Good Friday
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VI, Cycle C
Object:
COMMENTARY ON THE LESSONS
Lesson 1: Isaiah 52:13--53:12 (C, RC, E)
Henry Sloane Coffin said of this passage: "This is the most influential poem in any literature." None of us preachers can have made our way through seminary without becoming lovers of these words by Second Isaiah. They describe in eloquent terms the mission of Israel as seen by the prophet. The poem begins and ends with God's call to his chosen people to a servanthood to be marked by suffering and mistreatment. Their destiny is not deserved. As a people, they are innocent, yet must accept their suffering with grace, understanding that it is through them that the whole of humanity shall be redeemed. In the midst of the poem, we hear the anguish of the called people, but all is consummated in the divine promise: "Behold, my servant shall prosper, he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high."
Any thoughtful person must grieve for all Jews. From the beginning of their recorded history to this very moment, they have suffered terribly as a people. This may not mean that every Jewish person leads a life of suffering -- but as a People, there is no argument. The Holocaust comes first to mind, but other examples are many. The question cries out for answer: "As beautiful as the poetry of our text, where is there any evidence that it will ever be fulfilled? Thousands of years have passed, yet humanity seems no nearer to redemption than when Isaiah penned his words. When?"
Is our answer not that Jesus took into his own heart these words, realized that the people of Israel were reborn in him, that henceforth he must live out the destiny of a life of suffering and death, that all might be redeemed? Perhaps it has not been fulfilled in history, not for all nations. But for many. For me. For you. For those to whom we have been called to preach. For those who hear, who accept his Spirit into their own hearts it has taken place. This divine promise, though not fulfilled, is being fulfilled through Jesus Christ.
Lesson 2: Hebrews 10:16-25 (C); Hebrews 10:1-25 (E)
From that time on we no longer need a long list of rules to memorize, in order to be righteous. The law is written in our minds and hearts. Because Jesus died for us, we are wiped clean of all guilt, are offered a new beginning. We enter the sanctuary of worship knowing ourselves renewed by the sacrifice of Jesus. Our work henceforth is to encourage each other in doing the work of love and good deeds. Our new Priest, Christ, presides, and we are to gather together regularly until "the Day."
Lesson 2: Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9 (RC)
The Hebrew tradition of the priesthood still influences the theology of the author. Jesus, for him, is high priest according to the order of Mel-chiz'e-dek. Through his suffering and submission to God, he has been made perfect and thus is the means by which we too may find eternal salvation. He is able to sympathize with us in our trials and temptations because he is one "who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin."
Gospel John 18:1--19:42 (C, RC); John (18:1-40) 19:1-37 (E)
Here is John's version of the Passion story. It takes Jesus through his capture, his rejection by friends, his pain and humiliation, and finally his death on the cross. The preacher will study this series with care in preparation for preaching. As with all sermons, a brief passage which focuses attention on the heart of the matter will make for a strong sermon.
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
Title: "Standing Before The Cross"
Text: Isaiah 53:3b
Theme: We may decide to turn to the Gospel for the sermon, yet there is an important word here in the Old Testament. "As one from whom others hide their faces, he was despised and we held him of no account." That's how other ancient people viewed the people of Israel, and that ignominious fate was lived out briefly in the life of Jesus. It's hard to think so now, given what we know. Yet, in all likelihood, most of us would have stood before the cross, if not with outright rejection, certainly lacking the courage to step forth on his behalf. Perhaps his mother did, but she was a woman (therefore having no power in those days). No man is recorded as having raised his voice in defense of Jesus. With an effort, we can try to imagine what it might be like to realize that even those closest to you, the men with whom you have lived and shared your deepest thoughts and feelings, lacked the commitment to speak on your behalf.
1. The cross is relived each day. The Spirit of Jesus confronts us with a chance to step forth this time. The risk is not nearly so great as that from which Peter and his friends turned. But there is risk. Every time we tell a painful truth, every time we resist a temptation when others cannot, every time we undertake a risky or difficult work which offers little pay or commendation, we step forth.
2. Do we name his name to others? Bearing witness through our deeds is important, but somehow letting it be known that we are what we are because of him helps others know where to turn. A 49-year-old man driving home in Indianapolis saw a truck involved in an accident. The driver was injured, the door was jammed, the engine was on fire. The man jumped on the running board and tried to get the door open. Failing that, he took a fire extinguisher and smashed the windshield, then climbed in and unhooked the injured man's seat belt. The fire had spread to the cab and others outside called to the man to get out. But he would not. Frantically, and finally successfully, the passenger door was ripped open and, as the truck cab was nearly exploding with flames, both men came free.
