Sermon -- Good Friday (April 7, 2023)

JOHN 19:17-30

REPENT: TURN TO JESUS.

He Bore Our Shame To Clothe Us In Glory.

In the name + of Jesus.

      Back in the Garden of Eden, when God was still able to declare that everything was exceedingly good, we hear this statement: “The man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed” (Genesis 2:25).  Adam and Eve lived in a state of innocence and righteousness.  They had perfect self-control over their emotions and their impulses.  Neither would leer at the other, plotting how to use the other for their own gratification.  God created them in his own image, that is, they knew God’s will, they were eager to do God’s will, and they could do God’s will perfectly.  “The man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed” (Genesis 2:25), for they were clothed in righteousness.

     But when Satan convinced them to exalt themselves as God, they were stripped of the image of God.  They were undressed of their righteousness.  Then they were filled with shame, and then they sought to cover themselves.  To this day, we cover ourselves.  We are right to dress modestly.  But even with modest dress, we fail to control our impulses or our hormones. 

     We are all involved in cover ups.  We try to hide our sins.  We put up a good façade to make ourselves appear better than we are.  We cover up our pains and our problems by pasting on a happy face.  I think it is strange how we typically greet each other now.  A man walks past and says, “How’s it going?”, but doesn’t break stride to listen to your answer.  “How’s it going?”  “Good,” you reply, but your answer is seldom honest.  You won’t show your shame, your sorrows, your pain, and your fears.  You want everyone to believe that you have your life together.  Others might be envious because they think you’ve got it all figured out while their lives are a mess.  If they only knew the truth.

     The devil has overtaken us and stripped us of our humanity.  We are not what God created us to be.  God did not create us for envy, bitterness, and discontentment.  God did not design us to find our hope in narcissism, alcohol, or sex.  We have even gotten to the point where men think that they will find happiness in becoming women and vice versa, as if God’s created order is wicked.  God’s design might get distorted by sin.  We might fail to find contentment in it because of our sin.  But God’s order is not wicked, and it is certainly not improved by disorder and confusion.  We have been divested of righteousness; we are covered in shame.  We have lost the joy of life and are marked for death.  Every man-made effort of covering up our fallen humanity rots as quickly as fig leaves.

     Therefore, God provides the solution.  God has acted to restore our humanity to what God has intended it to be.  To do that, the Lord divested himself of his radiant glory.  He entered our world as a man.  The almighty God came in weakness.  The glorious God came in humility.  The omnipresent God confined himself to the body of a Jewish man conceived and reared in Nazareth.  And most stunning of all: the immortal God came to die.  Although Jesus never stopped being God, he became a man so that he would become one of us.  He humbled himself in order to bear the shame of humanity.  He bore our shame so that we could once again be clothed in glory.

     Jesus’ mission was to restore humanity to what God designed us to be.  From the moment Jesus was conceived, he experienced what is common to all mankind.  He born of a woman and nursed by her.  He grew in wisdom and stature.  In working with his earthly father, Joseph, he experienced a world of calloused hands.  In preaching about the kingdom of God, he experienced a world of callous hearts.  He responded to cries of mercy from the weak and suffered the lies of the powerful.  He was patient with people who thronged to him to demand attention and healing.  He was patient with his enemies who slandered him and demanded his death.  In all of this, Jesus remained a righteous and innocent man.  Jesus was never ruled by bitterness, pride, or narcissism.  Jesus is the image of God: He knew his Father’s will, he delighted in doing his Father’s will, and he perfectly did his Father’s will.

     While this perfect life was necessary, it was not enough.  Jesus is the image of God. He is what God designed people to be.  Jesus’ example of love and compassion may stir you to more love and compassion for others.  But it will not make you righteous or innocent.  Therefore, Jesus lowered himself all the more.  It is not merely that God became a man—as if we can say “merely” about that!  It is that the holy, righteous, innocent Lord became sin, assumed our curse, and bore our shame.  St. Paul wrote, “Being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8).  Jesus bore our shame to clothe us in glory.

