The plan for redemption (for Good Frday)

Preached at Christ Church, Billericay, 29 March 2024 (Good Friday)

 Good Friday

Why is it called Good Friday? Surely it was a disaster.

Jesus has been betrayed, by a close friend

The religious leaders were against him, they are afraid of him.

The crowd were against Him, or were turned against him

Jesus has been arrested

His friends have deserted Him (Peter denied him)

Jesus has been interrogated, tortured and sentenced to death.

Only a weak Roman leader even tried to help, but could do nothing

Jesus had been crucified – His friends just stood and watched.

During that excruciating death, He says even God had left him.

Plan

But,

It’s all part of the plan for our redemption. That plan covers the entirety of human history as recorded in the Bible. Beginning with Adam and Eve, through Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and the kings, Elijah and the prophets, the exile and return, all the way to John the Baptist and Jesus the messiah. There are at least 300 prophecies about the Messiah in the Old Testament, and there are some more promises that Jesus makes himself that get fulfilled in our reading from John’s gospel. As we look at the promises and prophecies we heard today, we will see that there is a level of control and planning which demonstrates that Jesus is in control of events the whole way through.

18:8-9

In verses 8 and 9 at His arrest

⁸ Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” ⁹ This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.”

That promise was made in John 6:39, it is part of the passage where he says ‘I am the bread of life’. It protects His disciples from becoming involved in His crucifixion and ensures they are not pursued by the authorities – even if Peter deserved to be.

18: 31b-32

In verses 31b and 32 the Jewish leaders have decided that Jesus must die for His claim to be the son of God. They are not allowed to execute people, so have to ask their Roman masters to do it. Pilate doesn’t see the need, but they are determined.

^31b “But we have no right to execute anyone,” they objected. ³² This took place to fulfil what Jesus had said about the kind of death he was going to die.

Matthew 20:19 tells us that Jesus will be executed by the gentiles. Matthew 26:2 tells us that His death will be by Crucifixion. John 3:14 alludes to the same thing, reminding his readers that as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the son of Man must be lifted up.

19:24

In Chapter 19 verse 24, talking about how Jesus’s clothes would be shared out, it says:

²⁴ “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”

This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,

“They divided my clothes among them
    and cast lots for my garment.”

The prophecy comes from Psalm 22:18, just a little further on from the reading we had earlier:

They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.

This prophecy, in particular, shows the detail in the plan that God has. Nothing has been left to chance, every tiny detail is planned out. It is revealed years in advance to people who have little hope of fully understanding it, but who record it, knowing that it comes from God and is therefore important.

19:28-29

Even when He is minutes from death, Jesus is still aware enough to make sure that the prophecies are fulfilled, verses 28 and 29:

²⁸ Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” ²⁹ A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips.

The scripture that Jesus is quoting is Psalm 69:21

They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.

The psalmist uses it as a metaphor for the bitter scorn he received from the enemies around him when he needed comfort. He is pleading for God to come to him. He probably didn’t realise that it was a prophecy, but here it is fulfilled by Jesus, who is being treated in much the same way.

19:36-37

Even after Jesus’s death the actions of his executioners still fulfil prophecies. It is time for the executions to be completed as the Sabbath is coming. Normally those being crucified would be left to die a slow and painful death, but now their legs are broken to speed up the process, so the bodies can be removed before the Sabbath. Jesus is already dead, so to be sure of that, he is simply stabbed with a spear. As there is no blood, it is proof of death. Verse 36 says

³⁶ These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”

The passover lamb must be eaten without breaking its bones according to Exodus 12:46 and Numbers 9:12. Jesus has become the passover lamb for the whole world, sacrificed to save us from destruction.

Zechariah 12:10 tells us

“I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.”

This prophecy, perhaps more than any of the others, sets the tone for Good Friday. The day in our year when we mourn for the loss of Jesus, our saviour. When we grieve bitterly for him, and the things he had to go through to achieve our redemption.

The plan

So, we look upon the plan and see that God has saved us from eternal separation, from death and hell. We look at the details from the beginning of time, everything is worked out in minute detail. The purpose of the plan is to provide us with a way back to God.

