Sermon Illustrations for Good Friday (2019)
Illustration
Isaiah 52:13--53:12
The prophet’s words in Isaiah speak volumes about Jesus. If you read the words through our lens from the 21st century, it is clear these words describe the humble birth and beginnings of the life of Jesus, the humble life of ministry he shared, the scorn and ridicule her received from the powerful, and the tortuous end of his life. But from our perspective we also know this is not the end. Yet, just for a moment, on this day, we feel the horror of being ridiculed and abandoned, we feel the pain of rejection and torture, we know the sacrifice, we know the one of love which did not give voice to pain or anger at others, but rather the voice that called for forgiveness. Just for this moment be in the darkness of pain and loss. It is a common human place to be – we have all, at one time, felt ridicule and abandonment, rejection and some form of torturous pain. We all know darkness. In this moment, just feel the darkness. And yet, know in the darkness the presence of God.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Isaiah 52:13--53:12
I wonder why they call this Good Friday. It was not good for Jesus! His suffering is beyond our imagination. We see that horrible torture machine every Sunday in almost every church. We interpret that it served as a great reward and a blessing.
Isaiah was told of its coming centuries before it happened. He was also told that it was for everyone’s sin. Jesus saw it coming also and prayed in the garden that he might avoid it, but it was the Father’s will from long before he was born.
I suppose our soldiers in the army might worry about a day when they might have to scarifice their life for their country. As missionaries we suspected that we might also have to make a sacrifice. I saw not only fellow missionaries, but our converts suffer and even die for their new faith.
This passage certainly shows the great cost of sin.
Are we really aware that we are sinners? We may not feel that our sins are that bad that our savior had to go through such suffering for us.
One of the functions of a church is to help us realize how bad sin is
As a kid I once knocked over and broke a vase that was one of my mom’s favorites. I didn’t realize how bad my “sin” was until my mom came in and cried when she saw it. The reason I felt badly is that I loved her.
The reason we should feel badly when we sin is that we believe we hurt the one who we love who loves us.
Bob O.
* * *
Isaiah 52:13--53:12
As this prophecy was written to console those yearning for better times, so we hunger for better times. The analysis of Western society propounded by the French Existentialist Albert Camus over half a century ago is still timely:
Impatience with limits... despair at being a man [human], have finally driven them to human excesses. Denying the real grandeur of life, they have had to stake all on their excellence. For want of better to do, they deified themselves and their misfortunes began; these gods had their eyes put out. (The Rebel, p.305)
The people of Western society “no longer love life,” he claims (Ibid.).
The Servant (Christ) comes to Suffer for us. In that suffering the meaning of life is restored to us, because it shows us how little all our strivings matter and that life itself as a gift of God is an end it itself, that life really deserves to be loved in itself as a gift of God. Martin Luther put it this way:
Therefore the Prophet leads us so earnestly beyond all righteousness and our rational capacity and confronts us with the suffering of Christ to impress upon us that all that Christ has is mine. (Luther’s Works, Vol.17, p.221)
It really is a Good Friday, a day that makes life worth living again, because now we know that life is good in itself and we don’t need to try to control it with our accomplishments in order to make it good.
Mark E.
* * *
Hebrews 10:16-25
Why is it important to come together in the body of Christ? Dwight L. Moody once said, “Church attendance is as vital to a disciple as a transfusion of rich, healthy blood to a sick man.” Today, though, church attendance is not thought of as highly as it once was. Some today would argue I can be as good a Christian on the golf course as I can be in the church. However, it’s not true that you can be just as good a Christian without going to church. You can’t simply say "Well, I’m there in spirit… but I don’t have to be there in body."
It’s a little like the true story of an incident that took place at a midwestern university. This school had a policy that if the professor was ten minutes late for class, it was cancelled. One day a professor arrived early, put his hat on his desk and then went to the faculty room. He apparently lost track of time and when he arrived back at the class, he was more than ten minutes late and found it room empty. He was furious. When the class next met, he informed his students “When my hat is here, I’m here!” His class learned their lesson well. The following day, the professor arrived at 9 a.m. and he was met by the sight of twenty-five hats on the desks – but no students.
