WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:19.000 Why do we celebrate the unjust death of an innocent man? It seems wrong. We live in a world where we want our justice system to punish the guilty and to protect the innocent. 00:00:19.000 --> 00:00:28.000 ! Even our outrage culture today springs up from this deep-seated human desire for justice. 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:38.000 Today is Good Friday, a day when we celebrate the unjust death of an innocent man. 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:55.000 As we've heard the story told in the book of Luke, as He's unraveled the story, it was striking to me as I read it again how many times the innocence of Jesus was proclaimed. 00:00:55.000 --> 00:00:59.000 Did you hear it as we listened? 00:00:59.000 --> 00:01:09.000 Pilate, the Roman governor, said not once, not twice, three times, three times, I find no guilt in him. 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:19.000 There is nothing worth punishing in what it…I'll beat him and let him go, but he is not guilty. 00:01:19.000 --> 00:01:27.000 He even sent him to Herod, and when Herod didn't find anything worth punishing him for, Herod sent him back. 00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:37.000 Think about this for a minute. Pilate was the Roman governor. He had no reason to protect this man. As a real fact, he was very ready and willing. 00:01:37.000 --> 00:01:44.000 He was about to execute Barabbas, who was a rebel, who was an insurgent against the nation of Rome. 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:49.000 He was ready to execute him. He had no problem with justice. 00:01:49.000 --> 00:02:07.000 But he could not say Jesus was guilty. The only reason he could not say that was because he was convinced that in fact Jesus was an innocent man. 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:19.000 But not only Jesus testifies to this, but did you hear as Jesus is hanging on the cross between two thieves, and the thieves are reviling, and one of them is reviling Jesus, and the other one responds. 00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:22.000 Did you hear the words he said? 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:27.000 Do you hear the words he says, Do you fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 00:02:27.000 --> 00:02:34.000 And indeed, we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds. 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:40.000 But this man has done nothing wrong. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:49.599 And so God plants a second witness to Jesus' innocence on the cross as this man turns to 00:02:49.599 --> 00:02:57.719 Jesus and proclaims this to Him. And again, this man had no reason. He knew he was a thief. He knew 00:02:57.719 --> 00:03:04.039 he was justly being condemned. He knew his friend on the other side of Jesus was similarly justly 00:03:04.039 --> 00:03:12.120 condemned. And yet he testifies that Jesus was innocent. He had done nothing wrong. 00:03:13.340 --> 00:03:20.359 And then, of course, at the very end of the story, after Jesus gives up His spirit, 00:03:21.479 --> 00:03:27.840 breathes His last, and dies on the cross, the centurion, the Roman soldier who was the leader 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:33.680 of the Roman guard, was he a part of the mockery that had happened earlier that the soldiers 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:42.939 inflicted on Him? Did He hold the hammer to pound the nails into the wrists and feet of Jesus? Or did 00:03:42.939 --> 00:03:51.600 He simply oversee it all? As a centurion, He was a seasoned soldier who had overseen executions before 00:03:51.600 --> 00:03:59.040 eradicating the dangerous men who justly deserved their death in the Roman Empire. 