Whats so good about Good Friday

As a child, I clearly remember asking my mum “Why is Good Friday called Good Friday?”
After all what’s so good about it!

What is so good when a man is betrayed and abandoned by his friends?

What is so good about when an honest person is found guilty and sentenced to death for telling the truth?

What is so good about the promised king of Israel being beaten & spat upon & mocked by the heavy hand of a foreign army?

What is so good about the future hope of the world being nailed to a crude wooden cross – a device of torture and execution?

What is so good about son of man being laughed at by those he came to save and ridiculed by those beside him who are in the same situation as he?

What is so good about the son of God crying out at the top of his voice “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani” – My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Jesus – God made flesh – the one who created the universe cries out to the almighty father.

Normally in the Bible, when we hear Jesus speak it’s a great thing. A blind man receives his sight with the words “Be opened”. Another, lame from Birth is able to walk again with.
The disciples’ fears are ceased as Jesus commands the wind to stop and the waves to be stilled.
The sad and lonely are comforted as Jesus calls “Come Out!” and Lazarus walks from the tomb. When we hear Jesus speak, it is normally with power and authority about, but then, we hear the weak, pitiful cry to God. The pain; the agony; the distress; the suffering; ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’

How could a loving father permit this to happen? Why would he allow these wicked men to do this? Why?

Is Jesus not the King of Kings? Is he not the beginning and the end? Listen to these words that his cousin had to say - John 1:27 - "Behold, the Lamb of God”… What a beautiful image, a perfect, peaceful lamb. But John continued - "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”[i]

And there is the answer – sin! Jesus came into the world to take away that sin of the world!
All this pain and suffering happened so that our sin might be removed from us.

Sin you see had to be dealt with. It could not be ignored. Something had to happen. Under the old system of Jewish law, a lamb was sacrificed. The blood of a lamb however is only a temporary measure. It wasn’t the solution, but rather a reminder of the cost of our disobedience. After all, how can the life of an animal be equal that of a human?

In Jesus we find man who was without sin. He lived a life of perfect obedience to God.
And as Jesus hung there on the cross he took our sin upon himself. As Jesus blood flowed from his wounds, we can be washed clean of our sins. Jesus died so that we can be forgiven from our sins and have the opportunity to live in a perfect relationship with God.

In the words of the Prophet Isaiah, speaking 700 years before:
Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. (Isa 53:4-5)

It is Friday. We hear the taunts of his own people rejecting him as if they were our own.
On that day, Jesus was crowned King the Roman soldiers placed that crown of thorns on his head. And Jesus wasn’t glorified on a thrown, but rather on that cross. And we see the creator of the universe isolated and forsaken. We hear the confession of the centurion “Surely this man was the son of God”. Darkness surrounds us as his body is laid in the tomb. But do not fear; it is all going according to plan.
On Sunday we will see the victory over death! On Sunday we will see the proof that our sin is conquered and we can be reconciled to God!
It’s Friday, but Sunday is coming![ii]

[i] Max Lucado, And the Angels Were Silent, Multnomah Press (Portland1992).

[ii] Lyrics: Tree 63, Sunday, Sunday 2007 Inpop Records.

Demons - they are out there!!!

I was cruising through my Feeds about an hour ago when i saw an article on Sydney Anglican site talking about the fact that most Christians today ignore the reality of our spiritual struggle. Click here to read the article.

I thought that this would be a great opportunity to share with you my latest sermon that i preached a few weeks back. At the Garrison we are working through the Gospel of Luke looking at selected passages that show who Jesus is and what the purpose of his life on earth was. this isn't the full text of my sermon, but rather a highlight of what i feel are the important parts.

Today we investigate the notion and idea of Evil Spirits and ask some big Questions. Does Jesus hold authority over them? if so, how much? Do evil spirits even exist? And how is this important to us? For us living in 21st century Australia it
may be all too easy to downplay and ignore these ideas of demons and evil
spirits, after all we live in the age of science, logic and reason and spirits
generally have no place in this life we live. The closest thing to an evil
spirit that we seem to come across has its origins in a Hollywood studio and
comes to us in the form of ‘Lord Voldemort’ from the Harry Potter movies or
Ghost busters if we are a little older.

