March 29, 2024 – Good Friday Text: Matthew 27:38-54
Dear Friends in Christ,
Imagine standing at Calvary as Jesus is crucified. There is a lot take in – different sights and smells. For now, focus on the sounds. What do you hear?
You first hear this, “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” Then the Jewish leaders, “He saved others; he cannot save himself….let him down from the cross and we will believe in him.” The Gospel of Luke tells us that the soldiers and those crucified with him also said similar things. Different voices. Different tones. But one diabolical chorus with a clear theme: “Prove it. If you are really God, show us.”
“EVIDENCE”
Today we still hear the echoes of voices directed at God or his people. “If there is a God, show me the proof. Why does it seem the devil has free reign in the world? Why do prayers go unanswered? I want a sign so I can believe.”
Like at Calvary, the voices come from different places. People who hate the Christian Church and a God they can’t stand. Some are natural skeptics who don’t believe in much of anything. Some are desperate in their words and want to be proven wrong. People still put God on Trial. They want to see the evidence. Does any of this affect you?
Do you get angry at the voices? Are you frustrated about what they say about your faith? Does Satan ever push a doubt into your cranium? Could they be right?
Don’t ignore the voices. In fact, in these voices, part of what they say is correct. “He saved others.” If they could have seen past their spiritual blindness, they might have noticed why he didn’t save himself. He was refraining from using his power for a reason. Why didn’t the man who could raise the dead save his own life?
Jesus had his own why question, but his question is meant to be an answer: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He cries to God not in unbelief but in agony. It reveals what no one standing there could see. The man in the middle cross wasn’t just suffering from lacerations, nails, thirst, and suffocation – on top of the ridicule. This man, who had done nothing wrong in the court of humankind or the court of God, was suffering God’s wrath for the sins of others. His question came from the depths of torment we deserved. The one who saved others didn’t save himself. Why? Because he loves us.
That’s the answer to all the why questions that plague us. “Why doesn’t Jesus do ____? Why would he allow ___?” Would he be abandoned by God for us only to later abandon us? Would he follow every commandment, fulfill every prophecy, and forgive every sin only later to make a mistake in our lives? He must love us. He does love us.
Some voices were changed that day on the hill. Luke speaks of a thief who went from mocking him to defending him. A voice who wanted to be with Jesus in paradise. The Holy Spirit working through a Suffering Servant.
Jesus works in us the same way. A simple washing at a font and his Spirit is put in us to convince us he is our Savior. Through eternal words, he speaks to us of the same forgiveness, the same promise of paradise. In an unassuming meal, he lets us touch and taste Exhibit A: the very body and blood he gave for us. These means bring Jesus’ death to us to forgive our doubts – and put them to rest.
There is one more voice that should give you hope, especially if you have family or friends who look to the cross and their soul is blank. They see and hear no Savior. They are so deep in their sin that they are just a skeleton of bones with no purpose. Remember how earlier we said that the enemies of Jesus spoke the truth – “He saved others.” Nothing has changed. If these dry bones didn’t think there was a God, then they would have no reason to get rid of him. Do you ever try to destroy something that you don’t believe in or is not there?
At the bottom of the cross was this type of man – a doubter, a skeptic, someone joining the mob mentality of why he won’t save himself. He represents your child, your loved one, the one you pray for all the time. He utters one of the greatest hopeful lines recorded in all of Scripture: “Truly this was the Son of God!” Whoop, there it is! Walk past the cross tonight knowing that dry bones can be made alive again.
On Golgotha, Jesus gives us all the evidence we need.
Amen.