1.
Please pray with
me. May the words of my mouth and the
meditation of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our
Redeemer. Amen. The message from God’s Word this Good Friday
is taken from selections of Hebrews 5:8-9 and from John 19:25-30. It’s entitled, “The Son Who Learned Obedience,” dear brothers and sisters in
Christ.
2.
A man had
inherited a business from his father. Sounds like a great thing. The son comes
in, fresh from his schooling, to sit in a nice office next to his father, and
to eventually take over the business, rule the company, and enjoy the lifestyle
of business lunches, golf outings, foreign trips, and all the rest.
3.
But, it wasn’t a
bit like that. For a start, it happened at a time of great economic
uncertainty, when there wasn’t any spare cash for even the occasional lavish
lunch, let alone trips and outings. What was more, the father made sure the son
learned the business. He had to work in the workshops along with the mechanics.
He had to visit the suppliers to see where the materials came from, and find
out how hard it was to get them at the right price. He had to go out as a
salesman into the world that wasn’t convinced it wanted the product in the
first place. And he had to share the work of the financial department as they
spent day after day crunching the numbers that told the story of success or
failure. Only when he had understood every aspect of how the business worked
was he even given an office of his own. And that was only the beginning. Now he
would have to learn both how to lead and how to manage a workforce at a time of
growing economic unrest, as well as to represent the business in the wider
world of local and national life and politics. He had to learn what it meant to
be the son of his father. Nature put him in the frame for this, but a good deal
of nurture was needed as well.
4.
This goes some
way towards explaining one of the oddest phrases in the book of Hebrews, which
comes in chapter 5:8-9, which says, “8Although
he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9And
being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey
him,” One might have thought that being God’s son would simply be a matter
of sharing God’s rule of the world, living in glory. Not so. The God who is the
Father of Jesus is the God who made the world in the first place, and He remains
deeply committed to His creation, even though it has become, sinful, wayward, and
corrupt. If Jesus is to be His Son, He must learn what this creation business
is about, what it will take to rescue it from the mess of sin and death it’s
gotten itself into. He must get to know its depths as well as its heights. He
must learn what it means to be his Father’s obedient Son. And, that will mean
suffering, not because God is a sadist who simply wants to see His Son having a
rough time, (a kind of cosmic child abuse), but because the world which God
made and loves is a dark and wicked place and the Son must suffer its sorrow
and pain in order to rescue it from sin, death, and the power of the devil.
5.
The Apostle John
records Jesus’ death with Jesus, God’s Son, fulfilling His Father’s will in
chapter 19:25-30 where he says, “25but standing by the cross of
Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and
Mary Magdalene. 26When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he
loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27Then
he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple
took her to his own home. 28After this, Jesus, knowing that all was
now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29A jar
full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a
hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30When Jesus had received
the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his
spirit.”
6.
This is the last
time we meet Jesus’ mother in the gospel story. Can you think back to the
story, early in John’s gospel, when Mary pointed out to Jesus that the wine had
run out (2:3–4). She didn’t understand that His time hadn’t yet come. And, she
doesn’t understand, even at the cross, that His time has come at last. That
this was where it was all leading. That
His calling, to turn the water of human life into the rich wine of God’s love,
was now at last being fulfilled. We assume that she quickly came to believe all
this through Jesus’ resurrection; and we assume it the more readily because of
what happens here.
7.
But the story of
the water and the wine has more significance with this scene than simply Jesus’
comment to Mary. Here is Jesus, thirsty and they give Him the low-grade sour
wine that the soldiers used. And yet earlier in John’s Gospel Jesus gave others
the best wine, so good that people remarked on it. Jesus himself, at His moment
of agony, has the cheap stuff that the lower ranks in the army drank when on
duty.
8.
The changing of
water to wine was the first in the sequence of ‘signs’ in John’s Gospel by
which Jesus revealed His glory. The second was the healing of the nobleman’s
son at Capernaum (4:46–54). The third ‘sign’ is the healing of the paralyzed
man at the pool (5:1–9). The fourth is the multiplication of loaves and fishes
(6:1–14). The fifth is the healing of the man born blind (9:1–12). And the sixth
is the raising of Lazarus (11:1–44).
9.
John can’t have
intended the sequence to stop at six. With Genesis 1 in the back of his mind
from the very start, the sequence of seven signs, completing the accomplishment
of the new creation, that God the Father had given His Son Jesus to accomplish.
Now here we are, at the foot of the cross. John has told us throughout His
gospel that when Jesus is ‘lifted up’, this will be the moment of God’s glory
shining through Him in full strength. And the ‘signs’ are the things that
reveal God’s glory. The crucifixion of our Lord Jesus is the seventh ‘sign’.
10.
To confirm this,
Jesus gives one last cry. ‘It’s
finished!’ ‘It’s all done!’ ‘It’s complete!’ The Son who learned obedience
has finished the work that the Father had given Him to do (17:4). He’s learned obedience to His Father in
heaven. Remember Hebrews 5:8-9 again, 8Although he was a son, he
learned obedience through what he suffered. 9And being made perfect,
he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,” Jesus has
loved you my friends ‘to the very end’ His own who were in the world (13:1).
He’s accomplished the full and final task.
He’s died the death we deserve.
He’s paid for the debt of your sins to His Father. All this is for you!
11.
The word ‘It is finished!’ is actually a single
word in the Greek language. It’s the word that people would write on a bill
after it had been paid. Like we do on
our receipts, “Paid in full.” Here
Jesus is saying your bill and debt of sin has been dealt with. It’s finished. The price has been paid. No longer do you stand as a debtor in your
sin to God the Father. Yes, says John. Jesus’ work is now complete. It’s upon
this finished, complete work that we as God’s people can stake our lives.
12.
You and
I know the meaning of Jesus’ sacrifice for all people, for all time. He did
this for you and me! On this most sacred
and holy day, this Friday we call Good, we stand in solemn silence and sublime
awe at the foot of the cross. On the
cross, Jesus was stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God so that we are
accounted righteous, healed, and at peace with God. The peace of God, which transcends all
understanding, keep your hearts and minds, in true faith in Christ Jesus, unto
life everlasting. Amen.
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