Sermon -- Good Friday Tenebrae: The Sixth Word (April 3, 2026)

Good Shepherd celebrated a Tenebrae service in which we heard the seven words from the cross, followed by a brief homily on each word.  

THE SIXTH WORD — John 19:30

     Everything Jesus ever did was done intentionally.  He was fully obedient to God’s commandments.  He recognized that the traditions of the Pharisees were customs.  Even if those traditions were helpful for exercising piety, they were not commandments.  It is like teaching our children to pray before meals.  There is nothing in God’s word that commands us to pray before meals.  It is still a worthy practice, so we teach it.  But we cannot say a family is sinning against God if they do not offer up a prayer before digging into their salads.

     Everything Jesus ever did was done intentionally.  He did not waste his words when he taught about the kingdom of God.  No miraculous healing was done by accident.  His mercy toward the tax collectors and prostitutes was not to be confused with leniency, and his scathing rebukes against the Pharisees did not arise from rivalry.  Everything Jesus did was intended to lead people to repent and to find their hope in him.  Some did; others did not.

     Everything Jesus ever did was done intentionally.  His trip to the cross was done according to his own timing, done to fulfill all the prophets, and done as his Father willed it.  So, when Jesus uttered the words, “It is finished,” he stated that every little and last thing was done to perfection.  Not a single jot or tittle of God’s Law was bypassed; rather, every jot and tittle was fulfilled. 

     What this means for you is that there are no extra chores or challenges you must complete to be assured of eternal life.  There are no unpaid debts.  Everything God has demanded, he has received from Jesus. 

     “It is finished!”  This word Jesus uttered just before he died.  It is the word we cling to when we face death.  Because of this word, we do not have to invent virtues that we do not have.  Nor do we have to convince God and ourselves that our sins are excusable.  Are we sinners?  Yes, and Jesus came to save sinners.  Are we perfect?  No, but Jesus applies his holiness to us.  Jesus has removed from us all that condemns, and Jesus gives us all that saves. 

     “It is finished!”  The perfect life has been lived.  The cursed death has been died.  The sins of the world have been paid for.  Everything Jesus ever did was done with willful intention, with careful attention, and complete perfection. 

Sermon -- Good Friday Tenebrae: The Third Word (April 3, 2026)

Good Shepherd celebrated a Tenebrae service in which we heard the seven words from the cross, followed by a brief homily on each word.  

THE THIRD WORD — John 19:25-27

     When God created the world, he also created vocations for us to fill.  The second table of the Law says, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  Our vocations are the practical ways we do this.

     The first commandment in the second table is “Honor your father and mother.”  The family relationship is the most basic vocation in the world.  No one comes into the world without a father or a mother.  Children are taught to honor, serve, and obey their parents.  While the age of children may alter how they honor, serve, and obey their parents, the 4^th Commandment is never abolished.

     Even while he hung from the cross—weakened from the scourging, in agony from the nails, tormented by divine wrath—Jesus fulfilled his vocation as the firstborn son of Mary.  He kept the Commandment when we might have excused him because of his sufferings.  Nevertheless, he loved his mother.  He assured her that she would be cared for.

     Jesus had brothers, probably step-brothers, who could have taken up the obligation to care for Mary.  Instead, Jesus gave this responsibility to the apostle John.  John took her into his home and cared for her physical well-being. 

     But Jesus’ ultimate desire was for her eternal well-being.  He was dying for her sins.  He entrusted her to the apostle who would preach forgiveness, administer the Lord’s Supper, and absolve her in the stead and by the command of Jesus.  In this way, Jesus fulfilled his vocation as her faithful son and her faithful Savior.

     The Commandment is fulfilled by Jesus’ obedience.  The sins of abusive or negligent parents and the sins of disrespectful or rebellious children are paid for by Jesus’ death.  He reconciles to the heavenly Father.  We are adopted into his holy family.  We are gathered into the communion of saints.

Sermon -- Good Friday Tenebrae: The Second Word (April 3, 2026)

Good Shepherd celebrated a Tenebrae service in which we heard the seven words from the cross, followed by a brief homily on each word.  

THE SECOND WORD: Luke 23:38-43

     When Jesus was suspended upon the cross, “those who passed by ridiculed him…  In the same way, the chief priests along with the experts in the law mocked him among themselves” (Mark 15:29,31).  That does not surprise us.  But then Mark noted, “Those who were crucified with him also insulted him” (Mark 15:32). 

