Sermon Illustrations For Good Friday (2023)
Illustration
Isaiah 52:13--53:12
This lesson is taken from the Book of Consolation in Isaiah. Americans today need much consolation. A 2022 Yahoo News poll shows that nearly half of us (49%) fear that we may be coming to see the end of real democracy in America. Despair is more typical among people living solely on their emotions and seeking to be entertained by the next good time they can have. The father of existentialist philosophy Søren Kierkegaard well described 21st –century American life nearly a century and a half ago. What he writes in the first person typifies our ethos:
Wine can no longer make my heart glad; a little of it makes me sad, much makes me melancholy. My soul is faint and impotent; in vain I prick the spur of pleasure into its flank... I have lost my illusions. Vainly I seek to plunge myself into the boundless sea of joy; it cannot sustain me, or rather I cannot sustain myself. (Either/Or, Vol.I, p.40)
Given our situation, Martin Luther nicely explains in one of his sermons why and how Christ’s death on Good Friday gives us consolation and removes the hopelessness we so often feel. It is as the reformer proclaimed:
He [Christ] took sin upon himself, not because he delights in sin, neither because he would have us remain under sin and continue in iniquity. No, he suffers for sinners so that they need not go on in sin and so that they may become converted and be pious and holy. (Sermons on the Passion of Christ, p.188)
Mark E.
* * *
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
In this passage about the suffering servant Isaiah begins, like many screenwriters, by starting with the ending – “See, my servant shall prosper; he shall be exalted and lifted up and shall be very high.” Before we endure the descriptions of the servant’s suffering, we see the glory on the other side. In John’s Gospel this lifting up, this glorifying, takes place on the cross. In the second chapter of Philippians, the cross is also the road through which Jesus, who we know also as the suffering servant, demonstrates obedience like a slave, being obedient even unto a cross, and then to be lifted up in glory just as he was lifted up on the cross, so that in both cases all may see him, and ultimately so that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue confess he is Lord.
That’s the ending. But then we have back up and live the horror to get back to the moment of triumph. We must see the suffering of the servant. But there are those who are unmoved by suffering. “Behold the man!” Pilate ordered the crowd, after having Jesus flogged, then presenting him bloodied and brutalized. Ordinary human pity might have led the crowd to say, “Enough!” But this crowd, organized by the religious and political authorities, had not gathered there by accident. They were there for blood.
Emmett Till, a fourteen-year-old black teenager from the north who in 1955 traveled to visit relatives in the south, was falsely accused, and brutally murdered by self-appointed executioners who were shielded from their crime by their neighbors and the political and religious authorities who approved of mob action (not unlike the combination that led to Jesus’ arrest and execution). His coffin was sent north with the lid bolted tight, but Till’s mother insisted that the coffin be opened so that the world could see what had been done to her son. The photographs shocked the world and focused the attention not only of those who were fighting racial hatred in America, but ordinary white citizens who preferred not to notice that atrocities were being committed against blacks on a regular basis.
We don’t always want to look at injustice, even today, but we are called to behold the suffering servants of the world, and never forget the injustice that murdered them.
Frank R.
* * *
Isaiah 52:13--53:12
I have great difficulty with the idea that Jesus came into the world just to suffer and die, even though the prophet proclaims it, even though ultimately that is what happened. Rather, I believe in a God who is loving and good and who came into the world to try to move us from our human sinfulness into the paths of righteousness and hope, into love and grace. We chose not to follow, not to shift our focus from the worldly to the eternal, not to walk with Jesus. Our human greed, hunger for power, fear of loss of control, lack of ability to love and offer grace, brought Jesus to the cross. The actions of fearful powerful church leaders and political rulers brought Jesus to the cross. And our God, our Creator, the most loving and forgiving, the most merciful, allowed his son to make a sacrifice, to choose to go to the cross to exemplify his steadfast love for us. That is the pain I carry with me to the cross. What do you take with you?
Bonnie B.
