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 Friday we call Good, because Jesus sacrificed Himself on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins, is taken from John 19:30 and is entitled, “It is Finished,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. Dan first felt the pain at about 6 p.m. on Saturday. Six hours in the emergency room wasn’t a way to spend Saturday night. Besides, he needed to preach in the morning. By 6:15, the aspirin seemed to have no effect, and the ER was his only option. The doctor ordered an EKG and nitro sprayed under the tongue. It would take a while for tests to be completed. Dan was admitted, and by 4 a.m., the tests confirmed a heart attack. By 7 a.m., he was being prepared for a heart catheterization. While on the table, the medical team performed their tasks. The cardiologist operated the equipment with skill. Dan prayed that his coronary arteries could be opened, and he would be home by Tuesday. “Dan,” the doctor said, “I have bad news. You’re going to need surgery.” Dan was wheeled to a room in the critical care unit. He was given three days on an assist pump to allow time for his heart to strengthen. He was scheduled for surgery on Wednesday. On the night before surgery, Dan’s family stood at his bedside. They read his favorite psalms and prayed with him. Everything was in the Lord’s hands and the hands of the surgeon. Early in the morning, Dan was prepared for surgery. His chest was opened. His heart was repaired, and his chest was closed. When the surgeon completed his work, he may have declared, “It is finished.” The only thing that Dan brought to the process was a damaged heart. He brought no skill, effort, talent, or gift to the process. The repair of Dan’s heart was begun, carried out, and finished by the surgeon and his team. Dan contributed nothing.
3. Dan’s experience can help us understand Jesus’ work of salvation on our behalf. When Jesus declared from the cross, “It is finished,” these words indicated so much. They announced that the defeat of sin, death, and the devil was begun, carried out, and on the cross, finished by Jesus. We contribute nothing.
4. The greatest insight that Martin Luther brings to us through his catechisms is our need for a savior and a great focus on God and what he’s done for us in Christ. In his explanations of the Ten Commandments, Luther underscores just how deeply sin has invaded our hearts. They are more than weakened. The Bible tells us that we are dead in trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1). This is evidenced by that fact that none of us fears, loves, and trusts in God above all things (SC First Commandment). Luther helps us to concur with the psalmist’s “There is none who does good, not even one” (Ps 14:3) when he says, “We daily sin much and indeed deserve nothing but punishment” (SC Fifth Petition). The spiritual death and corruption of our hearts is so complete that we have no desire for God. In fact, in our very being we are hostile to God (Rom 8:7). For this reason, we can’t by our own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ or come to him (SC Third Article).
5. Left untreated, this spiritual death leads to eternal death. God isn’t responsible for our sorry condition, but he has the cure. Healing comes from our Great Physician. He administers the ultimate treatment when he grants to us forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. Like Dan’s cardiac surgeon, the Great Physician must administer his healing without any cooperation from us. We give him no advice and assist in no way. But unlike Dan’s surgeon, the Great Physician requires no payment of money. And unlike Dan’s surgeon, the Great Physician gives himself for our healing. He does everything necessary to repair our dying hearts. The Bible is the story of God’s treatment plan. He promised a savior and then sent his only Son to be that Savior. The goal of Jesus’ entire life was this one thing: to rescue us from sin, death, and the devil. He did this by living a perfectly sinless life for us and then giving that life for us on the cross.
6. On Good Friday, we observe the conclusion of Jesus’ mission on our behalf. Although he could’ve called for his Father to supply 12 legions of angels, he allowed Judas’s kiss of betrayal to mark him as the one to be arrested. Although he was innocent, he stood silently as Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin forced through his unjust conviction and a sentence of death. Although a few days earlier he had been honored as a king, he heard the crowd’s echoing shouts of “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Although he came to provide us with the white robe of righteousness, he was stripped, beaten, and spat upon for us.
7. Finally, he was crowned with thorns and forced to carry his cross to the Place of the Skull. There, nails pierced his hands and feet as he was lifted up for all to see and mock. From the cross, in spite of his thirst and pain, he spoke words of forgiveness and paradise for all to hear. And although he had twice heard the words of his Father declare from heaven, “This is my beloved Son,” on this day he was forsaken even by his Father in heaven. The Great Physician did this all for us in order to heal us with his holy, precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death. When everything was completed, he declared for all to hear, “It is finished.”
8. The only thing we bring to the process is a damaged—no, make that a dead—heart. We bring no skill, effort, talent, or gift to the process. The repair of our hearts was begun, carried out, and finished by our Great Physician, Jesus Christ. We contribute nothing. We take no credit. We are not worthy. That even includes the Holy Spirit applying the healing won on the cross to each of you. In your Baptism, God cleansed you by the washing of water with the Word and presented you to himself without any spot or blemish (Eph 5:26–27). Like for the thief on the cross, the Holy Spirit has brought you to faith and moved you to seek life in Christ’s kingdom. In the Word and Sacraments, the completed work of Christ is presented to you week after week as you receive forgiveness of sins. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is life and salvation.
9. When the thief on the cross made his confession of faith and received from Jesus’ own lips the promise of paradise, he had only a few short hours remaining on earth. But, when Martin Luther was led to put his trust in Christ, he was granted many years to share the Gospel with a Church that had neglected it. You and I are the great beneficiaries of this rediscovery of the Gospel, and we thank God for men and women such as Luther who have faithfully passed on God’s Word of salvation through faith in Christ.
10. None of us knows how many days or hours we have left. We may have only a few, like the thief, but possibly many more. Before Dan’s surgery, the doctor had informed him that he could live no longer than six months without corrective surgery. The surgeon repaired Dan’s heart more than five years ago. This led Dan to contemplate what God would have him do with this extra time granted to him on earth.
11. Dan concluded that among the things God wanted him to do was to tell people about our wonderful Savior, the Great Physician of soul and body. God may also grant more years of life on this earth to us. May he so move us that we may join the ranks of Peter, Paul, Luther, and countless others in sharing the message that on the cross, Jesus completed the work necessary for our salvation and that it is free to all who believe. Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus until life everlasting. Amen.
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