Being there means being there. May we not be “neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Bill T.
* * *
Hebrews 10:16-25
Martin Luther King Jr. was first introduced to the concept of nonviolence when he read Henry David Thoreau’s Essay on Civil Disobedience as a freshman at Morehouse College. Having grown up in Atlanta and witnessed segregation and racism every day, King wrote that he was “fascinated by the idea of refusing to cooperate with an evil system.”
King also took great inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi in pushing forward his Civil Rights Movement. Although the two never met personally, he was introduced to Gandhi’s teachings while at Crozer Theological Seminary. In 1950, as a seminary student, King heard a talk by Dr. Mordecai Johnson, president of Howard University, who had recently traveled to India. Johnson spoke about the life and teachings of Mohandas K. Gandhi. Gandhi, King realized, was the first person to transform Christian love into a powerful force for social change. Gandhi’s stress on love and nonviolence gave King, in his own words, “the method for social reform that I had been seeking”
His first application of the non-violent campaign came in 1955 during the Montgomery bus boycott. Here he had a firsthand opportunity to witness the power of a peaceful protest. His conviction to pursue this course of action strengthened during his 1959 visit to India. He is quoted as saying “It was a marvelous thing to see the amazing results of a non-violent campaign. The aftermath of hatred and bitterness that usually follows a violent campaign was found nowhere in India...” Later during a radio interview, King stated that more than ever before, a non-violent campaign would be the most powerful weapon for oppressed people.
For King the Bible taught him the meaning of peace, and Gandhi taught him how to establish justice peacefully. King wrote, “From my background I gained my regulating Christian ideals. From Gandhi, I learned my operational technique.”
The Romans wave the sword. Christians wave palm branches. Romans are steadfast in the power of the shield and the sword. Christians often waver from waving palm branches to lifting high clenched fists. Christians can go from yelling on Passion Sunday “Hosanna in the highest heaven!” to “Crucify him!” on Good Friday. If “gentleness” is to prevail within the church, then words of condemnation will never be heard. The church must be as steadfast with “gentleness” as Rome was with the sword. Only then can the church be a community of peace – a shalom community.
Paul confesses the church is able to be a shalom community in a hostile world because “the Lord is near.”
Ron L.
* * *
Hebrews 10:16-25
It is the custom on Good Friday in many communities for churches to take part in a service known as “The Seven Last Words of Jesus.” Often there will be a series of sermonettes based on the words Jesus spoke from the cross as recorded in the four gospels.
But I wonder if these words from the Letter to the Hebrews might serve as the eighth of the Seven Last Words? “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds," he also adds, "I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more (Hebrews 10:16-17)."
These words are a reference to what the prophet Jeremiah said about the New Covenant which is written on our hearts. These words were not spoken from the cross -- but they became valid because of the cross. At the Last Supper Jesus says, “"This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood (Luke 22:20).” Good Friday, this is the day the New Covenant in his blood begins. Our sins are forgiven. God remembers them no more. Maybe Jesus didn’t say these words from the cross, but they say that actions speak louder than words.
Frank R.
* * *
John 18:1--19:42
Have you ever been denied by a friend? Has one of your dearest friends ever betrayed you? Multiply this feeling but dozens of experiences, or hundreds? As I think about the betrayal of Peter, I remember times I have walked away from a friend, left a situation out of fear or pain. Peter, the staunchest of supporters, the rock on which Jesus claims the church will be built, is just like us. He is an ordinary man beset by fear and loss and confusion. He is one who loves but betrays, knows but fails to acknowledge. The pain for Jesus must have been great, but the pain for Peter must have been excruciating. Peter who claimed he would die for Jesus, who lifted a sword to defend Jesus, denies him, claims to no even know him. How awful! Remember the last time you were deeply in fear, afraid to make the right choice or any choice; frozen in place, ready to do almost anything to escape the situation. Remember that pain and know it is only a portion of what Peter feels in this moment, these moments of betrayal and denial. This too is the darkness of Friday.
Bonnie B.
