God, the Son, Comes as Servant to Suffer for Sin

Surely he has borne our griefs
        and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
        smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
        he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
        and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
        we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
        the iniquity of us all.  (Isa 53:4-6)

Thus then, too, though demonstrated as God, He does not refuse the conditions proper to Him as man, since He hungers and toils and thirsts in weariness, and flees in fear, and prays in trouble.  And He who as God has a sleepless nature, slumbers on a pillow.  And He who for this end came into the world, begs off from the cup of suffering.  And in an agony He sweats blood, and is strengthened by an angel, who Himself strengthens those who believe on Him, and taught men to despise death by His work.  And He who knew what manner of man Judas was, is betrayed by Judas.  And He, who formerly was honored by him as God, is contemned by Caiaphas.  And He is set at naught by Herod, who is Himself to judge the whole earth.  And He is scourged by Pilate, who took upon Himself our infirmities.  And by the soldiers He is mocked, at whose behest stand thousands of thousands and myriads of myriads of angels and archangels.  And He who fixed the heavens like a vault is fastened to the cross by the Jews.  And He who is inseparable from the Father cries to the Father, and commends to Him His spirit; and bowing His head, He gives up the ghost, who said, “I have power to lay down my life, and I have power to take it again.”  And because He was not overmastered by death, as being Himself Life, He said this: “I lay it down of myself.”  And He who gives life bountifully to all, has His side pierced with a spear.  And He who raises the dead is wrapped in linen and laid in a sepulcher, and on the third day He is raised again by the Father, though Himself the Resurrection and the Life.  For all these things has He finished for us, who for our sakes was made as we are.  For “Himself has borne our infirmities, and carried our diseases; and for our sakes He was afflicted,” as Isaiah the prophet has said.

This is He who was hymned by the angels, and seen by the shepherds, and waited for by Simeon, and witnessed to by Anna.  This is He who was inquired after by the wise men, and indicated by the star.  He who was engaged in His Father’s house, and pointed to by John, and witnessed to by the Father from above in the voice, “This is my beloved Son; hear Him.”  He is crowned victor against the devil.  This is Jesus of Nazareth, who was invited to the marriage-feast in Cana, and turned the water into wine, and rebuked the sea when agitated by the violence of the winds, and walked on the deep as on dry land, and caused the blind man from birth to see, and raised Lazarus to life after he had been dead four days, and did many mighty works, and forgave sins, and conferred power on the disciples, and had blood and water flowing from His sacred side when pierced with the spear.  For His sake the sun is darkened, the day has no light, the rocks are shattered, the veil is rent, the foundations of the earth are shaken, the graves are opened, and the dead are raised, and the rulers are ashamed when they see the Director of the universe upon the cross closing His eye and giving up the ghost.  Creation saw, and was troubled; and, unable to bear the sight of His exceeding glory, shrouded itself in darkness.  This (is He who) breathes upon the disciples, and gives them the Spirit, and comes in among them when the doors are shut, and is taken up by a cloud into the heavens while the disciples gaze at Him, and is set down on the right hand of the Father, and comes again as the Judge of the living and the dead.  This is the God who for our sakes became man, to whom also the Father has put all things in subjection.  To Him be the glory and the power, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, in the holy Church both now and ever, and even for evermore.  Amen.

Hippolytus, Against the Heresy of One Noetus

Abandoned by God and Man

O Lord, God of my salvation;
        I cry out day and night before you.
Let my prayer come before you;
        incline your ear to my cry!

For my soul is full of troubles,
        and my life draws near to Sheol.
I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
        I am a man who has no strength,
like one set loose among the dead,
        like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom you remember no more,
        for they are cut off from your hand.
You have put me in the depths of the pit,
        in the regions dark and deep.
Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
        and you overwhelm me with all your waves.  Selah

You have caused my companions to shun me;
        you have made me a horror to them.
I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
        my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call upon you, O Lord;
        I spread out my hands to you.
Do you work wonders for the dead?
        Do the departed rise up to praise you?  Selah
Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
        or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
Are your wonders known in the darkness,
        or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

But I, O Lord, cry to you;
        in the morning my prayer comes before you.
O Lord, why do you cast my soul away?
        Why do you hide your face from me?
Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,
        I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.
Your wrath has swept over me;
        your dreadful assaults destroy me.
They surround me like a flood all day long;
        they close in on me together.
You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;
        my companions have become darkness.  (Psalm 88:1-18)

These words, expressed by the sons of Korah, reveal the desperation and emotional agony of one has been completely abandoned.  He cries out to the Lord for some measure of relief and understanding, yet even there the psalmist feels hopelessness—that God Himself has turned his back.  But even in this there is a glimmer of understanding that the end will come, and God will deliver him.