00:03:59.039 --> 00:04:05.340 And yet when Jesus dies, this hardened soldier looks up and He says, 00:04:06.719 --> 00:04:10.399 certainly this man was innocent. 00:04:13.099 --> 00:04:21.300 Again, He had nothing at stake. He had no reason to say this except that He was deeply convinced that 00:04:21.300 --> 00:04:31.400 it was true because of what He saw. Jesus did not deserve to die. He had no guilt in Him. 00:04:33.060 --> 00:04:42.259 He was testified by three people that He was innocent, which, of course, raises the question then, 00:04:42.259 --> 00:04:50.659 if He was innocent. Why then was He executed? And the simple answer is He was executed because of the 00:04:50.659 --> 00:05:02.620 injustice of human sinfulness. The people who cried for Jesus' death unjustly were those who were 00:05:02.620 --> 00:05:09.420 threatened by Him. He had challenged the power of the existing religious establishment. They had set 00:05:09.420 --> 00:05:15.660 expectations about the Messiah who would come, who would come with great fanfare to restore the glory 00:05:15.660 --> 00:05:22.240 of Israel, to overthrow Rome, and by the way, to make sure they stayed in their positions of prestige 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:28.000 and power in the world. And when Jesus came, He confounded all of those expectations. 00:05:28.939 --> 00:05:37.139 He came from obscurity. He lived humbly. He did not claim their authority or support it, but He claimed His own 00:05:37.139 --> 00:05:46.379 authority. And He did not overthrow Rome, but said, My kingdom is not of this world. And Jesus did not 00:05:46.379 --> 00:05:54.079 conform to these expectations of what they thought He should be as the Savior and the Messiah of the world. 00:05:54.939 --> 00:06:02.259 And so they rejected Him, and in their rejection, they made Him an enemy. And when they couldn't find 00:06:02.259 --> 00:06:11.920 any other way to silence Him, they trumped up false charges against Him and took Him to the Romans because 00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:19.120 they didn't have the power to kill Him themselves. They publicly accused Him and turned Him over to Rome. 00:06:20.899 --> 00:06:29.620 And Pilate, who had said He was innocent, in the end unjustly gives in to this demand and gives over Jesus 00:06:29.620 --> 00:06:39.620 to death. His power, His power, His position, His reputation, was threatened by the upheaval, by the loud crowds 00:06:39.620 --> 00:06:47.560 crying, Crucify Him! Crucify Him! And He didn't want to give that up. And when the crowd didn't back down 00:06:47.560 --> 00:06:59.800 or be quiet, He gave in. Jesus' death was unjust. It was wrong. 00:07:03.720 --> 00:07:11.300 Friends, I hope you can see that it was not just in the first century that Jesus is treated unjustly. 00:07:11.300 --> 00:07:21.180 How often do we bring our expectations to what we think Jesus must or should be for us? 00:07:21.740 --> 00:07:29.180 We think Jesus is going to keep us out of trouble, give us a good and happy life. We think that following 00:07:29.180 --> 00:07:36.180 Him will be respected, that we will be praised, not increase conflict. 00:07:36.180 --> 00:07:43.900 We want Him to come and right every injustice in the world, in our lives as well. 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:48.519 We want Him to be our foxhole Savior. 00:07:49.120 --> 00:07:50.900 Jesus, just get me out of this jam. 00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:57.980 We too have lives that we don't want Jesus to mess with. 00:07:57.980 --> 00:08:07.520 We have positions and powers and plans in our careers, in our families, our desires for romance and relationship. 00:08:08.560 --> 00:08:11.780 We have our own understanding of what's right and good in the world. 00:08:12.879 --> 00:08:18.540 We love boundless tolerance and freedom, or we love control and order at all costs. 