Good Friday sermon - midday service with parochial school

Perhaps you have said, “I hate my life. I wish I were dead.”

Or perhaps you have said, “I hate this person,” or, “that person.”

Instead, maybe you have said, “I love myself,” and meant it so much that you measured everything by how it pleased you. And in loving yourself so much, you made yourself god; which, in the end, is a form of saying, “I hate God, and His Word.”

In the account of the crucifixion of Jesus, we see a story filled with hate:

· Judas, hating his life, hangs himself;

· The Chief Priests and Pharisees hate Jesus, and cause the crowd to clamor for His execution;

· The disciples of Jesus, loving their own lives more than Jesus, run away, abandoning Jesus and leaving Him to face the hatred alone.

Truly, the event is filled with hate. It is also filled with God’s hatred.

Do you know what God hates?

Death.

And sin, which leads to death.

But God doesn’t just hate death in the abstract. No – He hates your death.

Which is another way of saying He loves you; He loves your life.

God loves you so much, that He sent His only Son, the Lord Jesus, into the world, for this very day, this Friday we call Good. For while it is sad—a profound sadness at the death of Jesus—it is also the cause of all our gladness. Nothing for us does more good than this death, for from this death comes our life. From this death comes the end of death, the defeat of death, the triumph of life, the triumph of God’s love.

God is love, and He loves you even when you are filled with hate.

When you hate yourself, God loves you, and desires to save you.

When you hate your neighbor, God loves you both, and desires to save you from your hate.

When you hate God, God still loves you, and wants to give you His gifts.

God does not stop loving you; for as we heard yesterday, in John 13, Jesus loves His disciples “to the end.”

The love of God is demonstrated on the cross.

Paradoxically, there on the cross is also shown the wrath of God, wrath against sin and hatred of sin.

And that is why this horrible, wonderful, terrible, awesome and awful death of the Son of God occurs. So that God could punish sin and at the same time save the sinner.

On the cross we see God’s wrath for sin, and God’s love for us sinners.

So the words we heard Jesus speak are for you:

· Jesus prays for those who are nailing Him to the cross, “Father, forgive them.” Put yourself in those words. Jesus is praying for your forgiveness, too.

· The dying thief says to Jesus, “Lord, remember me in Your kingdom,” and Jesus replies, “Today, you will be with Me in Paradise.” Those words spoken to him are recorded for you: through the cross, heaven opens to you, and paradise is regained for you.

So when next you are tempted by hate, remember this Friday. When next you are filled with anger, remember this Friday. When next you are saddened to despair, remember this Friday, remember what your God has done for you. He loves you. He gave His Son for you. He forgives you. He opens heaven for you. He defeated death for you.

Now, we wait for Easter. It is coming. This Sunday, and at the end of this world. Rejoice and be glad, for though your sins caused this Friday to be bad, God’s love has turned it into Friday filled with Good.