     Some people who sit on death row develop a sense of regret.  Hardened criminals go to the death chamber breathing out obscenities and cursing everyone within ear shot.  One criminal seems to have moved from one camp to the opposite.  He began the day with curses.  At least he could find some camaraderie among those who mocked Jesus, right?  But then came the change.  Why?

     Consider the words by which people mocked Jesus.  “He saved others.  Let him save himself, if this is the Christ of God, the Chosen One!  If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” (Luke 23:35,37)!  The mockers considered these claims worthy of scorn.  The criminal considered them worthy of further consideration.  And upon his consideration, he recognized that everything they said about Jesus was true.  He is the Christ.  He is the Son of God.  He is the King who has come to save his people and establish an everlasting kingdom.

     This criminal had given up all pretenses.  He would not pretend to be anything other than what he was—a sinner who was getting what he deserved.  But he saw that Jesus is the Righteous One.  Jesus had saved others.  Would Jesus save such a wretch as he was?  He asked Jesus for one thing: Remember me. 

     Whenever the Lord remembers in Scripture, he acts to save.  And that is exactly what Jesus came to do.  Jesus was mindful of sinners and took the curse of all, no matter what was on their record.  He died for the mockers, malefactors, and all mortals.  Therefore, we pray with the criminal: “Jesus, you have come to establish a kingdom.  That means you will live again to reign over it.  Remember me in your gracious reign.”

     The Lord Jesus would remember him.  The Lord Jesus is mindful of you, too.  You, too, will be with him in Paradise.

"And they crucified him."

I had found this (or someone sent it to me), but I never wrote down the original source.  I am also too lazy to Google it.  Nevertheless, here is a description of what happens to the victim who is crucified.

     What is crucifixion?  A medical doctor provides a physical description: 

     The cross is placed on the ground and the exhausted man is quickly thrown backwards with his shoulders against the wood.  The legionnaire feels for the depression at the front of the wrist.  He drives a heavy, square wrought iron nail through the wrist deep into the wood.  Quickly he moves to the other side and repeats the action, being careful not to pull the arms too tightly, but to allow some flex and movement.  The cross is then lifted into place.  The left foot is pressed backward against the right foot, and with both feet extended, toes down, a nail is driven through the arch of each, leaving the knees flexed.  The victim is now crucified.

     As he slowly sags down with more weight on the nails in the wrists, excruciating fiery pain shoots along the fingers and up the arms to explode in the brain - the nails in the wrists are putting pressure on the edian nerves.  As he pushes himself upward to avoid this trenching torment, he places his full weight on the nail through his feet.  Again he feels the searing agony of the nail tearing through the nerves between the bones of his feet.

     As the arms fatigue, cramps sweep through his muscles, knotting them deep, relentless, and throbbing pain.  With these cramps comes the inability to push himself upward to breathe.  Air can be drawn into the lungs but not exhaled.  He fights to raise himself in order to get even one small breath.

     Finally, carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the blood stream, and the cramps partially subsided.  Spasmodically, he is able to push himself upward to exhale and bring in life-giving oxygen.  Hours of limitless pain, cycles of twisting, joint-renting cramps, intermittent partial asphyxiation, searing pain as tissue is torn from his lacerated back as he moves up and down against rough timber.

     Then another agony begins: a deep, crushing pain deep in the chest as the pericardium slowly fills with serum and begins to compress the heart.  It is now almost over.  The loss of tissue fluids has reached a critical level.  The compressed heart is struggling to pump heavy, thick, sluggish blood into the tissues.  The tortured lungs are making frantic effort to gasp in small gulps of air.  He can feel the chill of death creeping through his tissues.  Finally, he allows his body to die.

     All of this the Bible records with the simple words, "and they crucified Him." (Mark 15: 24)

But so what?  Many people were executed with this method.  Whom did they save?  No one.  The greatest agony Jesus endured on the cross was not the pain and agony of crucifixion.  It was heard in these words: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  “Your iniquities have separated you from your God.”  Jesus was God-forsaken.  Jesus went through hell on the cross--not just pain, but actual hell, paying the wages of sin, receiving the punishment due every sinner.  Hell is worse than any crucifixion.  And this he endured for us so that we would never be God-forsaken, so that we would have heaven.  What wondrous love is this!