00:08:18.540 --> 00:08:29.780 We don't want Jesus to come and actually be the Son of God, and actually claim the authority that He claims to have, 00:08:30.080 --> 00:08:38.539 and actually say, if anyone would follow Me, he must deny himself and pick up his cross and follow Me. 00:08:38.539 --> 00:08:48.719 We don't want a Savior who imposes or interjects Himself into our lives like that. 00:08:50.620 --> 00:08:52.860 And we need to be honest with ourselves. 00:08:54.319 --> 00:08:59.240 If I were there in the first century, I most likely would have been in the crowd. 00:08:59.980 --> 00:09:05.219 I would have gotten swept up in the fervor, the fear, whatever was motivating it. 00:09:05.220 --> 00:09:08.540 I would have been the one saying, crucify Him. 00:09:09.180 --> 00:09:18.320 Because I know my heart is a heart that wants to resist and rebel and reject Jesus so often. 00:09:19.500 --> 00:09:25.779 I remember, actually, when I was in high school and was first introduced to Jesus through some friends. 00:09:26.759 --> 00:09:30.460 As they talked with me, as they showed me by their lives how they lived, 00:09:30.460 --> 00:09:34.500 I came to be convinced that Jesus was the Son of God, 00:09:34.680 --> 00:09:40.120 and that He was claiming His authority over me and calling me to faith in Him. 00:09:41.500 --> 00:09:42.780 But I resisted. 00:09:43.660 --> 00:09:45.540 I remember those few weeks. 00:09:46.680 --> 00:09:50.700 I could see Him right there, and I could see all the goodness in it. 00:09:51.139 --> 00:09:53.960 But I was so afraid to give up. 00:09:54.280 --> 00:09:56.960 I was so afraid to let go. 00:09:56.960 --> 00:10:02.680 I was so afraid to let Him be who He said He was in my life. 00:10:05.180 --> 00:10:06.720 Maybe you are the same. 00:10:09.440 --> 00:10:14.280 We recognize that it is our sin that put Jesus on the cross. 00:10:14.279 --> 00:10:26.419 On this day, Good Friday, we are called to soberly count how great the cost is of our sin. 00:10:27.039 --> 00:10:29.659 It costs the death of an innocent man. 00:10:30.620 --> 00:10:32.439 An unjust death. 00:10:32.440 --> 00:10:39.520 And yet, friends, this is in fact the good news of the gospel, is it not? 00:10:40.240 --> 00:10:45.760 Because this unjust death is actually an expression of God's justice. 00:10:47.040 --> 00:10:49.480 Let me tell you how I get there from God's Word. 00:10:50.020 --> 00:10:51.660 1 Peter 3.18 says, 00:10:51.660 --> 00:10:58.240 Christ also suffered once for sin, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God. 00:10:58.240 --> 00:11:10.320 This is God's intent, that a righteous man, Jesus, would come and suffer for unrighteous people like me and like you, 00:11:10.580 --> 00:11:12.680 so that we might be restored to Him. 00:11:13.560 --> 00:11:16.580 This is what John read earlier from Isaiah 53. 00:11:16.580 --> 00:11:20.120 He was pierced for our transgressions. 00:11:20.280 --> 00:11:21.940 He was crushed for our iniquities. 00:11:22.500 --> 00:11:25.580 Upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace. 00:11:25.960 --> 00:11:28.160 With His wounds we are healed. 00:11:28.720 --> 00:11:30.320 All we like sheep have gone astray. 00:11:30.440 --> 00:11:32.500 We have turned everyone to His own way. 00:11:33.160 --> 00:11:36.680 And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. 00:11:37.860 --> 00:11:42.900 Jesus came to step in to our place and be a substitute. 00:11:42.899 --> 00:11:50.879 This, friends, is the logic of the gospel that the Christian church has preached from the very beginning. 00:11:51.679 --> 00:11:55.600 A God who is perfectly just cannot simply overlook sin. 00:11:55.840 --> 00:11:58.639 Just like if we had police who just said, 00:11:59.039 --> 00:11:59.840 Oh, it's okay. 00:12:00.079 --> 00:12:02.740 You don't have to pay the fine for parking outside. 00:12:03.039 --> 00:12:04.500 You don't have to go the speed limit. 