Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Epistle Lesson just read, from Hebrews 4 and 5. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- We focus today on the suffering and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, remembering that it was for our sins that He died, and that we therefore have “redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” This is why we call today “Good Friday” – it was certainly good for us. And though it involved great suffering for Jesus, it was also a very good day for God – He had accomplished His plan of salvation for mankind, reconciling Himself to us in spite of our sin. This is the good and gracious will of God – Who is love.
- As we contemplate the death of Jesus for our salvation, we do not forget that He rose again, and as our text puts it “He has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God.” So we consider that He has entered into the darkness of our sin, guilt, condemnation, and death; and we also consider that He has overcome and passed over the darkness. After all, He did cry out “It is finished,” and He has risen again from death.
- It is in some respects a great mystery, but as we can read in our text “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” This means that there is nothing that we will face in this life that Christ hasn’t already suffered. There is nothing that we will struggle with that Christ is unable to sympathize with. We know this is so because:
I. Christ Entered The Darkness Of Death And Damnation For Our Redemption And Salvation
OT Lesson: “His appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and His form beyond that of the children of mankind – He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed. Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of My people? And they made His grave with the wicked and with a rich man in His death, although He had done no violence, and there was no deceit in His mouth. Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush Him; He has put Him to grief.”
Statement: As I said, this is a great mystery – yet it is incontrovertible, what Jesus suffered for us, that He did enter into the deepest darkness of condemnation and death. And there is no question why He did it – He loves us and desires our salvation; and there is no question as to what He accomplished for us – full forgiveness, pardon, cleansing for us from all of our great sin and guilt. This is important for us to know and to contemplate, so that we might always with full confidence “draw near the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” It is this contemplation that strengthens our faith in God’s love and enables us to know Him more clearly. It is this contemplation that comforts us in all of our weaknesses, sorrows, and suffering – He is able to sympathize with us.
Application: So let us keep our focus upon Him – and not discount His great self-sacrifice, or let it slip away from us in unbelief. This would be a most dastardly and wicked ingratitude, considering His gift of love to us. For this great gift is truly our balm of healing and our rebirth to faith and love – and it gives us great strength for life in this world.
Transition: And we will need this strength and comfort until we follow Christ in physical death and ultimately our own resurrection on the Last Day. And this is His will, that we also see that:
II. Christ Passed Over The Darkness And Overcame It In His Resurrection And His Passing Through The Heavens – And We Shall Also Overcome
A. But First We Note That He Also Prayed, Obeyed, And Learned Through Suffering
Text: “In the days of His flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to Him Who was able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered.”
Statement: As we follow Christ we should expect the same and do the same. We also suffer, and we face death. But Christ is with us and He sympathizes with our weaknesses. His forgiveness and mercy invites us to the throne of grace. And just as God heard Christ, so He will also hear us. And just as God saved Christ from death, so also He will raise us up again. So we pray sincerely, even with loud cries and tears, and we too learn obedience through what we suffer – as God works all things together for good for us personally.
Application: So Christ’s suffering and death bring comfort to every day of our lives, to everything we must suffer and endure in this life, as we too are passing through the darkness and ultimately over the darkness. And we can do this with His help and His strength, for:
B. He Is Now Our Salvation – If We Obey Him By Faith
Text: “And being made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.”
John 6:29 “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him Whom He has sent.”
Mark 1:15 “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
Eph. 2:8 “By grace you are saved through faith.”
C. And So He Is Our Constant Mercy, Grace, And Help As We Pray, Obey By Believing, And As We Learn Obedience Through Our Own Suffering
Rom. 5:1-5 “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
Statement: It is not that we enjoy our sufferings – if this were the case they would not even be sufferings. But neither do we wilt and falter in our sufferings – but rather we are blessed through them. And when our own strength fails He promises that His strength is made perfect in our weakness, that He will never let us fall completely. We pray and we confidently approach the throne of grace – even when we have sinned grievously – to receive mercy and grace to help us in our time of need. It is in this way that we not only pass through the darkness of this world, but pass over the darkness – on our way to our heavenly home. And with Jesus accompanying us, sympathizing with us, and strengthening us, there is no question that we will arrive where He wills for us to be – with Him in glory!
Application: So let us continue to put full faith, trust, and confidence in Jesus – for He is our life and salvation! As we do so, like Him we will receive the grace and mercy of God, His support and strength, and though we may have loud cries and tears, we will also have the joy of His salvation!
Conclusion: So as we meditate upon the events of Good Friday, we see that God provides us with a myriad of blessings. We receive most importantly forgiveness, life, and salvation. But we also receive the pattern for our own lives – passing through darkness to be sure, but also passing over the darkness with God’s help and strength.
May He continue to compel us to draw near to Him – that we always live in the confidence and joy of His salvation and His steadfast and eternal love. Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.