* * *
Hebrews 10:16-25 or Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-9
There’s no question that two thousand years after the fact, we who believe in Jesus consider Good Friday a significant event to observe with both sadness and hope. But what about those who lived during those times? Did they even notice that it happened? They could not very well have been able to turn on the TV and listened to the news, hearing reports that at least reported the official facts, as well as interviews with some of those who knew Jesus well.
Jerusalem itself was packed with pilgrims who were there for the Passover, and my guess is that many never heard anything about the death of Jesus. Those who did may have had much different opinions that us. Perhaps some heard a deliberately distorted version of the facts. Others knew something was going on, but the details were vague. They might have heard word of mouth, with the news getting further distorted as it passed from person to person.
And even if they were told they might not have cared in the slightest. Some people had traveled a long distance for the Passover, and their focus was on the temple. Besides, the Romans crucified people all the time. Those who heard anything at all might have assumed, as so many people often repeat, “Where there’s smoke there’s fire.” Probably some thought Jesus had it coming.
Officials in Rome might have heard about the crucifixion of Jesus weeks later, but unless they had relatives who were serving in that far off land of Judea, why would they have cared?
According to the Roman historian Tacitus, who wrote decades after the event, some Romans were alarmed when the emperor Nero blamed the Christians for the great fire that destroyed much of Rome. Nero brutally murdered so many of them in public view that people even began to feel sorry for the Christians – but not much. As Tacitus wrote:
“Their founder, one Christus, had been put to death by the procurator Pontius Pilate in the reign of Tiberius. This checked the abominable superstition for a while, but it broke out again and spared, not merely through Judaea, where it originated, but even to Rome itself, the great reservoir and collecting ground for every kind of depravity and filth.” (Tacitus. The Annals of Tacitus a Modern New Translation by Donald R. Dudley, XV, 44, pp 353-4.)
And for many in Rome, that’s all they knew about Good Friday.
That’s why the author of the Letter to the Hebrews, who seems to have had connection in Rome, was at pains to explain just what Good Friday and the cross meant. Even though there was a high priest in Judea, appointed by the Romans, who was ostensibly in charge of the religious life of the people, many knew that the high priesthood was a political as well as a religious appointment. In Hebrews, we are told that Jesus, unlike these political high priests who were “…unable to sympathize with our weaknesses…,” was “…one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15) Jesus had “…learned obedience through what he suffered, and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him….” (Hebrews 4:16)
Now the divine throne and the heavenly throne room, which we encounter in Isaiah 6 and Ezekiel 1, was a place of frightening noise, alarming pageantry, awe inspiring majesty, even to those who believe and serve God. But thanks to Jesus and the crucifixion, it is now possible for believers to approach the throne of grace “. . . with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in times of need.” (Hebrews 4:18)
Frank R.
* * *
Hebrews 10:16-25
Are you sanguine? That’s an unusual question, I know. I read the story of pastor Thomas Bevers who shared about a Palm Sunday message he was preparing. He notes that he believed the word “sanguine” to mean “sad” or “melancholy.” He was totally wrong. The word literally means, “blood red.” It also has a sense of “eager,” “hopeful,” or “optimistic.” I have to confess that, like Paster Bevers, I did not know the meaning of this word.
Is there a better word to describe the feelings of Christians on Good Friday? Is there a better word to describe what the Hebrew writer is addressing in this passage? Christians can be “hopeful” and “optimistic” because of what the blood of Jesus Christ has purchased for us. Good Friday is a sanguine day. It is a day to remember the blood of Jesus, and how that blood affects us.
Bill T.
* * *
John 18:1--19:42
The horror of Jesus’s last night is expressed in each of the gospels. John offers insights into the rulers, the church leaders, the fear, and the resulting ridicule of the people, as well as the betrayal and denial of Jesus’ friends. Have you ever felt completely abandoned, judged, without hope? I wonder at, as I reread these passages during Lent, the strength of faith and love Jesus had, the confidence he had in who he was and his mission in the world. I wonder if I would have even a little of that strength in his shoes. I wonder at the strength of martyrs to maintain their faithfulness in the face of danger and death. I pray I would cling to my faith, to my belief in God and Jesus and the Holy Spirt and the eternity of love and mercy offered to me. I take that hope to the cross with me this Good Friday.