00:12:04.579 --> 00:12:06.360 Well, actually, we do live in that world, don't we? 00:12:06.579 --> 00:12:11.620 But if we had a just society, the police would actually enforce the laws. 00:12:11.620 --> 00:12:12.299 Right? 00:12:12.779 --> 00:12:16.659 There should be and rightly is a consequence for sin. 00:12:18.500 --> 00:12:24.120 Because sin is a rebellion against God who is the author of life, 00:12:25.399 --> 00:12:30.299 our sin means that the wages of sin is death, according to the Bible. 00:12:31.159 --> 00:12:35.399 Separation from God spiritually and eternal death with Him. 00:12:35.399 --> 00:12:40.919 And because all of humanity has rejected God, all are under this sentence. 00:12:41.620 --> 00:12:48.299 So how then can a just God forgive rebel sinners like us? 00:12:49.220 --> 00:12:53.379 He provides a substitute, one willing to take our place, 00:12:53.379 --> 00:12:58.919 so that the justice of God is satisfied as Jesus takes the penalty for our sin. 00:12:58.919 --> 00:13:09.199 And we receive mercy through this justice that is satisfied. 00:13:10.639 --> 00:13:14.019 And so God gives us this amazing gift. 00:13:15.439 --> 00:13:18.759 The penalty is paid, and we are forgiven. 00:13:18.759 --> 00:13:25.220 Because the only one who could do this substitution was a perfectly innocent man. 00:13:26.439 --> 00:13:30.480 Jesus alone could be our Savior and die in our place. 00:13:31.100 --> 00:13:35.419 And that's what we celebrate here on Good Friday. 00:13:35.419 --> 00:13:40.500 And so it is that Paul writes in Romans 3. 00:13:41.500 --> 00:13:46.860 It was to show His righteousness at the present time so that He might be both just 00:13:46.860 --> 00:13:51.339 and the justifier of those who have faith in God. 00:13:52.199 --> 00:13:54.959 Friends, this is what we celebrate on Good Friday. 00:13:54.960 --> 00:14:06.440 Jesus willingly stepping into the injustice of our world and of our sin so that we might be restored to God. 00:14:07.720 --> 00:14:13.560 If you have not come to Him, if you have not surrendered your life and said, 00:14:14.240 --> 00:14:18.080 God, I don't deserve it, but I want your forgiveness. 00:14:18.780 --> 00:14:20.879 I want to be restored to you. 00:14:21.080 --> 00:14:23.060 I want a relationship with you. 00:14:23.059 --> 00:14:23.659 I want to be restored to you. 00:14:24.859 --> 00:14:32.439 And I encourage you tonight, confess your sin, your resistance, your fear to give your life to Jesus. 00:14:33.319 --> 00:14:35.759 Repent of that and choose to believe. 00:14:38.039 --> 00:14:42.179 And if you're here and you've already made that decision to follow Him, 00:14:43.059 --> 00:14:45.219 may you find joy in this. 00:14:46.439 --> 00:14:50.259 His innocence and His willing death for us 00:14:50.259 --> 00:14:54.799 means that your guilt and my guilt have been taken care of. 00:14:55.299 --> 00:14:57.759 And God embraces us tonight. 00:14:58.580 --> 00:15:00.700 And this is the joy of our salvation. 00:15:01.460 --> 00:15:02.100 Let's pray. 00:15:02.100 --> 00:15:09.379 O Lord, 00:15:09.379 --> 00:15:14.240 what love you have shown to us. 00:15:16.279 --> 00:15:20.500 You who did not spare your Son, but gave Him up for us all. 00:15:23.379 --> 00:15:25.100 Amazing love, how can it be 00:15:25.100 --> 00:15:28.620 that thou, my God, wouldst die for me. 00:15:28.620 --> 00:15:34.600 O Lord, fill our hearts with awe and wonder 00:15:34.600 --> 00:15:37.139 that we, the undeserving, 00:15:37.940 --> 00:15:40.279 have been given more than we could even imagine 00:15:40.279 --> 00:15:42.279 in Christ. 00:15:44.500 --> 00:15:46.419 Lord, turn our hearts away 00:15:46.419 --> 00:15:49.360 from our sin and our rebellion, 00:15:49.560 --> 00:15:50.279 our independence, 00:15:50.779 --> 00:15:51.899 and our resistance. 00:15:51.899 --> 00:15:55.919 Lord, as we sit at the foot of the cross 00:15:55.919 --> 00:15:58.959 and see your amazing love for us. 00:16:01.220 --> 00:16:03.899 O Lord, we pray these things in Jesus' name. 00:16:04.959 --> 00:16:05.340 Amen.