* * *
John 18:1--19:42
How easy it is over the years to take for granted the magnificent thing that happened on Good Friday, to just keep on living as we always have. As Martin Luther once put it:
Nevertheless, the dear, pleasure-loving world goes merrily along, takes none of this to heart, is lazy, cold, unthankful, and despises this great treasure. (Complete Sermons, Vol.5, p.473)
John Calvin offers other interesting observation about the habitual character of our sin:
Thus it happens to many persons every day. At first, the fault will not be very great; next, it become habitual, and at length, after that conscience has been laid asleep, he who has accustomed himself to despise God will think nothing unlawful for him, but will dare to commit the greatest wickedness. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.XVIII/1, p.203)
But Christ overcomes our sin. And when we truly see what it entails, then it is pretty hard to
take it for granted. For God has come to our rescue, like a friend throwing himself in front of a speeding car and pushing us out of the way as the car was about to run us down. Luther’s observations in one of his sermons on this text make that clear:
If someone came to my rescue in an emergency, when death threatened by fire or water, I would have to be a wretch not to feel grateful toward him... Should we not respond, my Lord Jesus Christ suffered for me; therefore in return I will love Him... It is terrible for anyone to despise such a love! (Complete Sermons, Vol.5, p.474)
Mark E.
* * *
John 18:1--19:42
This scripture has the most detail of Jesus suffering. It should tell us the degree of our sin that we were not aware of. The most amazing thing to me is how graciously he took it — even to those who were hurting him.
I read about prisoners of war who were friendly with guards who were hurting them.
As a prison chaplain, I knew some prisoners who were so sorry for their crimes that they obeyed their guard’s duties to use or abuse them. They were received with smiling acceptance. Some who felt they had not committed the crime they were serving time for still took their suffering well.
Can we take it graciously if we are made to suffer for our sins?
It might even help us if we had a time of individual confession as Catholics do. When we are all confessing our sins together in the word of the service it may not be enough. We have to be very sincere about it.
I attended trials where the accused wept over his crime. When he saw it, a judge might reduce the sentence or in some cases cancel it.
Sorrow for our sins is a necessity for our forgiveness.
Keep a vision of the cross before you at all times.
Bob O.
The prophet’s words in Isaiah speak volumes about Jesus. If you read the words through our lens from the 21st century, it is clear these words describe the humble birth and beginnings of the life of Jesus, the humble life of ministry he shared, the scorn and ridicule her received from the powerful, and the tortuous end of his life. But from our perspective we also know this is not the end. Yet, just for a moment, on this day, we feel the horror of being ridiculed and abandoned, we feel the pain of rejection and torture, we know the sacrifice, we know the one of love which did not give voice to pain or anger at others, but rather the voice that called for forgiveness. Just for this moment be in the darkness of pain and loss. It is a common human place to be – we have all, at one time, felt ridicule and abandonment, rejection and some form of torturous pain. We all know darkness. In this moment, just feel the darkness. And yet, know in the darkness the presence of God.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Isaiah 52:13--53:12
I wonder why they call this Good Friday. It was not good for Jesus! His suffering is beyond our imagination. We see that horrible torture machine every Sunday in almost every church. We interpret that it served as a great reward and a blessing.
Isaiah was told of its coming centuries before it happened. He was also told that it was for everyone’s sin. Jesus saw it coming also and prayed in the garden that he might avoid it, but it was the Father’s will from long before he was born.
I suppose our soldiers in the army might worry about a day when they might have to scarifice their life for their country. As missionaries we suspected that we might also have to make a sacrifice. I saw not only fellow missionaries, but our converts suffer and even die for their new faith.
This passage certainly shows the great cost of sin.
Are we really aware that we are sinners? We may not feel that our sins are that bad that our savior had to go through such suffering for us.
One of the functions of a church is to help us realize how bad sin is
As a kid I once knocked over and broke a vase that was one of my mom’s favorites. I didn’t realize how bad my “sin” was until my mom came in and cried when she saw it. The reason I felt badly is that I loved her.
The reason we should feel badly when we sin is that we believe we hurt the one who we love who loves us.
Bob O.