Sermon -- Good Friday: The Fifth Word (March 29, 2024)

This year, we observed the Service of the Seven Words from the Cross.  This is one of the sermons following the selected reading.

THE FIFTH WORD — John 19:28,29

     To fulfill the Scripture, Jesus said, “I thirst.”

     It is hard to say for sure which Scripture this fulfills.  Most likely, it refers to Psalm 69: “I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched.  … They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink” (Psalm 69:3,21).  It could refer to Psalm 22: “My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws” (Psalm 22:15).  There may be other references. 

     To fulfill the Scripture, Jesus said, “I thirst.”  What Scripture is being fulfilled is not as obvious as others such as Isaiah 53 (which we heard earlier) or as Psalm 22, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1). 

     To complete the work of salvation, to prove himself to be the Christ, to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life, Jesus had to fulfill all of Scripture.  From the clear prophecy that he would be born in Bethlehem to the obscure prophecy that he would be called a Nazarene.  Jesus fulfilled them all.  To fulfill the Scripture, Jesus said, “I thirst.”

     His thirst also shows the reality of his sufferings.  Jesus is not God who merely plays the role of a man.  Jesus is true man—flesh and blood, body and soul, with intelligence and emotions.  His nervous system was taxed to its limit.  His bones and ligaments were stretched out.  He was tormented by physical, mental, and spiritual anguish. 

     Jesus had been flogged, forty lashes minus one, which would be brutal on any body.  On top of that, Jesus was sleep deprived.  His face had been beaten.  His head had been crowned with thorns.  He was stripped bare and nailed to a cross where he hung suspended over the earth.  Jesus had poured out plenty of sweat and blood.  It is no wonder he thirsted. 

     Jesus hung on the cross to die.  He also hung on the cross to fulfill all Scripture.  The Scriptures foretold that he would be a guilt offering, that his punishment would bring us peace, and that by his wounds we are healed, even that he would thirst.  He craved a drink, and it was given to him.  Above all, Jesus craved your salvation.  He satisfied God’s demands.  He fulfilled all the Scripture.  And by fulfilling all Scripture, he himself is satisfied. 

Sermon -- Good Friday: The Fourth Word (March 29, 2024)

This year, we observed the Service of the Seven Words from the Cross.  This is one of the sermons following the selected reading.

THE FOURTH WORD — Matthew 27:45-49

     At Noon, darkness covered the whole earth, for the sun had stopped shining.  God so loved the world, but the hatred, the hostility, and the horrors of all the world were heaped upon the Son.  The shame, the iniquity, and the rebellion of all mankind were put on this man.  Every one of our dark moments, every filthy thought, and every dirty deed weighed on Jesus.

     God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.  But Jesus was cast into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Sorrow produces weeping.  The anguish and torment results in gnashing of teeth.  Jesus stood in the stead of every sinner on earth.  Bearing all sin, Jesus was cut off, cursed, and condemned.  God had forsaken his only begotten Son.

     From the cross, Jesus recited his Psalms: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?  Why are you so far from the words of my groaning” (Psalm 22:1)?  God had foretold it in the Psalms: Jesus would be forsaken—God forsaken by God. 

     My God, my God, why have you forsaken your only begotten Son?  For you.

     He was abandoned so that you would be adopted into God’s family.

     He was rejected so that you would be reconciled to the Father.

     He was banished so that you would belong.

     He wore the crown of thorns so that you would receive a crown of life.

     He was cast into the darkness so that you would be the children of the light.

     He was forsaken so that you never will be.

     Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” (Psalm 22:1, Matthew 27:46)? 

     This is why: For you.

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.

Something from ... Cranach, the Blog of Veith

          This post on Gene E. Veith's blog, Cranach, is quite fitting for Good Friday and meditation on the crucifixion of our Lord.  It also illustrates the historical account of Christians who worshiped the crucified Christ, as well as documenting the reality of crucifixion and its gruesome nature.  These archeological finds are from the graffiti left by those who mocked the Christian faith, unwittingly giving a testimony of the Church's Gospel: We preach Christ crucified. 

         Veith also provides some links for further reading and contemplation (full disclosure: I have not checked those out yet).  But the article linked is worth a look.

          God bless your Good Friday meditation and worship.

Roman Drawings of Crucifixions (and What They Tell Us) | Gene Veith (patheos.com)