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Sentence of Scripture: " the Son of
Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his
life a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45 NRSV) |
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Hymn:
AHB 258: When I survey the wondrous cross |
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Prayer:
Heavenly Father, we pray, as we come to worship you and
to meditate on the saving work of your beloved Son, Jesus
Christ, that our minds might be lifted above the worries
of this world, to focus on you and you alone; fill us
with your Holy Spirit that we might understand the height
and depth and breadth of Christ's love for us. In your
name we pray. Amen. |
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Hymn: Consider
Christ |
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Reading:
Mark 1:21-34 |
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Reflection:
Jesus - The Son of God |
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Here we
are on Good Friday, 2002, thinking again as we do every
year, about the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross on
our behalf. But before we think about Jesus death, I
thought we might spend a few moments thinking about who
Jesus is. I'm going to concentrate at this stage on the
way Mark presents Jesus to us, mainly because his gospel
seems to give the simplest and most straightforward
account of Jesus life and deeds. So you might like to
open your Bibles to Mark ch 1. |
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It's
fairly clear, as you begin to read Mark's gospel, that he
has a particular aim in writing his gospel. That's to
bring to our attention: |
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Jesus'
Authority |
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In fact
he wants to show that Jesus carried with him a level of
authority in a number of areas: |
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As a
Teacher |
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Look at
Mark 1:21. Mark begins his gospel with a series of events
that introduce us to Jesus and who he is. First, in
1:21-22 he shows how Jesus authority as a teacher was
recognised by those who heard him. As we read through the
gospels we discover that he didn't quote other Rabbis or
the writings of scholars to reinforce what he was saying.
He simply said, "I tell you," Or "I say to
you." |
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Over
evil spirits |
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Similarly
in 23-38 we discover that he had an authority over evil
spirits that meant that they obeyed him when he spoke. He
simply says: "Be quiet!" and the evil spirit
comes out of him. The people are totally amazed that
someone could have such authority as a teacher, as well
as having authority over evil spirits. |
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Over
sickness |
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In
1:29-34 and 40-45 we see that this authority extended to
healing people of their illnesses with just a word. The
people bring all those who are sick for him to heal them. |
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Over
nature |
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Elsewhere
in the gospels we see Jesus authority over nature. He
stops a violent storm on the Sea of Galilee, raises the
dead, feeds large crowds with a few loaves and a couple
of fish. |
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To
forgive sins |
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In 2:1-12
we have an incident when a man is brought to Jesus to be
healed and Jesus offers him not healing but forgiveness
of his sins. The teachers of the law are offended by
this. They see his claim to be able to pronounce
forgiveness to this man as being a claim to be equal with
God. So what does Jesus do? He heals the man as a sign
that he is in fact equal with God. That he does have the
authority to even forgive sins. |
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Now can
you see the picture that Mark builds up in the first
couple of chapters of his gospel. It's one of Jesus
coming into this world, God's world, as a man with all
the authority and power of God. He comes as God's
representative. As we discover as we read further into
the gospel, he comes as God in human form. And he comes
bearing authority in one other area as well. That is: |
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Over
people |
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In
1:16-20, Jesus calls a group of fishermen to come and
follow him. He goes up to a bunch of complete strangers
and commands them to leave their jobs and their families
and to follow him. And what do they do? As a sign that
they recognise his authority, they leave their nets and
immediately go off with him. |
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So this
is the Jesus we're thinking about today. The Jesus who
submitted himself to the torture and the taunts, to the
crown of thorns and the cross, is the same Jesus who
spoke and taught with the authority of God, who commanded
evil spirits and they obeyed, who silenced the wind and
stilled the waves. |
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Lets
meditate on that fact as we continue our service. |
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Interlude:
Amazing Grace (Sung by Sumi Jo) |
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Prayer:
From "Many Voices, One Voice", by Eddie Askew
(p47) |
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Reading:
Is 52:13-53:12 |
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Jesus
- His Humility |
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Jesus the
Son of God; Jesus, who had the authority to calm the
waves, to silence evil spirits and cast them out, who
spoke with an authority that came from his close
relationship with God, who could forgive a crippled man's
sins. Yet when he came before Pilate's court, when he was
marched up the hill of Calvary, there's no sense of him
being in control. Well, he was in control of events in
one sense, but in fact at that moment he had given up all
control. At that moment he was fulfilling this prophecy
of Isaiah: "Like a lamb that is led to the
slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is
silent, so he did not open his mouth." And it wasn't
just that the Jews and Romans had taken away his ability
to control events. It's hard to believe that the person
who could stop a storm at sea would be unable to overcome
a few Roman troops if he wanted to. But no, he chose to
humble himself for us, to give up his rights, his power.
He chose to give up his power at that moment, so these
words would come true: "Surely he has borne our
infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted
him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. 5But
he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our
iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us
whole, and by his bruises we are healed. 6All
we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our
own way, and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us
all." |
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We'll
come back to those words in a moment when we think about
the actual events of his crucifixion. But for now, let's
spend some time reflecting on the Jesus who didn't
consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but
emptied himself, taking the form of a servant and humbled
himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a
cross. |
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Hymn:
Servant King |
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Prayer
of confession: Lord Jesus Christ, you lowered
yourself even to death that we might be forgiven. We
bring to you now our failings, our disobedience, our
unwillingness to put ourselves out for others, our desire
to rule our own worlds rather than submitting to your
rule. Forgive us, cleanse us and change us. By your Holy
Spirit enable us to live for you. We ask this in your
gracious name. Amen. |
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Declaration
of forgiveness: God desires that none should perish,
but that all should turn to Christ and live. In response
to his call we acknowledge our sins. God pardons those
who humbly repent, and truly believe the Gospel.