Bonnie B.
* * *
John 18:1--19:42
Japanese theologian Uchimura Kanzo, in January of 1921, coined a description of Christianity that I had not previously seen. He called it, "Crucifixianity." He noted that the cross is not merely a symbol of Christianity; it is its center, the cornerstone upon which the whole structure rests. Without the cross, there would be no Christian faith and no redemption.
The word, “Crucifixianity,” did not attain widespread usage. It is suggested that even Kanzo, himself, did not use it a lot. I think, though, there is something to be said for the word. At the center of our faith is Jesus Christ and him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2). Alexander MacLaren once wrote, “The cross is the center of the world's history; the incarnation of Christ and the crucifixion of our Lord are the pivot round which all the events of the ages revolve. The testimony of Christ was the spirit of prophecy, and the growing power of Jesus is the spirit of history.”
Bill T.
* * *
John 18:1--19:42
If you elect to focus on Peter’s denial of Jesus, John Calvin notes how symptomatic it is of our ways of sinning:
Thus it happens to many persons every day. At first, the fault may not be very great; next it becomes 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)
About this episode Martin Luther adds: “For it is so very rich in comfort for all poor sinners that a great man, an apostle, suffers such a fall and yet receives grace and forgiveness.” (Complete Sermons, Vol.5, p.404) The reformer then concluded this sermon with words of comfort fitting for the entire lesson and for the Good Friday commemoration as a whole:
For God does not wish any one to exalt himself on account of his endowments... The Son of God became man and died upon the cross for the very purpose of banishing such evils. Therefore, if you would be a true Christian, fear God and confide in his grace and word, and you will always find consolation, deliverance, and help. (Sermons on the Passion of Christ, p.92)
Mark E.
This lesson is taken from the Book of Consolation in Isaiah. Americans today need much consolation. A 2022 Yahoo News poll shows that nearly half of us (49%) fear that we may be coming to see the end of real democracy in America. Despair is more typical among people living solely on their emotions and seeking to be entertained by the next good time they can have. The father of existentialist philosophy Søren Kierkegaard well described 21st –century American life nearly a century and a half ago. What he writes in the first person typifies our ethos:
Wine can no longer make my heart glad; a little of it makes me sad, much makes me melancholy. My soul is faint and impotent; in vain I prick the spur of pleasure into its flank... I have lost my illusions. Vainly I seek to plunge myself into the boundless sea of joy; it cannot sustain me, or rather I cannot sustain myself. (Either/Or, Vol.I, p.40)
Given our situation, Martin Luther nicely explains in one of his sermons why and how Christ’s death on Good Friday gives us consolation and removes the hopelessness we so often feel. It is as the reformer proclaimed:
He [Christ] took sin upon himself, not because he delights in sin, neither because he would have us remain under sin and continue in iniquity. No, he suffers for sinners so that they need not go on in sin and so that they may become converted and be pious and holy. (Sermons on the Passion of Christ, p.188)
Mark E.
* * *
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
In this passage about the suffering servant Isaiah begins, like many screenwriters, by starting with the ending – “See, my servant shall prosper; he shall be exalted and lifted up and shall be very high.” Before we endure the descriptions of the servant’s suffering, we see the glory on the other side. In John’s Gospel this lifting up, this glorifying, takes place on the cross. In the second chapter of Philippians, the cross is also the road through which Jesus, who we know also as the suffering servant, demonstrates obedience like a slave, being obedient even unto a cross, and then to be lifted up in glory just as he was lifted up on the cross, so that in both cases all may see him, and ultimately so that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue confess he is Lord.