The man who performed that act of heroism was interviewed on television. Commended, he simply said, "No, it was God who made it possible." (That wasn't quite naming Christ, but his church affiliation made that part clear.)
3. He was wounded for our transgressions. Isaiah believed that by turning to "Him," we would be forgiven for our sins. Truth? We all have remained silent before the cross too many times. I have. But he will take that sin upon himself if we will one day step forth and affirm him with our lives.
Title: "What Wondrous Love"
Text: John 19:23-24, Hebrews 10:19
Theme: "We have, then, my brothers, complete freedom to go into the Most Holy Place by means of the death of Jesus." What better summary of the central truth of our faith, that we are enabled to approach God directly, in an intimate relationship like that of child to parent, because Jesus suffered for us as he did? But how easily, almost blithely, do we roll those words, too easily failing to absorb the gruesome price paid by a kindly and loving man so that this could be true. Perhaps one role of the preacher is to be sure we are reminded of the gravity of the events which brought us where we are today.
Behold the Savior of mankind
Nailed to the shameful tree;
How vast the love that him inclined
To bleed and die for thee!
Those words were found among the effects of Samuel Wesley after the fire which destroyed the Wesley parsonage at Epworth in 1709, and call to mind the meaning of Good Friday. In preaching, emphasis should be placed on (1) the sacrifice of Jesus for those of us he loves, and (2) the call to sacrifice in turn for other people. Plus, the effect of this sacrifice is to bring reconciliation to those who currently suffer alienation, something only possible when someone gives up something for the sake of another.
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
Episcopal priest C. Kilmer Myers chose to serve a church in the depths of the most poverty stricken part of Bedford-Stuyvesant in New York City. One evening, after a worship service had ended, Myers was standing with some parishioners, when he heard a disturbance in the street. He looked out and saw that a large group of members of The Knights, one of the most violent gangs in the ghetto, had gathered.
Down the middle of Henry Street came "the two Johnson brothers. They walked slowly, their hands in their pockets. They looked grim. I gestured inquiringly (Myers wrote) and one of them shouted, 'Razors.'
"I tore down the street and walked toward the approaching brothers feeling half foolish, as though I were part of a Western drama played in the main streets of a cattle town. But it was serious, and I was not sure how to cope with it. I knew only that I must somehow get the razors away from them.
"I used every argument I could think of to get the razors. I warned them of the punishment that certainly would follow a cutting. I reminded them that they both had records and this time they would be sent away for a long time. Were they to kill one of the Knights, they too might pay with their lives. I knew I was not reaching either of them, although at times Willie seemed to waver. I sensed that he really wanted me to help him out of the fix they were in. Finally, I said to him: 'Willie, what do you call me?' After a moment of hesitation, he answered 'Father.' 'Willie, what do the Knights call me?' A longer silence, then 'Father.' This time I waited; it was my last pitch. 'Willie, if you call me Father, and the Knights call me Father, what does that mean you are to me? He looked at me as though he wanted to cry, 'I, I am ... your son.' And they? 'Sons.' We looked at each other, long. His was a soft look, that of a child. Slowly, he reached into his pocket. He pulled out the razor and handed it to me. Then he turned and, with Ben, walked away down the street."
____________
It happened a long time ago, up in the rural mountain area of one of our eastern states. It was winter. Mom and Dad and their three children had lived together in relative harmony. But the older boy was now sixteen, the age at which we know everything there is to know, and for which there is no cure except the passage of three or four more years. So Dad and his son had a stressful argument, and the boy stormed out of the house, into the darkness of the night. Time passed, the boy did not return and, it being winter, snow began to fall. As the night wore on, the winds increased, the temperature dropped, and the snow became much heavier. By midnight it was a full-fledged winter storm. Now, terribly worried, Dad put on his warmest clothes, grabbed his shotgun and a handful of shells, and despite his wife's protest, stepped out into the night.
From time to time, Mother heard a shotgun blast as Dad tried to tell his son where he was. The wintry winds drowned out all other sounds. As night wore on, the shotgun blasts continued. Then they stopped. Finally, very early in the still dark dawn, Mother heard a sound at the door and found her half-frozen son there, finally, safely home. The next day, they found the old man.He had died of exposure.
On the tombstone, the penitent son had written: "A father who loved his son more than he loved his life." That boy then and there vowed to become someone of whom his father could be proud. He went to college, became a successful and good man, and thereafter did everything in his life in ways he hoped would make his father proud.
____________
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 22 -- "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
Prayer Of The Day
God of love, thou who can forgive what we could never forgive; we come to thee in penitence, confessing our failure to be what our faith calls us to be, yet determined to be just that. Add to us, O God, the inner qualities by which we may yet deserve that name we use: Christian. Amen.
