Higher Things Devotion for Good Friday

April 2, 2010 – Good Friday

Today’s Reading: St. John 18:1-19:42

Daily Lectionary: Exodus 12:29-32; 13:1-16; Hebrews 6:1-20

But one of the soldiers stabbed His side with a spear and immediately blood and water flowed.” (St. John 19:34)

Happy Good Friday! In the name of Jesus. Amen. God is dead. We have murdered Him. And our sin is so great, our false religion such a disease, that we have to make sure He is taken down off the cross as quickly as possible. We wouldn’t want our dead God to interfere with our Passover celebration. Get Him outta here. We have no use for Him. He is, after all, unclean.

There’s no need to break His legs. He’s already dead. The weight of our beatings, our punishment, our sins, have killed Him. But in order to make sure He was dead, we poked Him with a spear. And He was indeed very dead—all you have to do is follow the Blood and water.

“He’s God. We would never do that to God. If I was there, it would have been different. I’d have stuck up for Him.”

No, Isaiah says that there was nothing attractive about Him. Nothing that we would have followed. We would’ve thought of Him as stricken by God, deeply afflicted by Him. For our transgressions, He was wounded. For our iniquities, He was crushed. The punishment that brings us peace was put upon Him, and by His whipping and beatings, we are healed (Isaiah 53).

How can there be any joy in this day? How can there be any happiness? We’ve executed God Himself!

He bore our sadness, sorrows, and grief upon Himself. There isn’t sadness anymore. He’s taken it away. God has only love for you—all you need is to follow the Blood and the water.

The water flows into the baptismal font and washes away God’s hatred of you. It washes away Adam’s sin that you were born into, and cleans you of the sins you do, and have done daily and much. All our sins are washed away from the watery flood of God’s Son’s love for us flowing from His side.

The Blood that He shed on the Cross, that sprayed out of His side, is in the chalice at His Supper. At His Supper, you drink salvation as you feed on the Body and Blood of Jesus under the bread and wine.

We’ve murdered God’s Son. The joy of Good Friday is that by His death, we are saved. That’s the “good” in Good Friday. That’s the happy in “Happy” Good Friday. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Almighty God, graciously behold this Your family for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed and delivered into the hands of sinful men to suffer death upon the cross; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.” (Collect for Good Friday)

Questions or comments regarding the Reflections may be sent to the Rev. Mark Buetow, Reflectons Editor, reflections (at) higherthings.org.

Higher Things is an organization that  cultivates and promotes Lutheran identity among youth.  Click here for their website.  If you wish to subscribe to the daily devotions from Higher Things you can click here: https://higherthings.org/reflections.html.

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