That’s the ending. But then we have back up and live the horror to get back to the moment of triumph. We must see the suffering of the servant. But there are those who are unmoved by suffering. “Behold the man!” Pilate ordered the crowd, after having Jesus flogged, then presenting him bloodied and brutalized. Ordinary human pity might have led the crowd to say, “Enough!” But this crowd, organized by the religious and political authorities, had not gathered there by accident. They were there for blood.
Emmett Till, a fourteen-year-old black teenager from the north who in 1955 traveled to visit relatives in the south, was falsely accused, and brutally murdered by self-appointed executioners who were shielded from their crime by their neighbors and the political and religious authorities who approved of mob action (not unlike the combination that led to Jesus’ arrest and execution). His coffin was sent north with the lid bolted tight, but Till’s mother insisted that the coffin be opened so that the world could see what had been done to her son. The photographs shocked the world and focused the attention not only of those who were fighting racial hatred in America, but ordinary white citizens who preferred not to notice that atrocities were being committed against blacks on a regular basis.
We don’t always want to look at injustice, even today, but we are called to behold the suffering servants of the world, and never forget the injustice that murdered them.
Frank R.
* * *
Isaiah 52:13--53:12
I have great difficulty with the idea that Jesus came into the world just to suffer and die, even though the prophet proclaims it, even though ultimately that is what happened. Rather, I believe in a God who is loving and good and who came into the world to try to move us from our human sinfulness into the paths of righteousness and hope, into love and grace. We chose not to follow, not to shift our focus from the worldly to the eternal, not to walk with Jesus. Our human greed, hunger for power, fear of loss of control, lack of ability to love and offer grace, brought Jesus to the cross. The actions of fearful powerful church leaders and political rulers brought Jesus to the cross. And our God, our Creator, the most loving and forgiving, the most merciful, allowed his son to make a sacrifice, to choose to go to the cross to exemplify his steadfast love for us. That is the pain I carry with me to the cross. What do you take with you?
Bonnie B.
* * *
Hebrews 10:16-25 or Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-9
There’s no question that two thousand years after the fact, we who believe in Jesus consider Good Friday a significant event to observe with both sadness and hope. But what about those who lived during those times? Did they even notice that it happened? They could not very well have been able to turn on the TV and listened to the news, hearing reports that at least reported the official facts, as well as interviews with some of those who knew Jesus well.
Jerusalem itself was packed with pilgrims who were there for the Passover, and my guess is that many never heard anything about the death of Jesus. Those who did may have had much different opinions that us. Perhaps some heard a deliberately distorted version of the facts. Others knew something was going on, but the details were vague. They might have heard word of mouth, with the news getting further distorted as it passed from person to person.
And even if they were told they might not have cared in the slightest. Some people had traveled a long distance for the Passover, and their focus was on the temple. Besides, the Romans crucified people all the time. Those who heard anything at all might have assumed, as so many people often repeat, “Where there’s smoke there’s fire.” Probably some thought Jesus had it coming.
Officials in Rome might have heard about the crucifixion of Jesus weeks later, but unless they had relatives who were serving in that far off land of Judea, why would they have cared?
According to the Roman historian Tacitus, who wrote decades after the event, some Romans were alarmed when the emperor Nero blamed the Christians for the great fire that destroyed much of Rome. Nero brutally murdered so many of them in public view that people even began to feel sorry for the Christians – but not much. As Tacitus wrote:
“Their founder, one Christus, had been put to death by the procurator Pontius Pilate in the reign of Tiberius. This checked the abominable superstition for a while, but it broke out again and spared, not merely through Judaea, where it originated, but even to Rome itself, the great reservoir and collecting ground for every kind of depravity and filth.” (Tacitus. The Annals of Tacitus a Modern New Translation by Donald R. Dudley, XV, 44, pp 353-4.)
And for many in Rome, that’s all they knew about Good Friday.
