Sermon for Good Friday
Rev. Gregory Mech | Good Friday, April 10, 2020 | Immanuel Lutheran Church – Joplin, MO
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From Pastor Mech’s Good Friday Sermon entitled, “God’s Eyes”:
We all crucified the Son of God by our sin. As we sang in the Lenten hymns:
I caused Your grief and sighing – By evils multiplying – As countless as the sands. – I caused the woes unnumbered – With which Your soul is cumbered, – Your sorrows raised by wicked hands. (LSB 453:4)
O child of woe: Who struck the blow – That killed our gracious Master? – “It was I,” thy conscience cries, – “I have wrought disaster!” (LSB 448:3)
Eyes on Jesus: God’s Eyes
This Lent, we have been using the metaphor of eyesight to examine how the various people in Mark’s Gospel viewed Jesus during His Passion. In most cases, they misunderstood who He was and what He was doing; then again, sometimes by faith people did recognize Him correctly.
As we conclude these forty days of Lent, looking within ourselves as people of faith in our day, we again ask how we are like or unlike the people who saw Jesus in the flesh. Most important, as we gather for worship, we see again what Jesus has done to save us from our sins by His holy, precious blood and innocent suffering and death.
We are standing at the foot of the cross, but there are others standing with us. Simon of Cyrene, the people who mock Jesus, and the centurion all have their eyes on the cross as well. But the only viewpoint that truly matters is that of the triune God. The Father sees our sins taken upon Jesus on the cross, the Son looks on us in forgiving mercy, and the Holy Spirit sees the message we are to proclaim. “Oh, come, let us fix our eyes on Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2).
© 2019 Concordia Publishing House. Scripture: ESV®
Our sermon text is from Jesus’ Passion Narrative found in Mark 15:21-39.
P The Holy Gospel according to St. Mark, the 15th chapter.
C Glory to You, O Lord.
P And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry [Jesus’] cross. And they brought Him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). And they offered Him wine mixed with myrrh, but He did not take it. And they crucified Him and divided His garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. And it was the third hour when they crucified Him. And the inscription of the charge against Him read, “The King of the Jews.” And with Him they crucified two robbers, one on His right and one on His left. And those who passed by derided Him, wagging their heads and saying,
C Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself, and come down from the cross!
P So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked Him to one another, saying,
C He saved others; He cannot save Himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.
P Those who were crucified with Him also reviled Him.
And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice,
A Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?
P which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” And some of the bystanders hearing it said,
C Behold, He is calling Elijah.
P And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to Him to drink, saying,
C Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down.
P And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed His last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing Him, saw that in this way He breathed His last, he said,
C Truly this man was the Son of God!
P This is the Gospel of the Lord.
P The Holy Gospel according to St. Mark, the 15th chapter.
C Glory to You, O Lord.
P And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry [Jesus’] cross. And they brought Him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). And they offered Him wine mixed with myrrh, but He did not take it. And they crucified Him and divided His garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. And it was the third hour when they crucified Him. And the inscription of the charge against Him read, “The King of the Jews.” And with Him they crucified two robbers, one on His right and one on His left. And those who passed by derided Him, wagging their heads and saying,
C Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself, and come down from the cross!
P So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked Him to one another, saying,
C He saved others; He cannot save Himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.
P Those who were crucified with Him also reviled Him.
And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice,
A Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?
P which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” And some of the bystanders hearing it said,
C Behold, He is calling Elijah.
P And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to Him to drink, saying,
C Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down.
P And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed His last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing Him, saw that in this way He breathed His last, he said,
C Truly this man was the Son of God!
P This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C Praise to You, O Christ.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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Lent 2020 Worship Series
O come, let us fix our EYES ON JESUS, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
(Gradual for Lent, based on Hebrews 12:2)
Eyes On Jesus
When the characters in the Passion narrative look at Jesus, what do they see? In most cases, people misunderstood who He is and what He was doing. In some cases, by faith, people recognized Him aright. Our Lenten series this year, based on the Gospel according to St. Mark, will examine how the various people around Jesus viewed Him—and how we should view Him. We will “fix our eyes” on what Jesus has done to save us from our sins by His holy, precious blood and innocent sufferings and death, and celebrate what God sees on account of His work: our justification for His sake.
- Ash Wednesday, February 26 | Misjudging Eyes | Mark 14:1–9
- Midweek 1, March 4 | Betraying Eyes | Mark 14:10–21, 32, 41–46
- Midweek 2, March 11 | Sleepy Eyes | Mark 14:32–42
- Midweek 3, March 18 | Denying Eyes | Mark 14:26–31, 66–72
- Midweek 4, March 25 | Murderous Eyes | Mark 14:1–2, 53–65
- Midweek 5, April 9 | Worldly Eyes | Mark 15:1–20
- Holy Thursday, April 10 | More Than Meets the Eye | Mark 14:22–25
- Good Friday, April 11 | God’s Eyes | Mark 15:21–39
- Easter Vigil, April 12 | Resting Eyes | Mark 15:40–16:1
- Easter Sunday, April 13 | Angel Eyes | Mark 16:1–8
Eyes on Jesus will continuously focus our eyes on Jesus Christ and Him crucified, buried, and risen for our justification. This is a vision that will never disappoint, for by trusting in Jesus, He promises that we will gaze upon His beautiful face now by faith and forever in heaven!
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