It has worked, but there has been an enormous cost – God has given up His son for us. That is why it is a Good Friday, because the plan has worked – we are saved.

Even so, or perhaps because of that, we should be in mourning for our loss, a loss that can be attributed to each of us and would be exactly the same even if you or I was the only individual that needed saving.

Amen.

Violence in the Crucifixion

Preached at Christ Church, Billericay, 15 April 2022 (Good Friday)

Reading John 18:1-19:42 (Isaiah 52:13-53:12)

Crucifixion

Crucifixion is, perhaps, one of the most horrible ways that mankind has invented to kill someone. It is designed to be painful – very painful and slow. To cause as much suffering as humanly possible. This is the final act of violence that Jesus suffers on Good Friday, but there are many others also the way.

Where we are going

So, I’m going to look at the various acts of violence and calls for violence in the gospel reading and reflect a little on each of them. Human beings, it seems, have not changed. We hear of awful acts of violence every day. But maybe we should have, and we’ll look at that at the end.

Betrayal (18:3)

The betrayal is the first potentially violent act. Judas brings a detachment of soldiers. They are, of course, armed. It would be interesting to know what the chief priests and Pharisees were expecting. But here we get one of the main causes of violence – the soldiers are afraid of Jesus. They draw back, and become submissive. They have heard things about Jesus, but probably not the truth.

Let them go (18:8)

Jesus’s concern is that His disciples should not be arrested at the same time. This is to fulfil what He said in 6:39 “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me” and of course, if they are arrested they will not be there to build the church.

Ear (18:10)

In 18:10, Peter is the first perpetrator. He attacks one of the soldiers, Malchus, and cuts off his ear. Peter is his usual impulsive self and at this point has not really learnt much from Jesus. Only Luke, tells us that Jesus healed the wound. This one rash act could easily have led to an escalation, but the Roman soldiers are a disciplined force.

Arrest

Without further actual violence, the arrest is completed in 18:12. But use of force is there, it could so easily have gone another way.

Interrogation

Now we skip over Peter’s story and look at the so-called interrogation. In 18:22, we see the reaction of a brutal regime, to a simple, straight forward answer that does not fit their own narrative.

When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby struck him in the face. “Is this the way you answer the high priest?” he demanded.

This is not the Romans, this is one of the officials of the high priests.

Right of execution

The interrogation proves exactly what they had already decided it should prove. They have already judged Jesus and that justifies, in their own minds, that His death is necessary. They have a problem - the occupying force reserves the right to commit executions, presumably under penalty of death. So they have to plead and manipulate the system. They will end up denying their own beliefs to get their way.

Servants would fight

This leads to a further interrogation, where we learn from Jesus in 18:36, that His servants would fight, he says:

“My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

Pilate is getting out of his depth, but at least he knows that this particular fight has been avoided.

Flogged / Crown of thorns

He has Jesus flogged in 19:1-3. That’s a default punishment, and he’s hoping it will be enough to get rid of the Jews. The soldiers have flogged many people, they know how far to go to cause serious pain and enough injury so that there is not too much permanent damage. While they’re at it, they might as well have a bit of fun – so there’s a crown of thorns and a royal robe. He is struck on the face again. After all it’s probably the first time they’ve flogged someone whose claims to be king were taken even slightly seriously.

Crucify!

In 19:6, Pilate brings Jesus to the chief priests to show what he has done, but it is not enough, and they shout for his death. “He’s broken our laws, He must die” they say.

Pilate is a politician, he has bigger things than one death to think about, the constant chants of “Crucify!” finally win the day.

Carrying the Cross

When we say “We all have our cross to bear”, I doubt we are thinking of such an extreme situation. Having been flogged, which would mainly damage the flesh on your back, and then being asked to carry two large pieces of wood, that you could barely lift when normally healthy, just adds to the sadistic approach of the death that Jesus endured. We know from the other gospels that this was too much for Jesus, and one of the crowd was forced to help out.

