Well, good evening everyone, and it is lovely to see you. My name is Graham, I work here at the church,
and if this is your first time maybe at Brunswick, if you're a visitor, then it is lovely to welcome you to our church this Good Friday.
Thank you so much for everyone who's participated so far, for those who have read, for the band in leading us in singing.
It has been so helpful just to focus our minds on Jesus Christ crucified that we come here to remember.
But I want to start this evening by asking you to think about if there is anyone here that has a surname,
or who has had a surname, that reveals something about you.
Now, I'll give you an example. So, my wife's maiden name is Griffith Jones, and she wouldn't marry me until I could spell it, okay?
So, G-R-U-F-F-Y-D-D, Jones. Now, what does that reveal about her? Anybody?
She is Welsh. There's Welsh blood in her family. In fact, it's her dad who is mad Welsh.
And he phoned me a few months ago, and he said, Graham, he's got an English accent, but he is Welsh.
Graham, how do you fancy going to the rugby? Coming up to Edinburgh in a few weeks' time, how do you fancy going to rugby?
Now, I must admit, I'm not massively into rugby. I'm more into the sport with the proper round-shaped ball rather than the one that looks like an egg.
But he was paying, and I said, I'd love to go to the rugby.
And we come to match day, and we start walking to Murrayfield. We start walking to the ground, and I leave the house totally disinterested in the game.
But three hours later, I leave fully enthused about the game of rugby.
Now, why was that? Well, we won. That helped.
But what really got me into the game, what really got me into the game of rugby was the passion of the crowd.
A passionate crowd. They were there, cheering on their team. A passionate crowd.
When was the last time you found yourself amongst a passionate crowd?
Well, here's what I want to do this evening, just over the next 15 or so minutes, is just as we think about Jesus on the cross,
as we think about everything that happened that first Good Friday, I want us to think about two very passionate crowds.
And they're two very different crowds, in two very different places, who are shouting two very different things.
Now, why? Well, because they have two very different opinions on who Jesus Christ is.
And it's the Apostle John that tells us about these two very different and two very passionate crowds.
And if you've got your Bibles there, maybe you can track with me this evening.
And the first passionate crowd that I want us to think about is that angry crowd that we meet in John chapter 19.
Now, what is this crowd's take on Jesus?
Verse 4 of chapter 19.
John records this.
Pilate went out again and said to them,
See, I am bringing him, that is Jesus, out to you that you might know that I found no guilt in him.
So Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe.
Pilate said to them,
Behold the man.
When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out,
Crucify him!
Now, what is the shout of this passionate crowd?
Crucify him!
In fact, it's interesting, if you've got John chapter 19 open there,
that every time we meet this crowd and their interactions with Pilate,
we are told that they are shouting.
Three times, in fact, we are told that they shout.
This crowd, made up of chief priests and Jewish leaders,
now they are baying for Jesus' blood.
What do they demand is the fate of this man, Jesus Christ.
What do they want to happen?
Well, crucifixion.
That brutal Roman execution method,
this prolonged and agonizing form of death,
reserved for those of the lowest standing.
Now, we've got to ask, haven't we,
why are they baying for this man's blood?
Well, you read John's gospel.
He's been building up to it at this point.
We see that this crowd are passionate and angry
because they have concluded two truths about Jesus.
They've concluded in their minds two things about Jesus.
Firstly, that he is a liar.
This man,
this man who claimed not just to be from Galilee,
but this man who claimed to have come
from the very presence of the Father,
to have come from heaven itself.
This man who's been claiming to be the one
who was with God in the beginning.
This man who's come
and he's claiming to be the only one
who has come to show us the Father.
And this man who has the audacity to come
and to claim that he is the only way to the Father.
What absolute arrogance,
what utter blasphemy.
Jesus is a liar.
It's the first thing they've concluded.
Second thing they've concluded
is that Jesus is a threat.
This man who's come in here
and he's been flipping over tables
and calling our temple his Father's house.
This man who's strolled in to our lives
and who is calling us
to change our ways
and to examine our hearts.
This man who's calling us to repentance.
And this man who is associating
with the wrong kind of people.