     For us, the cross and the crucifix has become a piece of jewelry or a wall decoration.  It has lost its terror and shame for us.  But when they saw a cross, the residents of Judea and the Passover pilgrims would have turned their eyes in horror.  Their stomachs would have turned in sickness to see a crucifixion.  Jesus’ cross and its shame were on public display for all people to see.  Jesus was put to death just outside the city walls on a popular road.  This was on purpose.  Crucifixions were done in public to deter would-be criminals from wickedness.  Jesus bore the shame of being a rebel.  Even though the charge against Jesus was false, it was written so that it could be understood by everyone—in Aramaic, the common dialect of the Jews, in Greek, the international language of commerce, and in Latin, the official language of the Roman Empire. 

     Jesus bore more than the trumped up charge of treachery.  He was also subjected to shame by the soldiers carrying out the crucifixion.  “When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic.  But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, so they said to one another, ‘Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.’  This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, ‘They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots’” (John 19:23-24).  Artists usually depict Jesus modestly with a loin cloth covering him, for which we are grateful.  But the truth is that Jesus was stripped naked at the cross. 

     Crucifixion was not only torturous, it heaped shame upon the crucified.  You and I cover up in modesty.  We would rather be punched in the face than be exposed.  I suspect that if we ever had to use our defibrillator on a woman, she might rather die than have her blouse ripped open.  Of course, all the men would avert their eyes out of respect.  The fact that we are uncomfortable even thinking about this shows an appropriate recognition for the need of decency and modesty.  But just as Adam and Eve were divested of their righteousness and became ashamed in their nakedness, so Jesus Christ was hanged on a cross in his nakedness to bear our shame.

     It was even worse than that.  “(Jesus) went out … to the place called The Place of a Skull…  There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them” (John 19:17-18).  Those criminals suffered just as much physical pain and shame as Jesus did.  However, Jesus’ agony was increased by the guilt he was bearing.  Jesus lived in innocence, but he died covered in guilt.  Jesus possesses all glory, but he died covered in shame.  Jesus bore our shame so that he could remove it from us.  Jesus was forsaken by his Father so that he could reconcile us to the Father.  Jesus willingly gave himself into a shameful, cursed death so that he could restore to us the blessed life God had created us for.  Jesus bore our shame to clothe us in glory.

     Of course, you also know how the story ends.  Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead.  This man rose with a human body which is exalted and glorified.  In doing so, Jesus has redeemed and exalted all humanity.  He will renew you to what God had designed you to be.  He will restore the image of God and clothe you in glory.  Just as Jesus was raised from the dead without becoming a totally different person, so you will be you when you are raised.  You are a unique creation of God now, and you will be when you are clothed in glory.  Are you male?  God will raise you up an exalted male.  You are female?  God will raise you up an exalted female.  Whatever shade your skin, whatever language you speak, it will be you to perfection, free of every flaw, frailty, and fault.

     Jesus bore our shame to clothe us in glory.  He has already bestowed glory upon you in part.  “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27).  When God the Father sees you, he does not see you exposed in your sin and naked in your shame.  He sees the innocence of Jesus Christ covering you.  He sees you holy and blameless.  And Jesus has changed more than your status.  He has even sent his Holy Spirit to change your heart.  The image of God is being restored in you.  You know God’s will, for he has revealed in the Bible the good you are to do and the evil you are to avoid.  You desire to do God’s will.  For, the Holy Spirit has worked in you a love for God’s word where God both comforts and directs your life.  And you do God’s will to some extent.  You do honor God and serve your neighbor with your good works.  You do seek the good of others without angling for reward from God or praise from others.  You can appreciate how God blesses others and give thanks for their talents, their success, and their recognition.  But we still live in this sinful flesh.  We are not yet entirely what God designed us to be.  We still get discontent, confused, jealous, and weak.  For these things, we repent and plead for God’s mercy.  And he who died for you continues to cleanse you of sin and clothe you in innocence.

     Jesus bore our shame to clothe us in glory.  When we enter the heavenly kingdom, we will be completely restored to what God has always intended.  You will know God’s will.  You will be delighted to do God’s will.  And you will be able to do God’s will perfectly.  You will be free from jealousy, bitterness, and discontentment.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things will have passed away.  For, Jesus will not only clothe you in glory; he will make you glorious.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.