* * *
Isaiah 52:13--53:12
As this prophecy was written to console those yearning for better times, so we hunger for better times. The analysis of Western society propounded by the French Existentialist Albert Camus over half a century ago is still timely:
Impatience with limits... despair at being a man [human], have finally driven them to human excesses. Denying the real grandeur of life, they have had to stake all on their excellence. For want of better to do, they deified themselves and their misfortunes began; these gods had their eyes put out. (The Rebel, p.305)
The people of Western society “no longer love life,” he claims (Ibid.).
The Servant (Christ) comes to Suffer for us. In that suffering the meaning of life is restored to us, because it shows us how little all our strivings matter and that life itself as a gift of God is an end it itself, that life really deserves to be loved in itself as a gift of God. Martin Luther put it this way:
Therefore the Prophet leads us so earnestly beyond all righteousness and our rational capacity and confronts us with the suffering of Christ to impress upon us that all that Christ has is mine. (Luther’s Works, Vol.17, p.221)
It really is a Good Friday, a day that makes life worth living again, because now we know that life is good in itself and we don’t need to try to control it with our accomplishments in order to make it good.
Mark E.
* * *
Hebrews 10:16-25
Why is it important to come together in the body of Christ? Dwight L. Moody once said, “Church attendance is as vital to a disciple as a transfusion of rich, healthy blood to a sick man.” Today, though, church attendance is not thought of as highly as it once was. Some today would argue I can be as good a Christian on the golf course as I can be in the church. However, it’s not true that you can be just as good a Christian without going to church. You can’t simply say "Well, I’m there in spirit… but I don’t have to be there in body."
It’s a little like the true story of an incident that took place at a midwestern university. This school had a policy that if the professor was ten minutes late for class, it was cancelled. One day a professor arrived early, put his hat on his desk and then went to the faculty room. He apparently lost track of time and when he arrived back at the class, he was more than ten minutes late and found it room empty. He was furious. When the class next met, he informed his students “When my hat is here, I’m here!” His class learned their lesson well. The following day, the professor arrived at 9 a.m. and he was met by the sight of twenty-five hats on the desks – but no students.
Being there means being there. May we not be “neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Bill T.
* * *
Hebrews 10:16-25
Martin Luther King Jr. was first introduced to the concept of nonviolence when he read Henry David Thoreau’s Essay on Civil Disobedience as a freshman at Morehouse College. Having grown up in Atlanta and witnessed segregation and racism every day, King wrote that he was “fascinated by the idea of refusing to cooperate with an evil system.”
King also took great inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi in pushing forward his Civil Rights Movement. Although the two never met personally, he was introduced to Gandhi’s teachings while at Crozer Theological Seminary. In 1950, as a seminary student, King heard a talk by Dr. Mordecai Johnson, president of Howard University, who had recently traveled to India. Johnson spoke about the life and teachings of Mohandas K. Gandhi. Gandhi, King realized, was the first person to transform Christian love into a powerful force for social change. Gandhi’s stress on love and nonviolence gave King, in his own words, “the method for social reform that I had been seeking”
His first application of the non-violent campaign came in 1955 during the Montgomery bus boycott. Here he had a firsthand opportunity to witness the power of a peaceful protest. His conviction to pursue this course of action strengthened during his 1959 visit to India. He is quoted as saying “It was a marvelous thing to see the amazing results of a non-violent campaign. The aftermath of hatred and bitterness that usually follows a violent campaign was found nowhere in India...” Later during a radio interview, King stated that more than ever before, a non-violent campaign would be the most powerful weapon for oppressed people.
For King the Bible taught him the meaning of peace, and Gandhi taught him how to establish justice peacefully. King wrote, “From my background I gained my regulating Christian ideals. From Gandhi, I learned my operational technique.”
The Romans wave the sword. Christians wave palm branches. Romans are steadfast in the power of the shield and the sword. Christians often waver from waving palm branches to lifting high clenched fists. Christians can go from yelling on Passion Sunday “Hosanna in the highest heaven!” to “Crucify him!” on Good Friday. If “gentleness” is to prevail within the church, then words of condemnation will never be heard. The church must be as steadfast with “gentleness” as Rome was with the sword. Only then can the church be a community of peace – a shalom community.