And this man who people are beginning to believe.
And this man who people are beginning to follow.
Well, we will not have this man as our king.
And so this crowd,
this passionate crowd,
this first passionate crowd that we meet
shout, crucify him.
Crucify him.
They reject him.
Fulfilling everything that John had said
at the beginning of his gospel
that Jesus, he came to his own
and his own did not receive him.
But as we were singing in one of those hymns
just a few moments ago,
it wasn't just his own who did not receive him.
The world did not receive him.
He came as the light
into our world of darkness.
And the darkness wanted nothing to do
with the light.
The creator, he stooped down
into creation
to deal
with his
creature's mess.
And yet we wanted nothing
to do with him.
As Charles Wesley famously said in this hymn,
"'Tis mystery all,
the immortal
dies."
And that's why,
as we hear this passionate shout
of this first crowd,
well, we can see ourselves
in this picture.
This rejection
was our
rejection of him.
The darkness
that drove
him to the cross
was,
it was our
darkness.
The sin
that he
came to deal with
and to die for
on the cross,
that was our
sin.
So this first
angry,
passionate crowd,
they look at Jesus
and they shout,
crucify
him.
And so Jesus
endures the most
hideous form of
torture
in all its
fullness
and ugliness.
Now I wonder if you've ever
asked yourself
why we call this day
Good Friday.
Have you ever
asked that?
I mean,
I was thinking on it
this week,
I've got an imagination
that kind of goes
from time to time.
I'm trying to imagine
that I was in,
had a time machine
and I somehow
managed to get back
to this day,
AD 33,
and I was able
to meet some of
the original
disciples.
And I'm asking them,
listen,
followers of Jesus,
centuries down the line,
generations later,
we're going to,
we're going to have
one adjective
that's going to describe
this day that we mark
Jesus' death
as we remember it.
Could you guess
what that adjective is?
Is it bleak Friday?
No, it's not bleak Friday.
Is it,
is it dark Friday?
No, it's not dark Friday.
Is it despondent Friday?
No, it's not despondent Friday.
Is it ghastly Friday?
No, it's not ghastly Friday.
Come on,
just put me out of my misery.
What is the word?
What is the adjective?
Well, it's good Friday.
Okay.
Good Friday.
I imagine that they would
have been perplexed
and they would have
most likely been
massively offended
because of the suffering,
shame and rejection
that they had just witnessed.
The man that they thought
who had come to save
their nation
and their world
had just endured.
Have you ever asked
that question?
Why do we call this day
Good Friday?
Well, let me take you
to the second passionate crowd
that John tells us about.
And it's this crowd
that we read of
in Revelation chapter 5.
Verse 6,
John tells us about this crowd
as he describes
what he sees
in the courts of heaven.
Revelation 5
and beginning at verse 6,
this is what he sees.
And between the throne
and the four living creatures
and among the elders,
I saw
a lamb
standing
as though it had been slain
with seven horns
and
with seven eyes
which are the seven spirits
of God
sent out into all the earth.
And he went
and took the scroll
from the right hand
of him
who was seated
on the throne.
And when he had taken
the scroll,
the four living creatures
and the twenty-four elders
fell down
before the lamb,
each holding a harp
and golden bowls
full of incense
which are the prayers
of the saints.
You see this crowd?
This heavenly crowd
of elders
and creatures.
Now,
John goes on
and he records
what he hears.
So what is the shout
of this passionate crowd?
Well,
here's the amazing thing.
The shout of this crowd
is not one of accusation.
The shout of this crowd
is one of adoration.
Look what he records
and this crowd,
they sang a new song
saying,
worthy are you
to take the scroll
and to open its seals
for you were slain
and by your blood
you ransomed people
for God
from every tribe
and language
and people
and nation
and you
have made them
a kingdom
and priest
to our God
and they shall reign
on the earth.
Now,
what is this crowd's
take on Jesus?
What is their
passionate shout?
Well,
the first crowd's
shout was crucify him.
This crowd's shout
is worship him.
Worship him.
And would you track
with me,
would you notice
just a few things
about this shout?
What do they
declare
the slain lamb
to be?