The Crucifixion and Death

The final act of violence is the crucifixion itself. John spares us the gory details, and concentrates on other things. Being nailed to the cross, having the cross dropped in the hole and then just hanging there, each breath causing pain, but your body compels you to take them.

With what Jesus had been through it is no surprise that he was already dead when the soldiers came to break His legs, so they didn’t bother, but to be sure they pierced his corpse. That leaves us with some important testimony, to prove his death.

Necessary

Experiencing all this suffering and violence was somehow necessary for Jesus to complete His mission. It is the only way that He can pay for our sins, and set us free from them. He went through it for us, that decision was made in Gethsemane the night before.

What has changed?

So, we have been put right with God and have access to him, you’d think that might make a difference to us. It’s there at the end of the reading from Isaiah:

he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the LORD'S will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.

After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

But what has really changed for us?

It seems that the very early church, the generations immediately after these events, took non-violence seriously, and preferred to imitate Jesus’s sacrificial life. This must have led to many deaths. It was only after Constantine that the church developed concepts like “Holy War” and “just war”.

Today

Where do we stand today? After all we have heard, and the horrors brought to us in the daily news, what should our approach be

Have we overcome the fear?

Have we overcome the impulsiveness?

Have we overcome our sense of judgement?

Do we prioritise peace and life over getting our own way?

Tweet

I’d like to leave you with this tweet from the Rev. Benjamin Cremer

We want the war horse. Jesus rides a donkey.

We want the eagle. The Holy Spirit descends as a dove.

We want to take up swords. Jesus takes up a cross.

We want the roaring lion. God comes as a slaughtered lamb.

We keep trying to arm God. God keeps trying to disarm us.

Amen

Truth

Preached: 2 April 2021 (Good Friday)

Readings: Isaiah 52v13-53v12; John 18v1-19v37

​Introduction

Well, that was a couple of looong readings! But it’s appropriate on Good Friday that we get the whole story, and we pretty much have. I probably have less time than those readings took, so I can just concentrate on one small aspect of them. As you listened to them, I wonder what stood out for you? Perhaps take some time over the holiday weekend to look deeper at that. For me, it was Pilate's question “What is truth?”, so I'm going to offer some thoughts on that this morning.

“What is truth?”

So, “what is truth?”. Let’s start with the simple truths first and work towards the more complicated ones.

Tell the truth

When we say to very young children “just tell the truth”, we are usually asking them to give an account of their actions that will incriminate them. Children will often say what they believe the parent or adult wants to hear. “I was a good girl, I didn’t eat the cake.” the little girl said to the researcher, but the icing around her mouth told another story altogether. Each child had been left alone in a room and told not to touch the cakes and sweets. Some found temptation impossible to resist, most of those that succumbed told some sort of lie.

Adults too

This is simply asking someone to relay an accurate, complete and pure record of some events that have taken place. We ask adults in court to “tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth”. But who takes any notice of that declaration any more! Or do I just watch too much crime drama?

In the reading

We find this type of evidential truth in our reading, when John writes in 19:35 “The man who saw it (the sudden flow of blood and water) has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe.”

John’s telling of his truth has a purpose – ‘so you may believe’, just as this type of truth told in a court has a purpose – to get justice for someone.

Simple Truths

These are simple truths, if we want to get to more wider truths, we will have to look elsewhere.

​Science

Perhaps science has the answer, after all describing the world we live in ought to be pretty straight forward, didn’t it?

Well, it turns out that this is not the case. Scientists have a concept known as ‘lies to children’ to explain science to either children or non-scientists to give them just enough to gain an understanding and encourage them to look deeper.

Electricity

Let me give you an example. You can think of an electric current like water flowing through a pipe. The idea works well enough to explain volts and amps at a basic level, but when you begin to look at what’s happening to the electrons in the wire, the story is completely different – an electric current is not like water in a pipe at all.

Professor Kathy Sykes, of the University of Bristol said '...science is not about truth, but is about trying to get closer to the truth. This is important because, too often, people look to scientists as having the "truth". What we have is wrapped in uncertainties, caveats, and simplifications.'

