00:05The cross. The chief priests and elders are angry. The crowd is baying for blood. Pilate
00:12is in complete turmoil. Even his wife is alarmed and anxious. Only Jesus seems calm at the center
00:20of the storm. He kept silence, not a word from his mouth. The governor was impressed, really
00:26impressed. He refuses to say a single word to get himself off the hook. How is this possible?
00:34The previous night, at the Last Supper, Jesus had predicted this. Then, in the garden of
00:40Gethsemane, he had surrendered to the Father's will. Jesus is acting, not reacting because he
00:47has prepared himself in prayer. He is resolute, grimly peaceful, in control. It's interesting
00:54that the very first person for whom Jesus dies is not you or me or the thief on the cross.
01:01He dies first for a murderous, radicalized terrorist whose name is Jesus Barabbas, which literally
01:08means Jesus Son of the Father. Jesus, the perfect Son of God, dies for Jesus, the sinful Son of
01:16another Father. Jesus has been severely whipped with a Roman flagellum made from strips of
01:21leather, embedded with pieces of bone to maximize pain. His clothes are soaked in blood as they
01:28are pulled from his back. Every person in this account is yelling and sneering at Jesus, religious
01:35leaders, passers-by, the criminals by his side. Yet Jesus refuses to drink the mild anesthetic.
01:42He remains in control. They drive nails through his wrists, through his feet, and hoist him aloft.
01:49His body is contorting. He is gasping for breath. Agony is pulsing from limb to limb in great jarring
01:57bursts of pain. Finally, we hear him. The one who did not lift his voice before Pilate, and would not
02:04take the wine, cries out in utter despair, My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
02:10Martin Luther says of this moment that it is as though Christ himself has become the Atheist.
02:16The son has been abandoned by his father. His desolation is complete. And in this state,
02:23with these words, the Savior dies. I am horrified, Lord, that you endured all of this for me.
02:30It breaks my heart. You were forsaken so that I need never be forsaken. And you promise never to
02:37leave me, never to forsake me, always to be with me, even in my very darkest hour. Joseph's act of
02:45worship, while poignant, must have seemed a little pointless at the time. Too little too late. The
02:51honoring of a mere corpse. My worship can often feel like that. My words of gratitude seem totally
02:58inadequate. Too little, much too late. But Lord, with all my heart, I do want to honor your death today.
03:06Thank you for paying this terrible price for me. I pray that the message of the cross would be
03:11preached with power all around the world today. May millions of people understand, some for the
03:17first time, that the only good thing about Good Friday is you. Amen.
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