Easter 2024 – Good Friday

Joke: One day just before Easter Eddie pulled into the store parking lot.

His wife Brenda had picked up a few things and was waiting for him.

“Hi, honey,” Eddie cheerfully said as Brenda got into the car. “How was your day?

“I can’t believe it,” Brenda said. “It looks like our bank is in trouble.”

“What?” Eddie asked.

“It’s closing at the end of the week,” Brenda replied.

That can’t be right,” Eddie said. “It’s a national bank!”

“Well it’s true,” Brenda came back. “I saw the sign in the window.”

“What sign?” Eddie asked.

“Drive passed the bank and you’ll see,” Brenda replied.

So, Eddie headed in the direction of the bank.

“Right there,” Brenda said as they drove by the bank. “See the sign? It says, ‘We Will Be Closed for Good Friday!’

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Peter: It Feels Like We Lost

John 18:1-19:42

Do you have sounds that make your skin crawl?  I have never liked the sound that you get when you put nails and a chalkboard together.

In the UK there is a company called Big Finish and they create audio dramas of Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes and other classic TV series. Once they filled a rubber glove with custard and squished it under a microphone. And that’s the sound they use for everything from alien monsters to the the villain of the Hound of the Baskervilles disappearing in quicksand.

When Orson Welles broadcast the War of the Worlds he had a sound engineer put a mason jar down into a toilet in the mens room and slowly unscrew it to create the effect of the alien spacecraft opening.

We have come a long way with special effects haven’t we?

Let me give you a few more sounds. . .maybe there’s a few you cringe at as well.

Screeching tires.

A dentist’s drill

The Smoke alarm ( tell story of alarm going off in our house)

It’s not necessarily the sound that makes us shiver sometimes It’s the memories that go with that sound.

If you have ever been in a car accident what happens to your body when hear screeching tires? You clench up you react physically.

Peter heard the rooster crow. Any other time it would have just been the signal to get up and start your day. It was a sound of new beginnings. But for Peter that sound would bring back the feeling of that night.

Show video: www.skitguys.com

Even after everything turned out okay. Even after he saw Jesus again. Even after he went out on his own as a minister, every morning would be like waking up to the betrayal.

We know Peter. We know Peter because he stepped out of the boat. We know Peter because he drew his sword and cut off the soldier’s ear. Peter has a mother-in-law.   We know Peter because we all have a friend like him.

We care to much for Judas. We kind of like John. But, we all know Peter.

When Peter walks on the water we sometimes forget to mention that Peter didn’t believe Jesus at first. Jesus is out there on the water showing off maybe doing the moon walk or a Fred Astaire tap dance.

And Peter says, “If that’s you. . .if that’s really you. . .stand there while I come out on the water.”

Jesus says, “Okay then. Come’on.”

And Peter does. . .he steps out.  He sinks.  And then it’s Mr-I-Believe. “Jesus save me”

Peter sinks because he doubts. He doesn’t doubt Jesus. He doubts himself.

Any disciple would want to just follow his rabbi, he would want to be like his rabbi. Peter fails.

From the beginning Jesus is trying to create something in Peter. He didn’t start with “If you love me, feed my sheep.” Jesus was preparing Peter for ministry from the beginning.

Jesus knew.

Jesus knew how it was going to end. He knew Peter would deny him and He let Peter do it because of what it would create in him. It would make him into the kind of minister Jesus needed him to be.

There’s a line in the video that goes by quickly but it’s so important. “What would you do?”

“Why no officer I had no idea I was going that fast.”

Yeah, in that situation I’d probably deny him too.

We like Peter because Peter is. . .well, he’s us. He’s the most relatable. What would you do?

Peter was originally named Simon.  That happened often in the  Scriptures.   Jesus changed Simon’s name to Peter which means Rock.

Thankfully He did that before Peter sank like a stone or I’m not sure it would have had the same effect. Peter, the rock, the stone on which Jesus says he’s going to build his church.

If we relate to Peter it’s because we are like him.

If we are sometimes a little slow on the uptake, if we occasionally act before we think, If we’d lie to get out of a traffic ticket then we would most certainly lie to keep from being put in jail and put to death. . .

We relate to Peter because we to, really, really, really want to be like Jesus. . .

If we relate to Peter it’s because we are Peter, what does that say about the church Jesus is building?

Maybe it says we don’t need to perfect. Maybe it says we don’t need to have it all down. Maybe, just maybe it says we understand that we are loved and can share that love in spite of us or what we have done.

The church was never meant to be that place with all the answers. Sometimes the church is like one who knows they need something more so we can share with someone else that there is something more.