Other types of truth

So, science doesn’t really help us to get to the indisputable facts that easily. Perhaps we should be wary of bringing science into the discussion at all, there is no evidence that Pilate was specially interested in the natural world. Anyway, there are other truths that we need to think about.

Definition

One definition of truth, with a capital T, is an “ideal or fundamental reality apart from and transcending perceived experience”. This is getting closer to what Pilate was asking, I suspect.

Psychology Today

The Psychology Today website tells us: “Truth is a property not so much of thoughts and ideas, but more properly of beliefs and assertions. But to believe or assert something is not enough to make it true, or else the claim that ‘to believe something makes it true’ would be just as true as the claim that ‘to believe something does not make it true.’”

​Answering Pilates question

This begins to bring us closer to providing an answer for Pilate, because his question is in response to Jesus’ claims to be a king, but in a kingdom not of this world. Here’s what Jesus said, from 18:37

“You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

Did Pilate really listen? We’ll probably never know. But we can see from his reaction that he does have an understanding of truth. He’s still prepared to tell the Jews that there is no basis for a charge against Jesus. Next, he makes a politically expedient decision and hands Jesus over to be flogged. One more step and he has given up on the truth that Jesus has not committed a crime worthy of crucifixion, or any other punishment.

Value of truth?

Perhaps the question Pilate should have asked is “What is the value of truth?” because for now at least, ignoring the higher truth and sticking with the truth that he’s in a difficult situation and need to preserve the peace, and with it his career is more important to him.

He is in essence behaving just like a small girl who failed to resist a cake.

An Answer?

So, can we provide an answer? The Psychology Today website article starts with the sentence, “Truth tends to lead to successful action.” The apostle John, also, has other things to say about truth—8:32 “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free”

The Truth

Jesus came to proclaim the truth, and that truth sets us free from our greatest fear – death and oblivion – our own end, which we know will inevitably come.

Freedom from that fear leads to many positive outcomes. Look at the progress humanity has made since belief in Jesus became widespread.

We’ve still got a long way to go. I’ve just completed safeguarding training, so I’m more aware than ever just how far we have to go. But progress has been made.

Today

Perhaps today, we can reflect on the times when we have ignored the truth and made our selves and our reputations more important.

It’s time for us to be on the side of truth and to listen to Jesus.

Amen.

Good Friday Sermon - John18v28-19v18

Introduction

I wonder what went through you mind when you heard that the G20 summit was coming to London, did you immediately think of the problems that may occur, of the protests that may turn violent? Did you think of the extra police, and the tightened security? Did you think of the show of force that would be needed? Did you expect to hear phrases like 'fortress London'? Did you think that it would be a good opportunity for some nutter to make his or her point by doing something really stupid? Did you think about bombs, and bombers, and suicide missions aimed at taking out someone, anyone so long as they are important – worthy of a few pages of news print? Did you envisage riots on the streets, tear gas, police charges, explosions, fires, ambulances, TV reporters, arrests and prosecutions? Did you think of the impact of all of this on the image of Britain on the world stage? Did you think of the overtime bill, the effect on the cities budget and on the ability of the tax payers to support the summit. Did you think of the disruptive effect of all the extra security on the day to day business life of the city?

If you did, then “welcome to Pilate's world”. It was passover, there were thousands of extra visitors to the city. Extra troops would be needed to keep order. Any time during the festival some Jewish nutter might come along and do something stupid to gain some fame for some obscure freedom fighters movement. Who knows what they might do, attack someone important, or just make a scene. Some of it might happen in the temple, if it did that could trigger an uprising. The troops would have to be ready – not just to deal with the extra thousands, but also to swiftly put an end to anything that might go wrong. Pilate may not have had to worry about the press, but Rome was watching. His little province was known for trouble, and if you couldn't keep your part of the Empire in order there were hundreds lined up ready and waiting to prove they could do it better.

In the scene we have before us today the really important person, the one we are all interested in is reduced to the role of a nobody. We must not forget though that this is exactly where He is supposed to be.