When it comes to looking at the happenings of passages such as today, even amongst Christian scholars there is some debate. There are those who are more liberal and try to suggest that what we see has a logical scientific explanation, that he was a man who was merely mentally ill, but I disagree with them, as do many others. I believe that when we look at these passages in the Gospels, in conjunction with the rest of scripture, we are presented with an insight that there is a spiritual realm as well as the Physical world in which we live. Whilst I admit that this sounds a lot like superstitious garbage, as we look at society we see that more and more people are starting to embrace these new age ‘spiritual’ religions.

In the Old Testament we see that as Moses gives the law to Israel there are warnings against the occult and 1 Samuel 28 we read of King Saul visiting a witch to seek advice from the spirit of a dead prophet. In the New Testament, time and time again we find mentions of the fact that there is a constant struggle between the powers of good and evil on a scale so epic that it makes ‘The Lord of the Rings’ look like a walk in the park. Paul’s letter to the Church in Ephesus is loaded with references of this spiritual reality saying in ch6:12:

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

As Jesus taught in the Synagogue at Capernaum we read in verse 32 that the people “were amazed at his teaching because his message had authority.” And again in verse 36 they say ““What is this teaching? With authority and power he gives orders…” Time and time again the writers of the Gospels make note that Jesus teaching was different to that of the religious leaders of his time. Again and again people gathered and listened intently to what Jesus was talking about. Repeatedly we learn that the religious elite took offence at what he had to say for because Jesus didn’t just try to explain things, He said how things were. Jesus after all, with the full authority of God.

And there sitting calmly in the synagogue was a man who was, as Luke reports, possessed by a demon – an unclean spirit. Now it would seem from reading Luke’s account that the majority of the time this man was his normal self – he hadn’t been alienated from society, nor was he excluded from the Synagogue – yet as this spirit recognised Jesus, he takes control of his victim and cries out

“Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to
destroy us? I know who you are —the Holy One of God!”

This evil spirit was disturbed and in fear of the power and authority that it knew Jesus had. This spirit knew that this man standing and teaching in the Synagogue that day spoke with the Authority not of man, but of God. This evil Spirit also knew that there was coming a time when this man Jesus was once and for all going to put an end to all evil. And Jesus, unphased by the direct confrontation, stood his ground, and with 6 simple words, 5 if your reading the Greek, the Demon was silenced and sent away, bound by the command of God and made powerless. This is not the only time that Jesus confronts demons – Luke tells of at least 3 other occasions where Jesus stands his ground, commands these evil and unclean spirits, and they have no choice but to obey.

As Christians today, the reality is that we are constantly under attack from these forces. They will lead us astray and distract us from our goal of living lives in service of God. Whilst the attacks and distractions are not as obvious as we saw in this reading, they are still there. In a life that is as hectic as it is today, it doesn’t take much to make us loose our focus. It’s been a hard week and I don't feel like going to church! I’m too tired to read my Bible tonight and too busy during the day to pray! These are all common thoughts that are used against us to shift our focus away from living for the one who holds true authority.

Today we have a baptism but this act of baptising isn’t some magical act that ensures safe passage into heaven. Instead, it’s a public statement of belief that the ones being baptised, or those bringing the child to be baptised, want to live a life under Gods rule. It’s a statement that we want to freely submit to the authority of God and take a stand and 'fight against sin, the world and the devil' as we read in the service.

There are two things I want you to think about as you head home today. The first is that there is going to come a time when all things will submit to Gods authority. The question is whether u will freely submit by your own will now, or will you be forced to submit to Gods authority as the demon in this passage we looked at. The second, if you are living a life in submission to the authority of God, it will be inevitable that you will encounter times of hardship, times of doubt, times when it seems there isn’t a point at all. When that happens – do not despair! Stand strong in the knowledge that the victory has been won. Stand, in the strength of God, encouraged by His Spirit that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ has the Authority and has exercised his authority over evil!