The text accompanying this video is heavy. Over 2000 words must be read if one is to capture the full effect of what the gospel writer, John, was attempting to convey to his audience. Peter felt every ounce of the emotionally draining events articulated in these two chapters and then some. If it feels long to read, and we are going to read it,  just imagine how it felt to live these chapters as Peter did. For one who had walked with Jesus for three years to this point, along with the other disciples, what he experienced on and around Good Friday felt like a total disaster.

It felt like the bottom dropping out of dreams that used to be filled with hope.

It felt like chaos overtaking their lives.

It felt like things were out of control.

If words somehow could sum up what the disciples, especially Peter, were experiencing in that moment of the story:  I think it might be. . .“It feels like we lost.”

Let’s read the chapters 18 and 19  from the Gospel of John that lead us to feel some of what Peter must have felt during those unraveling hours in and around Jerusalem.

And I want you as we read this to try and put yourself in Peter’s sandals and determine if you, too, feel like you just lost something that you had been so invested in with Jesus and his followers.

John 18:1–40 (NIV): When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it. 2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. 4 Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?” 5 “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6 When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. 7 Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they said. 8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” 9 This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.”   10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) 11 Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” 12 Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him 13 and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. 14 Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jewish leaders that it would be good if one man died for the people. 15 Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard, 16 but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the servant girl on duty there and brought Peter in. 17 “You   aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” she asked Peter. He replied, “I am not.” (say that’s one) 18 It was cold, and the servants and officials stood around a fire they had made to keep warm. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.  19 Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. 20 “I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus replied. “I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. 21 Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what I said.”  22 When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby slapped him in the face. “Is this the way you answer the high priest?” he demanded. 23 “If I said something wrong,” Jesus replied, “testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?” 24 Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.  25 Meanwhile, Simon Peter was still standing there warming himself. So they asked him, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?” He denied it, saying, “I am not.” (say that’s two). 26 One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenged him, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?” 27 Again Peter denied it, (say that’s three) and at that moment a rooster began to crow.  28 Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What charges are you bringing against this man?”  30 “If he were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed him over to you.”  31 Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” “But we have no right to execute anyone,” they objected. 32 This took place to fulfill what Jesus had said about the kind of death he was going to die. 33 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”  34 “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”  35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”  36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” 37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.  Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”  38 “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. 39 But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?”  40 They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising.

Now on to chapter 19

John 19:1–42 (NIV): Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3 and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.  4 Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” 5 When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” 6 As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”  But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”  7 The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”  8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9 and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”  11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”  12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”  13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14 It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon. “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews. 15 But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.  “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered. 16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.  So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. 17 Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle. 19 Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews. 20 Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. 21 The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.” 23 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. 24 “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”

This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,

“They divided my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.”  So this is what the soldiers did. 25 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” 27 and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. 28 Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. 31 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 32 The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. 35 The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. 36 These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,”  37 and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”  38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. 40 Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

I know that was long but I think important to fully see what happened and how Peter must of felt seeing everything transpire.

Certainly, what Jesus endured and accomplished not only on the cross, but also on his way to the cross in the hours leading up to that horrific event, was more than we could possibly imagine or fully experience.

However, sometimes lost in the shuffle of the events that are portrayed in the chapters such as John 18-19 are how such moments might have affected the disciples.

After all was said and done the things they encountered began to make sense. But in the moment, the emotional roller coaster that was experienced must have been overwhelming.

Jesus knew the toll these emotional events took on his disciples, especially Peter. One of the reasons Jesus said what he said and did what he did to Peter in John 21 was to reinstate Peter “back in the gospel fight” after feeling like all was lost at the cross.

That breakfast that Jesus shared with Peter on the shoreline after a night of fruitless fishing helped Peter realize that all was not lost. In fact, so much had just been won. But before that redemptive breakfast took place, Peter would find himself being swallowed up by his own fears and shaking in a corner as he wept over his own disappointment in betraying Jesus.

We must not read into the text where specifics are not already included. However, I wonder what might have been happening on the inside of Peter and the other disciples.

How many times did a crowing rooster cause Peter to shiver in his heart throughout the remaining days of his life?

Jesus told Peter that denial was coming that night. Peter just could not believe it. But it happened again and again. The cock crowed and that piercing sound in that night must have replayed in his mind over and over again throughout his life.

And church maybe you feel a little like Peter.  You felt like you’ve messed up too many times.  You feel shame and regret but I want you to hear this. . .

Romans 8:1–4 (NLT): So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. 3 The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. 4 He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.

Did Peter ever pick up a sword when he did not think of the swipe that took place and the blood that spilled in the garden that night?

How many times did he think about the closeness that his blade came to severing not the ear of Malchus, but the neck instead?

Had his sword connected inches to the right or left it would have resulted in Peter’s death on the spot by the other soldiers; unless of course Jesus would have chosen to restore life to the one run through by the sword.