Political battle

What we have here is a political battle of wills between the Jewish authorities and the occupying Roman government. It is Jesus that they have chosen to argue over.

As we look through the verses that make up the reading try to see where you might fit in. Try to remember times when you have been involved in similar situations and remember how you behaved. Who were you most like, The Jewish Leaders, Pilate, the crowd, or the soldiers.

Vv 28&9 Round 1 to the Jews. Its passover. If they go in a Gentiles house they will be unclean, and will have to go through purification rituals, so they get Pilate to come out of his residence. He will have become used to their bizarre religious practices, so its not too big a point for him to concede.

Vv 30-32 Round 2 to Pilate. The Jews will not specify the charges. He would probably have guessed what was coming, but for now he can just dismiss them. “Then you judge him yourself”. Pilate must also have a concern for Roman justice, that is a major part of his role.

Vv 32 Now we get to what the Jews really want. Under Roman law the local law in the provinces could be used, but there were limits placed on its power. One of those limits was the death sentence. The power to issue the death sentence remained with the Roman government.

V33-34 Pilate has no wish to give in to the Jews request. If he can find a legitimate way to deny them then he can win another small power struggle. He takes Jesus aside “Are you the King of the Jews” He's expecting a Yes/No type answer. He gets a question. Jesus wants to know exactly where Pilate stands. Is this your question, or has someone been prompting you?

V35 “Do I look like a Jew?” Your people are the cause of this, just answer the question and lets get on with the day.

V36 “My Kingdom is of another place”

Pilate concentrates on the charge before him. So it isn't an entirely spurious charge, this man does claim to be a king.

V37 Jesus agrees that he is a King, and then goes on to talk about truth.

Vv38-39 “What is truth?” Pilate asked? - although he doesn't give Jesus a chance to answer, Pilate clearly has some interest in what Jesus is saying. Given the circumstances today though the bigger picture must be addressed. The Jews are making a fuss about something he has little understanding of. He wants to send them away with their tails between their legs, so that the religious festivities will pass without any trouble.

Round 3 to Pilate. Having questioned Jesus, he returns to the Jews and informs then that there is no case to answer. Now an idea occurs to Pilate, perhaps he can get rid of this issue by offering leniency to the prisoner. It is the tradition to let the Jews have one prisoner freed at passover, lets offer them Jesus. Now perhaps remembering the scenes of Jesus entry into Jerusalem, that we heard about last Sunday, Pilate tries a plea to the crowd.

Do you want me to pardon 'the king of the Jews'?

OK Pilate, just what did you expect the response to that would be? After all that was the charge brought to out in the first place. Do you think the Jewish leaders are that incapable of organising their people? You may not be able to understand the offence that the perceived blasphemy causes, but form a political point of view such a statement isn't going to make the problem go away.

V 40 The response is predictable, even if the target of the response isn't. Barrabass was a freedom fighter, and probably a hero to a number of the Jews, and had taken part in a rebellion, so Pilate would probably have preferred to keep him until he could be killed.

V1-3 So Pilate hands Jesus over to be flogged. If you've seen this scene portrayed in the Mel Gibson film “The passion of the Christ” you will have an understanding of just how brutal Roman punishments could be. The flogging would take away the strength of the individual, and would go on as long as the soldiers enjoyed it. Here though they choose to mock Jesus, no doubt showing their contempt for the Jews in the process.

The soldiers actions would do nothing to placate the Jews, nor help Pilate in his aim of getting Jesus out of his way without any more disturbances.

Even so, given the state of play at this point, it would have to be round 4 to Pilate.

V4-5 So Pilate has another go, and tells the Jews again that he finds no reason to charge Jesus. Jesus is brought out. The mocking is now directed at the Jews. “Here's the man”, Jesus covered in his own blood and barely able to stand. Look at him, with a crown and a royal robe. This is your best man – look all of you this is the man who is your king.

V6 The crowd show their hatred of the man “Crucify Him, Crucify Him”. Where did that come from, a strength of feeling against a sin that reminds me very much of the reaction to the “Satanic Verses”, or the cartoons of the prophet published in Denmark. This is no longer about justice or a reasonable charge, this is religious fervour at its extreme, at its worst type.