What do they
declare Jesus
to be?
Worthy.
Why is he worthy?
Two reasons.
Firstly,
because he was slain.
What did Jesus do?
Do you see the language
there?
We've already sang it.
He purchased.
That is,
he paid a price
to buy something.
Now,
who did he purchase?
Well,
do you see it there?
He purchased
a people
from
every tribe
and tongue
and language
and nation.
This is a global people,
a universal people.
And with what
did he purchase them?
With his precious blood.
And here's
the million dollar question.
It's one that my two-year-old
at the minute
is always asking,
why?
Why did he purchase them?
Well,
would you see that this purchase
wasn't purposeless?
As Jesus died on the cross,
if I can put it ever so reverently,
it was no act of meaningless martyrdom.
His death was not a symbolic gesture
of goodwill.
Why did he purchase a people?
For what end?
Well,
do you see it there?
encapsulated in those two
most beautiful
and potent words.
Why did he purchase them?
For God.
That is the purpose
of the cross.
That Jesus defeated,
as we've been singing,
the power,
he defeated the power of sin.
That Jesus crushed
the stronghold
of Satan.
He is the serpent crusher
that we're reading about
in Genesis 3.
Not so that his people
could be simply forgiven,
but so that they could be
restored and adopted.
He purchased his people
for God.
The God who created
all things.
The God who made us
in his image.
Who made us male and female
in his image.
The God who created us.
Humanity for our relationship
with him.
And this holy God
from whom
we were separated
because of our sin.
Is this God
that Jesus came
to reconcile us to.
And so what does that mean?
Well, it means
today as we remember
that first Good Fridays,
we remember
as we picture Jesus
on the cross,
what do we see there?
Well, we see
the throbbing heart
of a loving
heavenly father
who is desperate
to win his people
to himself.
Now, here's the incredible thing.
Said earlier
that as we thought
about that first
passionate shouting crowd,
he shouted,
crucify him,
that we could see ourselves
in that picture.
Well, here's the amazing thing.
The incredible news
is that by God's
quite staggering
and amazing grace,
that as we look
at this passionate
and adoring crowd,
that we can see ourselves
in this picture.
We are part,
get your heads around this,
we are part of this people
that Jesus Christ
has purchased for God.
And is it not incredible
to think today
that as we sit here,
that we are part
of a people,
not only numerous
around our city
and around our nation
and around our continent,
but we are part
of a people
numerous around the globe
that God has won
to himself,
celebrating,
we celebrate
the life that we have
with God
through Jesus Christ
because of this
slain lamb.
That's what's good
about Good Friday.
It was Pastor
Frederick Leahy
who said this
as he thought
about the cross
and let's finish
with these words.
As we stand
in thought
before that cross,
our emotions
are mixed.
And this is what he says.
Oh, how dreadful
and yet how wondrous
is this place.
Two very passionate crowds,
two very different crowds
in two very different places
with two very different shouts
about Jesus.
Let me leave you
with this question.
What is the shout
of your heart
this evening
as you remember
Jesus on the cross?
Does Good Friday
find your heart
in good form?
Does Good Friday
find your heart
in good spirits
and good voice?
Why?
Because the lamb
was slain
to buy us,
to purchase us,
to reconcile us
for God.
Just before we
just close
with a reading
from Romans 5,
why don't we just take
just a few moments
just to be quiet
and let's still
ourselves
and just reflect
on what we've heard
from God's word
this evening.
Romans 5,
verses 6 to 11.
for while
we were still
weak
at the right time
Christ died
for the ungodly.
For one
will scarcely
die for a righteous
person,
though perhaps
for a good person
one would dare
even to die.
But God
shows his love
for us
in this
that while
we were still
sinners,
Christ died
for us.
Father,
we thank you
so much
for your
amazing grace
to us.
Oh,
this,
the power
of the cross
that Christ
became sin
for us.
He took the blame,
he bore the wrath.
We stand
forgiven at the cross.
Lord,
what a great
and awesome
God you are.
Father,
help us never
to lose the wonder
of Good Friday.
Lord,
be with us
the rest of our
time together,
we ask in Jesus'
name.
Amen.