Then I considered this in light of the cross.  We can see much the same being worked in the Lamb of God, who would take away the sin of the world, as he was abandoned by his disciples and his Father, and gave himself to mockers, torturers, and finally to executioners.  All this for me and you.

Man of Sorrows! what a name

For the Son of God, who came

Ruined sinners to reclaim.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Bearing shame and scoffing rude,

In my place condemned He stood;

Sealed my pardon with His blood.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Guilty, vile, and helpless we;

Spotless Lamb of God was He;

“Full atonement!” can it be?

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Lifted up was He to die;

“It is finished!” was His cry;

Now in Heav’n exalted high.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

When He comes, our glorious King,

All His ransomed home to bring,

Then anew His song we’ll sing:

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Heaven Was Gained for Man, Not by Might, but by Humility

When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”  (Matt 26:1-2)

[M]en ought to know that the arrangements of the Most High God have so advanced from the beginning, that it was necessary, as the end of the world approached, that the Son of God should descend to the earth, that He might build a temple for God, and teach righteousness.  But, however, not with the might of an angel or with heavenly power, but in the form of man and in the condition of a mortal, that when He had discharged the office of His ministry, He might be delivered into the hands of wicked men, and might undergo death, that, having subdued this also by His might, He might rise again, and bring to man, whose nature He had put on and represented, the hope of overcoming death, and might admit him to the rewards of immortality.

Lactantius, Divine Institutes IV.10

Good Friday by the Numbers

One word in the Greek language that sums it all up, tetelestai.  It means, "it is finished."  It is the word Jesus spoke on the cross announcing to the world, to His people, and to His devilish enemies that His mission was accomplished.  It means everything to us weary souls.  It is finished.  It is paid for.  It is over.  Sins are paid for.  Heaven is secure.  Now hope can reign.  One word, tetelestai.

Two natures of Christ are in this one person Jesus: human and divine.  What a strange mixture that isn't a mixture!  What a strange combination that isn't a combination!  He is 100 percent truly divine and 100 percent truly human all at once.  It is mysterious.  It is mysteriously gracious.  He had to be true man to actually live and die in this flesh.  He had to be true God to live and die perfectly for our salvation.  Think about that: God died for you!  Two natures of Christ.

Three persons of the Trinity groan at this event.  The Father, oh, can you imagine the Father, watching His one and only suffer so much?  Can you imagine the groans?  The Son going uncomplaining forth as a lamb to the slaughter.  Innocent, but not naïve.  He knows what is coming.  He knows He has to do it, and He groans.  The Spirit groaning groans that words cannot express.  The Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son to teach you all these things about the cross so that you never forget.  Three persons of the Trinity groaning.

Four legs are broken that day, two each from the thieves who flank the God-man.  Four bones cracking in the absolute horror that is mankind's evil.  How jaded do you have to be to break the bones of a dying man just to make your job end quicker?  Four legs showing us that we really are a rotten human race.

Five wounds on the body of Christ.  Two hands, two feet, and one side.  Five places where foreign metal was inserted into the body, not to help but to harm.  Five wounds that we will never forget.  Five spots wounded in our place and for our salvation.  Five wounds.

Six hours did He hang there.  Six hours of excruciating pain.  Six hours of agony for us.  Six long hours, in which He still found the kindness to save a dying thief and to take care of His mother.  Six hours, six long hours.

Seven words did our Savior speak from the cross.  He asked for a drink, and He got vinegar—more bitterness for a suffering man.  He spoke compassion to His mother and to John, "Her is your son, and here is your mother."  He pleaded for grace for His captors, "Father, forgive them; they do not know what they do."  He spoke grace to the thief, "Today you will be with me in Paradise."  And He spoke grace to us, "It is finished, tetelestai."  He spoke agony, "Why have You forsaken me?"  He spoke relief, "Father, into your hands I commit My spirit."  Seven words did our Savior speak.

Six days we labor on this earth before our heavenly Sabbath rest.  Six long days.  But our burden is light because our Savior suffered for six hours, six long hours.  Your burden is light because you have His grace.  You can suffer through it, you can.  He will never give you more than you can handle.  They are six long days but they are ultimately days of joy and peace because of Christ.  Six days, six good days.

Five wounds still haunt us and still lift us up.  Five wounds of Christ remind us of our sin but also of how precious we are in His sight.  How far He was willing to go so that we could have life!  Five wounds, five wounds we carry around in our hearts.