V7 The Jewish leaders state their case again, they are beaten, but they won't lie down and go away. They are determined that they will get their way. We are reaching,or perhaps have passed the point of no return in this little battle of strength.

V10 Pilate tries to talk to Jesus again. “Do you realise that your life is in my hands?”

v11 Jesus is no help to Pilate “You don't have any authority over me except that which is given to you from my Father” That's why the ones who handed me over to you share a greater part of the blame.

Pilate was still trying to release Jesus

v12 The Jews protest, at last making their claims that Jesus must die carry some weight under Roman law. The pressure on Pilate is increased to a point where Pilate really has no choice but to accede to their demands – round 5 to the Jews.

One last attempt by Pilate to free Jesus is met with more cries for blood. Pilate's final question “Am I to Crucify you king?” gives him the knock out in this contest.

V15 The Jews respond “We have no King but Caesar?”

They have rejected God, the whole sorry system that has built up around the temple has finally come to an end. The Jewish leaders of their time had shown their true colour – God and his Son – their true King are rejected. It is plain to see a religious system controlled by priests for the benefit of the priests. Their fate is sealed. Half a generation later God allowed the Romans to destroy the temple and the whole system came crashing down for ever.

Looking at ourselves

What about us – which of these parts have we played?

Are you in the crowd, have you been manipulated by the leaders around you to do something that you know isn't right? Have you gone along with the crowd, even when you knew better?

Are you in the Jewish leadership, have you been in a position of leadership and denied your principles for a short term gain? “Cut off your nose to spite your face?”

Are you a soldier, taking orders, and enjoying the pain of others, being hurtful just because that's what you have been told to do?

or are you a Pilate – the master politician, seeing the big picture, concerned with world issues, but avoiding the real questions that life, and especially Jesus asks of you?

I can think of times when I've been in all those situations to one degree or another.

In reality it me – I'm the reason he's there, its not the fault of the Jews, or Pilate, or the soldiers, or the rabble that turned out to do the priests bidding.

It was me, if I was the only other human on earth it would still have happened somehow

Isaiah 53:5: from the message:

But it was our sins that did that to him, that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins! He took the punishment, and that made us whole. Through his bruises we get healed.

‘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.’

We have just looked at the physical events the things that were said and done on earth, we have not seen the spiritual battle that is behind them driving them to the desired conclusion.

The good news of Good Friday is that because of all that happened, because Jesus chose to go through with Gods plan for redemption, because He did nothing to avoid the crucifixion that Pilate finally gave in to He will take the blame for all of those things you and I have done:

for all the times when we have failed to stand up for right.

for all those times when we have denied your principles for a quick profit.

for all those times when we have enjoyed inflicting pain and suffering on someone else.

for all those times when politics is more important than God's plans for us.

and all you have to do is ask and genuinely try not to repeat the mistake.

Good Friday Sermon

Introduction
Have you ever been in a position where you had to do something that you were not looking forward to? That may be something that you have to do regularly, but that you don't like, perhaps cleaning the drains or visiting the dentist. Well that's going to be an unpleasant experience, but it has to be done, and in both cases some good will ultimately come of it. No-one wants to suffer from overflowing drains, and no-one wants to suffer from tooth ache. I suspect that like me many of you may try to put these jobs off for as long as you can, before finally getting them done.

Linda's Story
Of course, the thing that you are not looking forward to may be something that life throws at you in the normal course of events. When I was at sixth form I had a friend, I'll call her Linda. Now when Linda was seven she had left the infants school, and was preparing to go to Junior school. That's into year 3 in the current way of measuring school years. Linda was not looking forward to this, in fact she was dreading it. For her it was a different school, with different teachers, and even some different pupils. Linda wasn't ready to make the change, so one morning, probably in early September, she decided that she could not go through with it. As her parents were no help, and were insisting that she must go, there was only one alternative. At the age of seven, Linda decided it was time to leave home. She packed her satchel, yes, the one she had been given for junior school, with some sweets, and some bread, she went up to her room and and changed into some warm cloths, put on her best coat, picked up all of her pocket money and all of her savings, and headed for the front door. All was quiet, so she left. Closing the door behind her she strode purposefully for the front gate, opened it and walked down the road. Fortunately for all of us, Linda's mother heard her leave the house and caught up with her a brought her home. If she hadn't who knows what could have happened. Linda did survive junior school, and senior school, but the point of the story is that she knew there was something going to happen – she had to go to a new school. She could not accept what life had put in her path and decided that the only option was to run away.

