Cross.
Look at Pilate. Pilate knows that Jesus is innocent. Pilate knows that Jesus is not a threat to his power or to Ceasar. Pilate has the power to stop the lynching. But Pilate acquiesces and agrees to the calls for Jesus’ crucifixion. Jesus takes Pilate’s perversion of justice to the Cross.
Finally, look at those at the Cross. There are only four women and the young John. All those who welcomed Jesus on Palm Sunday have scattered. All the other disciples and followers of Jesus have run away in fear. Jesus takes this abandonment to the Cross.
It was not abstract sins in some broad theological sense that placed Jesus on the Cross but very real sins of very real people. Sins of betrayal, sins of weakness, sins of violence and expediency, and the sins of depraved injustice.
In taking these men’s sins to the Cross, Jesus experiences the dehumanization that arises from sin. He experiences the absence of life, light, and love that sin produces. He experiences the shame and despondency that results from sin. He experiences that separation from and the forsakenness of God that sin causes. <pause>
Behold the Lamb of God who Takes Upon Himself the Sins of these Men.
If we look long in the mirror, we should see these same sins within ourselves. We, too, sin in very specific ways that cause harm and sorrow to others – in our own willingness to sacrifice others for our personal gain, in allowing our fear of others to overcome our love of neighbor, in our participation in bullying others, in our failure to speak out when injustice occurs right in front of us, and in our simply wanting to get along with the crowd and taking the easy way out. Think of those areas of your life that are dark and cause shame. Think of the Passion narrative, and think of your sins that placed Jesus on the Cross. These are the sins that fill us with anxiety and cause a separation from others. These are the specific sins that fill us with shame and cause us to experience a separation from God. <pause>
Behold the Lamb of God who Takes Upon Himself My Sins and Your Sins.
And on that Cross, Jesus takes upon himself, each of our specific sins and transgressions. He takes them upon himself, and he cleanses them in his blood. He takes them upon himself, and he buries them in the tomb. He takes them away, so that they are no more.
In taking our specific sins upon himself, Jesus also takes upon himself our anxiety, and our shame, and our separation from one another and our separation from God. He takes away our darkness, our death, and our sorrow. My sins, your sins, and the sins of the world are crucified today. <pause>
Behold the Lamb of God who Takes Away the Sins of the World. Amen.