Lesson 1: Isaiah 52:13--53:12 (C, RC, E)
Henry Sloane Coffin said of this passage: "This is the most influential poem in any literature." None of us preachers can have made our way through seminary without becoming lovers of these words by Second Isaiah. They describe in eloquent terms the mission of Israel as seen by the prophet. The poem begins and ends with God's call to his chosen people to a servanthood to be marked by suffering and mistreatment. Their destiny is not deserved. As a people, they are innocent, yet must accept their suffering with grace, understanding that it is through them that the whole of humanity shall be redeemed. In the midst of the poem, we hear the anguish of the called people, but all is consummated in the divine promise: "Behold, my servant shall prosper, he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high."
Any thoughtful person must grieve for all Jews. From the beginning of their recorded history to this very moment, they have suffered terribly as a people. This may not mean that every Jewish person leads a life of suffering -- but as a People, there is no argument. The Holocaust comes first to mind, but other examples are many. The question cries out for answer: "As beautiful as the poetry of our text, where is there any evidence that it will ever be fulfilled? Thousands of years have passed, yet humanity seems no nearer to redemption than when Isaiah penned his words. When?"
Is our answer not that Jesus took into his own heart these words, realized that the people of Israel were reborn in him, that henceforth he must live out the destiny of a life of suffering and death, that all might be redeemed? Perhaps it has not been fulfilled in history, not for all nations. But for many. For me. For you. For those to whom we have been called to preach. For those who hear, who accept his Spirit into their own hearts it has taken place. This divine promise, though not fulfilled, is being fulfilled through Jesus Christ.
Lesson 2: Hebrews 10:16-25 (C); Hebrews 10:1-25 (E)
From that time on we no longer need a long list of rules to memorize, in order to be righteous. The law is written in our minds and hearts. Because Jesus died for us, we are wiped clean of all guilt, are offered a new beginning. We enter the sanctuary of worship knowing ourselves renewed by the sacrifice of Jesus. Our work henceforth is to encourage each other in doing the work of love and good deeds. Our new Priest, Christ, presides, and we are to gather together regularly until "the Day."
Lesson 2: Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9 (RC)
The Hebrew tradition of the priesthood still influences the theology of the author. Jesus, for him, is high priest according to the order of Mel-chiz'e-dek. Through his suffering and submission to God, he has been made perfect and thus is the means by which we too may find eternal salvation. He is able to sympathize with us in our trials and temptations because he is one "who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin."
Gospel John 18:1--19:42 (C, RC); John (18:1-40) 19:1-37 (E)
Here is John's version of the Passion story. It takes Jesus through his capture, his rejection by friends, his pain and humiliation, and finally his death on the cross. The preacher will study this series with care in preparation for preaching. As with all sermons, a brief passage which focuses attention on the heart of the matter will make for a strong sermon.
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
Title: "Standing Before The Cross"
Text: Isaiah 53:3b
Theme: We may decide to turn to the Gospel for the sermon, yet there is an important word here in the Old Testament. "As one from whom others hide their faces, he was despised and we held him of no account." That's how other ancient people viewed the people of Israel, and that ignominious fate was lived out briefly in the life of Jesus. It's hard to think so now, given what we know. Yet, in all likelihood, most of us would have stood before the cross, if not with outright rejection, certainly lacking the courage to step forth on his behalf. Perhaps his mother did, but she was a woman (therefore having no power in those days). No man is recorded as having raised his voice in defense of Jesus. With an effort, we can try to imagine what it might be like to realize that even those closest to you, the men with whom you have lived and shared your deepest thoughts and feelings, lacked the commitment to speak on your behalf.
1. The cross is relived each day. The Spirit of Jesus confronts us with a chance to step forth this time. The risk is not nearly so great as that from which Peter and his friends turned. But there is risk. Every time we tell a painful truth, every time we resist a temptation when others cannot, every time we undertake a risky or difficult work which offers little pay or commendation, we step forth.
2. Do we name his name to others? Bearing witness through our deeds is important, but somehow letting it be known that we are what we are because of him helps others know where to turn. A 49-year-old man driving home in Indianapolis saw a truck involved in an accident. The driver was injured, the door was jammed, the engine was on fire. The man jumped on the running board and tried to get the door open. Failing that, he took a fire extinguisher and smashed the windshield, then climbed in and unhooked the injured man's seat belt. The fire had spread to the cab and others outside called to the man to get out. But he would not. Frantically, and finally successfully, the passenger door was ripped open and, as the truck cab was nearly exploding with flames, both men came free.