My Employment
Some of you may know that I am currently looking for a new job after my job was moved off-shore (to India). I have had to spend sixty days handing over everything I know about my job to other people, while the management sort out a successor on the sub-continent.
To help with the handover I was asked to prepare a Knowledge Transfer document. There would be a bonus paid for the completion of it, so I had some motivation to get on and produce a good result. The handover was not something I wanted to do, at first. I decided that although the process is an unpleasant experience, the best thing to do was to continue to take a professional approach, and to do the best job that I could under the circumstances. The approach of my management, which had until the sixty days been very hands-off, had suddenly become very intense. They wanted to know, and have justified, pretty much everything I was doing. Keeping my head down and getting on with my work – my usual approach was impossible – I had to do my job, hand it over to others, and document it, under the watchful eye of my manager. I am happy to report that I have come through it, and received the maximum available bonus.

How to approach an unpleasant task
It seem that we have three example of how we can approach a difficult and unpleasant task. If the option is there we can put it off, but many things in life do not fit with our timing, but with someone else's. We can run away, or at least we can try to run away, but there is plenty of evidence from life that running away doesn't actually achieve what it is designed to. The problem, task, or job to do will still be there when you get back. Perhaps the best approach then is to embrace the task, and make the best possible job of it.

Before our reading today Jesus had prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, Here's the story from Luke 22:
'Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, Pray that you will not fall into temptation. He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done. An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.”
Following that prayer Jesus had decided to go through with the difficult job that he had been given by his father. Now what Jesus had to do was to die for the sins of the world. That really makes anything that we might have to face seem fairly insignificant by comparison. In our passage today we see Jesus accomplishing the task, and I am going to look at some of the aspects of how successfully that was carried out.

God had been speaking to the Jews through the prophets for many years, almost throughout their entire history. God had told the Jews why he had chosen them, how they were to live together and relate to other peoples who lived around them, and how they were to worship Him. The Jews had struggled with this, what God was asking was not easy. God had also told them many of the things that the Messiah would do, and many of the things that would happen in the Messiah's life. Three times it says “So that scripture would be fulfilled”. Lets take a look at each of them, and see what Jesus did, and the events that occurred around him as he went to do the job that God had placed in front of him.

First Prophecy
The first prophesy involves the Roman soldiers who were there to follow their orders and crucify the prisoners handed to them. They themselves were not involved in the process of justice, like a prison warden today does not appear at the court hearing, he is just responsible for executing the sentence passed by the court. That's what the Roman soldiers were doing - following the instructions of the court, and the Roman legal system. Each prisoner would have four soldiers to accompany him. As part of that system, when someone was handed over for execution the soldiers who performed the act would keep all the worldly goods of the person who they were crucifying. In Jesus' case, as in the case of most Jews of his day there would likely be five pieces of clothing – shoes (or sandals) turban, girdle, tunic, and robe. So the soldiers shared these out amicably enough, 1 piece each, but what to do with the fifth item. The undergarment had been woven in one piece. It was a special piece of clothing. It was customary for Jewish mothers to present such a garment to their son's as a gift when they entered adult hood – like a traditional coming of age birthday present today. When adult hood began at 21 the tradition was to give the key to the door – something small but very significant. For a Jewish mother the traditional gift was a tunic woven as one piece.

So there were the soldiers wondering what to do with this piece of clothing. To cut it into quarters would be to destroy it, so what better to do than to draw lots to see who gets it. At least then someone would get something of value. So the prophecy in Psalm 22:18 has been fulfilled. “They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.”

