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sgfridaynoon04
Good Friday Noon
Text:
Luke 23:33-49
Date: Good Friday Noon
4/9/04 super dvd creator ru
We
gather today at this hour to be where Jesus is. For where Jesus
is there is forgiveness, life and salvation. Yes, since his death,
resurrection and ascension he has promised to be with his Church
whenever and wherever she gathers around his Word and Sacraments.
“Behold, I am with you always.” “Wherever two or three are gathered
together in my name, there am I.” “My Body, my Blood for you.” But
we gather at this hour on this day, the Friday after the full moon
after the spring equinox because it was on this day, at this hour,
that he reached his goal of bearing our sins in his body on the
tree of the cross. There is forgiveness here because here he bore
the judgment of our sin. There is life here because here he swallowed
up death. There is salvation here because here he took all the condemnation
we deserved. We gather around the cross on which he has hung already
for three hours and watch and listen and pray until his death at
three o'clock in this dark afternoon.
We
have heard the account from a harmony of the four Gospels; seven
words or statements in all from the cross. Matthew and Mark report
only the one, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Tonight
we will hear John's account of three more words, “Woman, behold
your son;” “I thirst,” and “It is finished.” Right now, however,
as this is the year of Luke, let us focus on his account where Luke
provides us with the other three words: “Father, forgive them; for
they know not what they do;” “Truly, I say to you, today you will
be with me in Paradise;” and “Father, into thy hands I commit my
spirit!” Each account has its own character and purpose. St. Luke's
account is the most catechetical. In these three words is proclaimed
the faithful Son of God who came to release all mankind from the
grip and bondage of sin. It is through the forgiveness of sins that
we are reconciled with God and inherit eternal life.
“Father,
forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Jesus brings the
forgiveness of sins. It was announced already at the birth of John
the Baptist when Zechariah, his father, spoke of John's vocation
as announcing “salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their
sins” [Luke 1:77 (ESV)]. And, indeed, thirty years later, John “went
into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of
repentance for the forgiveness of sins” [Luke 3:3 (ESV)]. Luke reports
Jesus' first sermon in Nazareth announcing his purpose of proclaiming
“liberty,” that is, release, the forgiveness of sins [Luke 4:18].
Jesus brings forgiveness to the paralytic (Luke 5) and the sinful
woman (Luke 7), and many others, and teaches us to pray for it and
share it in the Lord's Prayer, (Luke 11:4). Jesus, as bearer of
forgiveness, is the foundation of the church. So his final mandate
to his Church is “that repentance and forgiveness of sins should
be proclaimed in his name to all nations” [Luke 24:47 (ESV)]. Jesus
has the authority to say, “Father, forgive them.”
Here
we see this forgiveness pronounced to the penitent evildoer on the
cross beside him. This one confesses his sin, his total unworthiness,
and begs only to be remembered by Jesus in his kingdom. To be remembered
by Jesus, however, is either to be judged or to be forgiven and
given the gift of eternal life. The example of the penitent evildoer
is sometimes mentioned in connection with the fact that he was apparently
not baptized. Yet, the penitent evildoer does what each of us is
called to do in our baptism, as St. Paul says in Romans 6. For there,
in a moment of fear and faith, this sinner was truly united with
Jesus in a death like his and, according to Jesus' promise, he shall
certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his in paradise.
Luke's
third and final word is a quote from Psalm 31, a psalm of trust,
an expression of confident faith and rejoicing in God's salvation,
“Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.” Having a fully human
nature, Jesus has a spirit. Still fully in control of the events
of our salvation, he voluntarily gives up his life to death. In
these three words reported by St. Luke the message of the cross
is one of forgiveness, comfort and confident trust in God.
With
the crowds and the women who followed him from Galilee, today we
are counted as witnesses to this watershed moment in all history.
But where, before the resurrection, they observed the crucifixion
“at a distance,” they will join us and we them to embrace the cross
and participate in the mission of proclaiming the scandal of Christ
crucified in the power of his resurrection. It is in that power
that we gather today and proclaim,
The
death of Jesus Christ, our Lord,
We
celebrate with one accord;
It
is our comfort in distress,
Our
heart's sweet joy and happiness. [LW 107:1]
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