Therefore we have peace with God, through Jesus Christ. Amen. |
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Hymn:
Jesus Christ the King and Saviour |
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Prayer:
From "Disguises of Love", by Eddie Askew (p77) |
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Reading:
Matt 27:45-66 |
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The
Crucifixion |
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Let's
think about some of the things that happen as Jesus is
crucified. |
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Darkness |
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Jesus is
hanging on the cross and suddenly the whole land becomes
dark. This isn't an eclipse of the sun. Passover was held
at the full moon, so there was no way the moon could be
in front of the sun. No, this is a supernatural darkness.
It's a darkness that shows that there's something
supernatural taking place at that moment. Jesus death
isn't just the death of a great man, the loss of the
world's greatest teacher and philosopher as some would
suggest. No, his death has deep spiritual implications. |
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Jesus'
Cry |
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Then suddenly in the darkness, Jesus cries out;
a cry of desolation: "My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me?" It's impossible to comprehend the
depths of loss and suffering implied by that cry. How
could Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the one who came with
all the authority of God himself, suddenly be abandoned,
forsaken, by God? Yet that's what he cries out. At that
moment God has left him? How could that be? |
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For the
answer we need to go back again to the Isaiah reading we
had a moment ago. "All we like sheep have gone
astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the LORD
has laid on him the iniquity of us all." Jesus has
taken our sins on himself. "He was wounded for our
transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was
the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we
are healed." |
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Let me
give you an illustration. This is not a perfect
illustration by any means but it does give something of
the idea. Some of you may have heard this before, but
please bear with me. Imagine that you have a book, in
which is written every wrong deed you've ever done, every
word you've ever spoken out of turn, every evil thought
you've ever had. For some of us it would need to be a
very thick book, wouldn't it? Now suppose my hand
represents you or me and the ceiling represents God. Now
this is a picture of the great barrier that exists
between you and God, that's the result of all those
things written in our book. Those things we've done
wrong, the things we call sins, cut us off from God,
separate us from the sort of relationship we should have
with him. In fact it isn't just the things we do wrong,
but our whole attitude to God that's the problem. We're
basically rebels. We don't want God to rule our lives. We
want to be in charge ourselves. And that's why our books
keep getting thicker and thicker, no matter how hard we
try to clean up our lives. And the end result of this is
that there will come a time when God will say
"Time's up." And at that moment our future will
be sealed. If we're still carrying around that book, with
all it's pages filled we'll be left like that for
eternity. Never being able to enjoy the presence of God,
being left out of the wonders of life in God's new city,
where there'll be no more crying or pain, no more hunger
or thirst, no more mourning or sadness. Instead we'll be
left to an eternity of isolation from everything that's
good. |
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But
suppose that someone were to come along and take your
book away. Things would be different. In fact that's
exactly what Jesus does on the cross. It's as though he
takes our book, our sin, on himself, and leaves us free.
He restores our relationship with God, because he takes
away everything that separates us from God. "Upon
him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his
bruises we are healed." |
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When
someone believes in Jesus Christ, when they accept him as
Lord of their lives, and accept his offer to take away
their sin, they're left without anything between them and
God. There's no more sin to harm the relationship.
There's no longer any fear in standing before God. All
there is, is a great joy at knowing that Jesus has made
them whole once more, that they're now able to come into
God's presence without fear. |
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And of
course that's the significance of what happens next: |
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The
Curtain |
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As Jesus
dies, he cries out with a loud voice and his Spirit
leaves him. And at that very moment the curtain of the
temple is torn in two from top to bottom. Now we need to
understand something of the layout of the Temple to
understand the full significance of this event. You see
the inner part of the temple was divided into two, into a
large and a small area, by a curtain. The larger area was
where the priests went to carry out their normal duties
in the worship of God. The smaller area was the Holy of
Holies. This was the dwelling place of God. A Priest
would go into it once a year when it was time to offer
the annual sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the
people. For anyone else, there was an impenetrable
barrier between them and God, represented by this
curtain. So the curtain tearing in half from top to
bottom has a great significance. It means that no longer
are we human beings separated from God. The way to God
has now been opened to us. That's because Jesus has
removed the real barrier that separates us from God: the
barrier of sin. As Isaiah said, he has borne our
infirmities and carried our diseases; he was wounded for
our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; the LORD
has laid on him the iniquity of us all; upon him was the
punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are
healed. We're now able to enter the very presence of God
without fear, because Jesus has taken away everything
that makes us unworthy, everything that makes us fear the
judgement of God. |
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Let's
spend a time of silence, meditating on the fact that
we're now able to enter God's presence without fear,
because of Jesus death on the cross on that first Good
Friday. |
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Silence |
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Intercessions: |
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Hymn: AHB
166: There is a green hill far away |