OK, Pete, lots of interesting things about Roman Soldiers and Jewish clothing, but what part did Jesus take in all this? Surely he's just the victim here?

Well, yes, at this point Jesus has submitted himself to the Roman authorities, but he was also responsible for dressing himself. He chose to wear that tunic – knowing what was about to happen he could easily have swapped for something of little or no value, but he didn't. Perhaps you could say “What a waste letting the Romans have something that good – couldn't it have been used to help the poor?” May be it could have, but it was the only thing of real value that Jesus had, if prophecy were to be fulfilled, it needed to be put in front of the soldiers so that they could agree to draw lots for it.
The robe has another potential significance to. A seamless tunic was worn by the high priest, partly as a symbol of who he was, but also because it would be much less likely to tear than a regular tunic. So here we see some symbolism of Jesus as God's new high priest. That may seem to be stretching a point here, but it would not have been lost on the Jews.

Jesus' Mother
Before we look at the second and third prophecies, it is worth noting that Jesus is still behaving like the Jesus we are so familiar with in the Gospels. He makes arrangements for his mothers long term care – asking his closest disciple John, the author of our reading to take care of her as though she were his own mother. At this point it is possible that John took Mary back to his home, where she would have stayed for the rest of the day. John would have returned to the scene of the crucifixion. That would be one possible explanation for the narrative appearing to skip forward slightly, missing some of the details from the other gospels.

Second Prophecy
The second prophecy is in verses 28 and 29
“Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips.”
Even now, after being scourged and beaten and nailed to a cross Jesus is still fully aware of what he is doing, here by asking for a drink, he picks up the prophecy from Psalm 69:21 “They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.” Gall is also known as wormwood, a bitter tasting herb that dulls pain and the senses with it. Jesus has already refused to drink the vinegar when it contained the drug. He needs to keep his head clear for all that is going on around him. Here though he accepts the vinegar. This is, of course, wine vinegar, not malt vinegar, not the sort you would put on you chips. It is the common drink of Roman soldiers, and does not contain much alcohol at all – just enough to make the water safe to drink. Even today's binge drinkers would stay reasonably sober drinking this – not that they would, it does not have a very pleasant taste.
As you leave today, take with you the smell of the wine vinegar, use the smell to remind you of the actions of Jesus on the cross fulfilling the prophesies from hundreds of years earlier.

Third Prophecy
The third prophecy again involves the Roman soldiers, but this time includes the Jews. As the crucifixion was held on the day before the Sabbath – Friday, the Jews were concerned about the criminals being left on the cross, so the Romans agreed to break their legs. This has the effect of speeding up the death, and would not have been something that the Romans would normally have been prepared to do. So one of the soldiers is asked to go and break the legs of those on the crosses. When he comes to Jesus, he can see no sign of life, so to prove to all those present that death has really occurred his spear is stuck into the side of the body. The blood has separated out and is seen as blood and water confirming to the Roman that he is dead. In verse 30 we hear Jesus say “It is finished” , by which he means that he has done all that is to be done. Everything that God has asked of him has been completed. These things happened so that a number of scriptures would be fulfilled
Ps 34:20 he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.
From Numbers, the rules for passover say of the lamb that was eaten:
Nu 9:12 They must not leave any of it till morning or break any of its bones. When they celebrate the Passover, they must follow all the regulations.
Jesus is the Lamb that God provides for the required sacrifice for this most special passover. The regulations for passover must be followed – if not by God, who else would follow them.
In Zec 12:10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a first-born son.”

Had Jesus not died when he did, the scriptures could not have been fulfilled. John says “he gave up his spirit”, in other words he deliberately allowed himself to die at that moment, any later and there would have been a different outcome.

Conclusion
Everything that Jesus did in the passage we read today was either to directly fulfil the scriptures, or to make circumstances where their fulfilment was the most probable outcome. Everything he did was intended to demonstrate who he was, and that he was on the path chosen by God, quite deliberately taking all the steps that would lead to his Death, and so to our restoration with God.