That’s why the author of the Letter to the Hebrews, who seems to have had connection in Rome, was at pains to explain just what Good Friday and the cross meant. Even though there was a high priest in Judea, appointed by the Romans, who was ostensibly in charge of the religious life of the people, many knew that the high priesthood was a political as well as a religious appointment. In Hebrews, we are told that Jesus, unlike these political high priests who were “…unable to sympathize with our weaknesses…,” was “…one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15) Jesus had “…learned obedience through what he suffered, and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him….” (Hebrews 4:16)
Now the divine throne and the heavenly throne room, which we encounter in Isaiah 6 and Ezekiel 1, was a place of frightening noise, alarming pageantry, awe inspiring majesty, even to those who believe and serve God. But thanks to Jesus and the crucifixion, it is now possible for believers to approach the throne of grace “. . . with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in times of need.” (Hebrews 4:18)
Frank R.
* * *
Hebrews 10:16-25
Are you sanguine? That’s an unusual question, I know. I read the story of pastor Thomas Bevers who shared about a Palm Sunday message he was preparing. He notes that he believed the word “sanguine” to mean “sad” or “melancholy.” He was totally wrong. The word literally means, “blood red.” It also has a sense of “eager,” “hopeful,” or “optimistic.” I have to confess that, like Paster Bevers, I did not know the meaning of this word.
Is there a better word to describe the feelings of Christians on Good Friday? Is there a better word to describe what the Hebrew writer is addressing in this passage? Christians can be “hopeful” and “optimistic” because of what the blood of Jesus Christ has purchased for us. Good Friday is a sanguine day. It is a day to remember the blood of Jesus, and how that blood affects us.
Bill T.
* * *
John 18:1--19:42
The horror of Jesus’s last night is expressed in each of the gospels. John offers insights into the rulers, the church leaders, the fear, and the resulting ridicule of the people, as well as the betrayal and denial of Jesus’ friends. Have you ever felt completely abandoned, judged, without hope? I wonder at, as I reread these passages during Lent, the strength of faith and love Jesus had, the confidence he had in who he was and his mission in the world. I wonder if I would have even a little of that strength in his shoes. I wonder at the strength of martyrs to maintain their faithfulness in the face of danger and death. I pray I would cling to my faith, to my belief in God and Jesus and the Holy Spirt and the eternity of love and mercy offered to me. I take that hope to the cross with me this Good Friday.
Bonnie B.
* * *
John 18:1--19:42
Japanese theologian Uchimura Kanzo, in January of 1921, coined a description of Christianity that I had not previously seen. He called it, "Crucifixianity." He noted that the cross is not merely a symbol of Christianity; it is its center, the cornerstone upon which the whole structure rests. Without the cross, there would be no Christian faith and no redemption.
The word, “Crucifixianity,” did not attain widespread usage. It is suggested that even Kanzo, himself, did not use it a lot. I think, though, there is something to be said for the word. At the center of our faith is Jesus Christ and him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2). Alexander MacLaren once wrote, “The cross is the center of the world's history; the incarnation of Christ and the crucifixion of our Lord are the pivot round which all the events of the ages revolve. The testimony of Christ was the spirit of prophecy, and the growing power of Jesus is the spirit of history.”
Bill T.
* * *
John 18:1--19:42
If you elect to focus on Peter’s denial of Jesus, John Calvin notes how symptomatic it is of our ways of sinning:
Thus it happens to many persons every day. At first, the fault may not be very great; next it becomes 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)
About this episode Martin Luther adds: “For it is so very rich in comfort for all poor sinners that a great man, an apostle, suffers such a fall and yet receives grace and forgiveness.” (Complete Sermons, Vol.5, p.404) The reformer then concluded this sermon with words of comfort fitting for the entire lesson and for the Good Friday commemoration as a whole:
For God does not wish any one to exalt himself on account of his endowments... The Son of God became man and died upon the cross for the very purpose of banishing such evils. Therefore, if you would be a true Christian, fear God and confide in his grace and word, and you will always find consolation, deliverance, and help. (Sermons on the Passion of Christ, p.92)
Mark E.