Four corners of the earth, that's where this message goes.  Almost everybody knows this; everybody needs to know this.  This is the most important event in the history of the world.  God died this day, and He did it for His creation.  And everybody is included.  He died for all.  And they need to know, they need to know this sacrificial love.  All four corners of the earth.

Three Marys stood by the cross.  Three women acting bravely while most of the manly disciples hid.  Three women, humbly pillars of a church.  Not unlike our women quietly holding up families and churches.  Three women who would be eyewitnesses to this horrifying death and eventually eyewitnesses to the Resurrection, too.  Three Marys who proceed into the world with His humble attitude of forgiveness and cross.  Three Marys who are role models.

Two thieves were there that day.  One penitently pleaded, "Forgive me."  One stubbornly said, "I do not need this grace.  I do not need it."  A cautionary tale to us all.  There is no difference between us and the worst of sinners.  We all stand condemned By grace alone are we on the side of the repentant thief.  By grace alone.  Two thieves so much like us.

On God speaking one word which sums it all up: Tetelestai.  It is finished.  One word from one God says it all to our tired hearts.  One God who was always there in the Old Testament, working in the New, preparing this sacrifice for each and every individual.  One God who was forgotten and spoken against and taken advantage of and disgraced.  On God who had the patience and mercy.  One God speaking one word.  One simple, eloquent, earthshaking, life-changing, eternity-securing word.  One beautiful word.  Tetelestai.  It is finished.  Amen.

Michael Berg, Gottesdienst 21.1, p. 6-7

Boast Only in the Cross of Christ

But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

I pray to have a high esteem only of the saving cross.  On account of it the whole of life is pointless to me, even like a dead body.  It is not only dead to me but I to it, awaiting eternal life as I am.

Theodoret of Cyrus, "The Letter to the Galatians" on Galatians 6:14

What Wondrous Love Is This!

Yes, he really loved in this way.  He died for me.  He died for you.

Letting the Gospel Work on Its Own Terms

For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel.

Actually, he gave both directions: "Go, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."  But preaching is more important than baptizing.  Baptizing is easy for those thought worthy of priesthood, whereas preaching is proper to a few who have received this gift from a divine source.  At this point he then represses the sense of importance of those who pride themselves on their eloquence, saying, not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.  If I were to have inclination to wordiness and cleverness, the power of the crucified would not be demonstrated.  Everyone would get the idea that believers had been snared by rhetorical skills, whereas the preachers' lack of expertise proves superior to those taking credit for eloquence and thus clearly reveals the force of the cross.

Theodoret of Cyrus, "The First Letter to the Corinthians" on 1 Corinthians 1:17

Theodoret was an ardent adherent to baptism as a work of grace and effectual in salvation (see his comments on Romans 6).  However, he recognized that the true power was God's word.  No unique or extensive rhetorical training is necessary.  No extraordinary measures used to draw crowds or manipulate for decisions.  Churches or preachers who use these actually strip the gospel of its power by making the message about what man can do.  No, the gospel is to be clearly and simply given, so that men may see the extent of the great work that was accomplished by Jesus death for the sin of the world, his burial, and his resurrection demonstrating that the work was fully accomplished.

Bare Your Death

Jonathan Fisk of Worldview Everlasting and pastor at St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church presenting some good teaching on hating this world and taking up the cross (Luke 14:25-35) as part of Greek Tuesday.

The End Is in Sight

Last words are important because of immediacy in the moment. Consider a man dying by crucifixion:

“Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Luke 23:40-42 (ESV)

Remember that he is literally nailed to a beam suffering excruciating pain, yet he understands fully what is most important.

1. There is a God to be feared. This man was going to die soon. His time was over. Thoughts turned to the fact of life after death and meeting the ultimate authority. No sacrifice could make do for sin at this point, nor would one consider that God would accept it if offered.
   
2. Guilt deserves punishment. The criminal knew his course in life deserved the recompense it received. The man beside him was a stark contrast. There was no definable guilt that should bring such an end. The contrast was obvious, but that innocent one was still dying. He did not deserve death much less a savagely cruel one.
   
3. There is a savior. Understanding his plight and lack of options, the criminal calls on the only one who can act. Note this was not like as David in Psalm 51 who cried out to God for cleansing. This malefactor turned to Jesus instead. In that relatively short time, the criminal caught a glimpse of who was beside him. He sought mercy and received it.

There is an end. How am I living it now with that day in mind?