Paul confesses the church is able to be a shalom community in a hostile world because “the Lord is near.”
Ron L.
* * *
Hebrews 10:16-25
It is the custom on Good Friday in many communities for churches to take part in a service known as “The Seven Last Words of Jesus.” Often there will be a series of sermonettes based on the words Jesus spoke from the cross as recorded in the four gospels.
But I wonder if these words from the Letter to the Hebrews might serve as the eighth of the Seven Last Words? “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds," he also adds, "I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more (Hebrews 10:16-17)."
These words are a reference to what the prophet Jeremiah said about the New Covenant which is written on our hearts. These words were not spoken from the cross -- but they became valid because of the cross. At the Last Supper Jesus says, “"This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood (Luke 22:20).” Good Friday, this is the day the New Covenant in his blood begins. Our sins are forgiven. God remembers them no more. Maybe Jesus didn’t say these words from the cross, but they say that actions speak louder than words.
Frank R.
* * *
John 18:1--19:42
Have you ever been denied by a friend? Has one of your dearest friends ever betrayed you? Multiply this feeling but dozens of experiences, or hundreds? As I think about the betrayal of Peter, I remember times I have walked away from a friend, left a situation out of fear or pain. Peter, the staunchest of supporters, the rock on which Jesus claims the church will be built, is just like us. He is an ordinary man beset by fear and loss and confusion. He is one who loves but betrays, knows but fails to acknowledge. The pain for Jesus must have been great, but the pain for Peter must have been excruciating. Peter who claimed he would die for Jesus, who lifted a sword to defend Jesus, denies him, claims to no even know him. How awful! Remember the last time you were deeply in fear, afraid to make the right choice or any choice; frozen in place, ready to do almost anything to escape the situation. Remember that pain and know it is only a portion of what Peter feels in this moment, these moments of betrayal and denial. This too is the darkness of Friday.
Bonnie B.
* * *
John 18:1--19:42
How easy it is over the years to take for granted the magnificent thing that happened on Good Friday, to just keep on living as we always have. As Martin Luther once put it:
Nevertheless, the dear, pleasure-loving world goes merrily along, takes none of this to heart, is lazy, cold, unthankful, and despises this great treasure. (Complete Sermons, Vol.5, p.473)
John Calvin offers other interesting observation about the habitual character of our sin:
Thus it happens to many persons every day. At first, the fault will not be very great; next, it become habitual, and at length, after that conscience has been laid asleep, he who has accustomed himself to despise God will think nothing unlawful for him, but will dare to commit the greatest wickedness. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.XVIII/1, p.203)
But Christ overcomes our sin. And when we truly see what it entails, then it is pretty hard to
take it for granted. For God has come to our rescue, like a friend throwing himself in front of a speeding car and pushing us out of the way as the car was about to run us down. Luther’s observations in one of his sermons on this text make that clear:
If someone came to my rescue in an emergency, when death threatened by fire or water, I would have to be a wretch not to feel grateful toward him... Should we not respond, my Lord Jesus Christ suffered for me; therefore in return I will love Him... It is terrible for anyone to despise such a love! (Complete Sermons, Vol.5, p.474)
Mark E.
* * *
John 18:1--19:42
This scripture has the most detail of Jesus suffering. It should tell us the degree of our sin that we were not aware of. The most amazing thing to me is how graciously he took it — even to those who were hurting him.
I read about prisoners of war who were friendly with guards who were hurting them.
As a prison chaplain, I knew some prisoners who were so sorry for their crimes that they obeyed their guard’s duties to use or abuse them. They were received with smiling acceptance. Some who felt they had not committed the crime they were serving time for still took their suffering well.
Can we take it graciously if we are made to suffer for our sins?
It might even help us if we had a time of individual confession as Catholics do. When we are all confessing our sins together in the word of the service it may not be enough. We have to be very sincere about it.
I attended trials where the accused wept over his crime. When he saw it, a judge might reduce the sentence or in some cases cancel it.
Sorrow for our sins is a necessity for our forgiveness.
Keep a vision of the cross before you at all times.
Bob O.