Would there ever again be a time that Peter did not warm himself by a fire that the echoes of his own denial in knowing Jesus would not rattle in his head?

The emotional blows that Peter could have endured throughout his life may have been triggered by such simple, yet powerful elements that played such a part in the waning hours of Jesus’ life before the cross.

Peter was a wreck. And yet all that he experienced ultimately did not keep him from being used by God to help move the mission of the gospel forward.

God can and does use moments around the table, choices of betrayal, words of denial, hands being warmed by the fire, echoes of a rooster in the night, and tears we cry from disappointment and shame to lead us from what feels like loss to a new hope of victory.

John’s words in 19:36 must not be overlooked. Rather, it is worth pausing and resting in the magnitude of what they mean to this incredible part of the story that took place on and around Good Friday.

John 19:36 (NIV): These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled:

All that Jesus experienced were parts that must come together to accomplish in full what the Scriptures had foretold through the prophets of God.

Such fulfillment would mean emotional and physical difficulty that felt like losing rather than winning along the way for so many of the characters represented in the account.

Jesus must win the victory in Gethsemane before losing his life on the cross at Calvary.

And through the power of prayer in the garden, Jesus trusted his Father to bring forth the victory although it would not be without pain and suffering that filled his cup.

He would soon be the champion and King who defeated death and would rise from the grave.

Not just for himself but for us also.

Galatians 2:20 (NLT): My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

The words above Jesus’ head at Calvary were more appropriate than Pilate may have realized when he had them written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin.

They pronounced who this one was and what he was known for while losing his life: “The King of the Jews.”

While they proclaimed a victorious truth in the end, during the moment they seemed to indicate a loss because of what people saw taking place in Jesus’ body on the cross.

The three languages on the sign said so much in that moment.

The Hebrew religion rejected Jesus. The Greek culture ignored Jesus. The Roman law crucified Jesus.

All three languages tried to announce that he and all he had lived for had been lost on this Good Friday.

The words not only were able to be read, but the additional words from the crowd who passed by and gathered at the cross sounded out the cruel loss that was taking place.

Jesus was being taunted as he was perceived as losing his life in vain. It must have felt like the “winning team” was rubbing it in as defeat with death was being experienced in the moment.

With so much blood, sweat, and tears, surely this scene was one that shouted: “LOSER!”

The cross is the place where life and dreams go to die according to most.

It was such a painful and disturbing end that felt agonizingly long by those who endured it until the end. One part of a crucifixion was the dehydration that came from the loss of body fluids. It must have felt like Jesus was close to defeat when he acknowledged his own thirst upon the cross in John 19:28.

Again, to those on the sidelines of the cross, it felt like they were losing in those moments as time elapsed.

Finally, time had run out. The battle was over. Jesus declared his life and mission completed in John 19:30 when he announced, “It is finished.”

That proclamation that ended the cross episode is one word in the Greek language: “tetelestai.” It is the form of the verb “teleo” that means “a state of permanency.”

This verb means to bring something to its intended end or desired goal once and for all.

Literally, “It is finished and stands finished forever.”

And so, the crucifixion Jesus endured not only was finished in that moment, but also never again would be required to be replayed.

Hebrews 7:27 (NLT): Unlike those other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when he offered himself as the sacrifice for the people’s sins.

Hebrews 9:25–28 (NIV): Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26 Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Hebrews 10:15–18 (NIV): The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: 16 “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”  17 Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”  18 And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.

Jesus’ redemptive work was accomplished in his death. What felt like a loss in the moment would lead to a victory for eternity.

John lets his readers know that after Jesus gave up his spirit in death, his side was pierced but his bones not broken. Out rushed blood and water.

Some medical opinions suggest the mingling of both blood and water rushing forth indicated a ruptured heart.

So, while no bones were broken in Jesus’ death, he very well may have died of a broken heart for the people he came to save.

What truly had been lost, now had been found by having a way back home to salvation through Jesus’ sacrifice.

What may have felt like losing in the moment really was the first seconds of victory over sin, death, Satan and hell for all of humanity that would call on the name of Jesus for salvation.

John 14:6 (NLT): Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

Acts 4:12 (NIV): Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

There is only one way to get to Heaven and that is through Jesus.   Your momma’s relationship with Him won’t do it.  (Your daddy’s, etc.). You need to come to Him for yourself.

It would take some time for Peter to know that what felt like a loss actually was a win.

He would not know it on this night. This was his “dark night of the soul” as St. John of the Cross would later identify such moments in life.

Peter was drained emotionally and yet filled with regret at that point in time. It was anything but a Good Friday. It felt like he lost. It felt like we lost.

And yet even though Peter did not know it at the time: Sunday was coming.

Show nothing but the blood video