The man who performed that act of heroism was interviewed on television. Commended, he simply said, "No, it was God who made it possible." (That wasn't quite naming Christ, but his church affiliation made that part clear.)
3. He was wounded for our transgressions. Isaiah believed that by turning to "Him," we would be forgiven for our sins. Truth? We all have remained silent before the cross too many times. I have. But he will take that sin upon himself if we will one day step forth and affirm him with our lives.
Title: "What Wondrous Love"
Text: John 19:23-24, Hebrews 10:19
Theme: "We have, then, my brothers, complete freedom to go into the Most Holy Place by means of the death of Jesus." What better summary of the central truth of our faith, that we are enabled to approach God directly, in an intimate relationship like that of child to parent, because Jesus suffered for us as he did? But how easily, almost blithely, do we roll those words, too easily failing to absorb the gruesome price paid by a kindly and loving man so that this could be true. Perhaps one role of the preacher is to be sure we are reminded of the gravity of the events which brought us where we are today.
Behold the Savior of mankind
Nailed to the shameful tree;
How vast the love that him inclined
To bleed and die for thee!
Those words were found among the effects of Samuel Wesley after the fire which destroyed the Wesley parsonage at Epworth in 1709, and call to mind the meaning of Good Friday. In preaching, emphasis should be placed on (1) the sacrifice of Jesus for those of us he loves, and (2) the call to sacrifice in turn for other people. Plus, the effect of this sacrifice is to bring reconciliation to those who currently suffer alienation, something only possible when someone gives up something for the sake of another.
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
Episcopal priest C. Kilmer Myers chose to serve a church in the depths of the most poverty stricken part of Bedford-Stuyvesant in New York City. One evening, after a worship service had ended, Myers was standing with some parishioners, when he heard a disturbance in the street. He looked out and saw that a large group of members of The Knights, one of the most violent gangs in the ghetto, had gathered.
Down the middle of Henry Street came "the two Johnson brothers. They walked slowly, their hands in their pockets. They looked grim. I gestured inquiringly (Myers wrote) and one of them shouted, 'Razors.'
"I tore down the street and walked toward the approaching brothers feeling half foolish, as though I were part of a Western drama played in the main streets of a cattle town. But it was serious, and I was not sure how to cope with it. I knew only that I must somehow get the razors away from them.
"I used every argument I could think of to get the razors. I warned them of the punishment that certainly would follow a cutting. I reminded them that they both had records and this time they would be sent away for a long time. Were they to kill one of the Knights, they too might pay with their lives. I knew I was not reaching either of them, although at times Willie seemed to waver. I sensed that he really wanted me to help him out of the fix they were in. Finally, I said to him: 'Willie, what do you call me?' After a moment of hesitation, he answered 'Father.' 'Willie, what do the Knights call me?' A longer silence, then 'Father.' This time I waited; it was my last pitch. 'Willie, if you call me Father, and the Knights call me Father, what does that mean you are to me? He looked at me as though he wanted to cry, 'I, I am ... your son.' And they? 'Sons.' We looked at each other, long. His was a soft look, that of a child. Slowly, he reached into his pocket. He pulled out the razor and handed it to me. Then he turned and, with Ben, walked away down the street."
____________
It happened a long time ago, up in the rural mountain area of one of our eastern states. It was winter. Mom and Dad and their three children had lived together in relative harmony. But the older boy was now sixteen, the age at which we know everything there is to know, and for which there is no cure except the passage of three or four more years. So Dad and his son had a stressful argument, and the boy stormed out of the house, into the darkness of the night. Time passed, the boy did not return and, it being winter, snow began to fall. As the night wore on, the winds increased, the temperature dropped, and the snow became much heavier. By midnight it was a full-fledged winter storm. Now, terribly worried, Dad put on his warmest clothes, grabbed his shotgun and a handful of shells, and despite his wife's protest, stepped out into the night.
From time to time, Mother heard a shotgun blast as Dad tried to tell his son where he was. The wintry winds drowned out all other sounds. As night wore on, the shotgun blasts continued. Then they stopped. Finally, very early in the still dark dawn, Mother heard a sound at the door and found her half-frozen son there, finally, safely home. The next day, they found the old man.He had died of exposure.
On the tombstone, the penitent son had written: "A father who loved his son more than he loved his life." That boy then and there vowed to become someone of whom his father could be proud. He went to college, became a successful and good man, and thereafter did everything in his life in ways he hoped would make his father proud.
____________
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 22 -- "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
Prayer Of The Day
God of love, thou who can forgive what we could never forgive; we come to thee in penitence, confessing our failure to be what our faith calls us to be, yet determined to be just that. Add to us, O God, the inner qualities by which we may yet deserve that name we use: Christian. Amen.
