"Why?" (Sermon for Good Friday, on Matthew 27:11-50)

Why? That is the question of the day here on this Good Friday. We hear the question raised twice in our Gospel account. First, when the crowd is demanding that Jesus be crucified, Pontius Pilate asks, “Why, what evil has he done?” And then second, when Jesus is crucified, he himself asks, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” These “why” questions are understandable, since none of this makes any sense--until we know the real reason for the “Why?”

This whole entire episode--the trials, the beatings, the crucifixion: Why? Why did this take place? Why should Jesus, of all people, have to endure such suffering? As Pilate asks the crowd, “Why, what evil has he done?” The answer, of course, is none. Jesus did no evil. He committed no crime. He did nothing to warrant such mistreatment and punishment. No, nothing but goodness and righteousness could be seen in the life of Jesus.

So then, why? We can explain it, I suppose, in human terms. The Jewish religious leaders were jealous of all the attention Jesus was getting. They felt threatened by him--his unmasking their hypocrisy, his stripping away their works-righteousness, and the threat he posed to the religious industry they had built up for themselves. That’s why they were out to get him. That’s the “why” from the perspective of the Jewish religious leaders.

Then how about Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor? After all, he could see through the jealousy of the Jews when they brought Jesus to him. He could see that Jesus was no criminal; he was not leading any political revolt against Rome. But at the same time, Pilate wanted to keep the peace. He wanted to maintain order. The turmoil that this whole Jesus controversy was stirring up needed to be settled down in a hurry before it got out of control. The Jews were even suggesting that if Pilate didn’t put Jesus to death, they may have to report him to Caesar: “Caesar, there was this rebel king in our midst, and your guy Pilate didn’t do anything about it!” So finally Pilate washed his hands of the mess and gave in to the demands of the crowd. Jesus would be crucified.

So we can see the reason why from the perspective of the Jewish leaders and Pilate. But we still have left unanswered the bigger “why” question: Why, from God’s perspective? After all, this is God’s own Son! His dearly beloved Son, with whom God said he was well pleased. Jesus is God’s Son, who came to do the Father’s will. And he did it perfectly. So why did God let this happen?

Make no mistake, it is God who is in control of these events. Not the Jews, not Pilate. But God. The unusual darkness is a sign that God is in control. “From the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.” This was no natural eclipse. This was a sign in the heavens. Darkness does not normally come at the sixth hour of the day--at 12:00, high noon--right at the zenith of the light of day. And the darkness lasted for three hours, right until the time of Jesus’ death. Deep darkness. The darkness of God, shutting the heavens on this Jesus on the cross. It was like a wall went up between God and Jesus.

Jesus cries out: “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” The words are Aramaic, the language of that day. They mean, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” These words were prophesied centuries earlier in Psalm 22. These words are now spoken in their full meaning by the one for whom they were written, the ultimate righteous sufferer. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus himself is asking the “why” question. Why? For what reason? Why is this happening? What purpose is being served?

God has forsaken Jesus. He has abandoned his own Son. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus cries out in a loud voice, but it is not loud enough. The heavens have turned to brass. God turns a deaf ear to the cry of his own Son. God has left him alone there on that cross, abandoned, forsaken.

Why? The answer to the “why” question is spelled out for us all over Scripture. Isaiah 53 had prophesied a suffering servant who would bear these sufferings for our sake: “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned--every one--to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” This prophecy was written 700 years before Christ, yet it describes perfectly why Christ suffered so: He did it for us.

St. Paul spells out the answer to the “why” question in 2 Corinthians 5: “For our sake God made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Jesus, who had no sin of his own, took our sin into himself, in such a way that he became the living--and dying--embodiment of sin. It was like all the sin in the whole world, for all time, was gathered up and placed into his body. Jesus was the embodiment of sin there on the cross, and therefore God must turn away from him.

But look, that is actually good news for you! All your sin has been taken away from you! Jesus bore it for you. He took your sin to himself and took it to the cross. There the penalty has been paid; there the sentence has been served. For you, by Jesus, in your place. That’s the “why.” That’s the purpose. “So that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” In Christ we are accounted righteous before God. Our sin is replaced by his righteousness.

Paul puts it this way in Galatians 3: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.” The curse of death and separation from God, God’s judgment against sinners--we were the ones whom God should have forsaken. That is the curse we deserve under the law. But Christ has freed us from the curse by becoming the curse for us. Jesus became sin, Jesus became the curse, there on the cross. Now the curse and the sin and the death and the judgment--all of these have been taken away. That is what is so good about Good Friday.

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” That’s the big question, isn’t it, the “why” question. And the answer is this: Jesus was forsaken so that we would be forgiven. He was abandoned so that we would be absolved. Jesus endured the darkness so that we would see the light. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Dear friends, the big “why” question has a big “wow” answer! And the result we will see on Sunday.

Matthew 27:11-50 (ESV)

Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You have said so.” But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer. Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?” But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.

Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.” Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” And he said, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”

So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.

As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.

John 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

***

Galatians 3
13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

Psalm 137
1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
2 We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.

Tree
Law
Curse

Roy Orbison - The Way Is Love (Music Video)

"Follow me." ~ Jesus Christ [Ιησούς Χριστός]

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind [ένα μεγάλο άλμα για την ανθρωπότητα]." ~ Neil Armstrong

Ιησούς Χριστός *is* ένα μεγάλο άλμα για την ανθρωπότητα (both = 2368)

There's always a story deep in the foundations, waiting for its turn to stand up and shine. In this example,

agape [αγάπη] = 93

And God is Love. The Tetragrammaton [יהוה] = 26

93 x 26 = 2418

Yet 2368 comes up 50 short. Why? As in this concept:

The highest level humanly possible is 49 gates; it is God Who enables a person to make the final leap from 49 to 50. The human being who passed through the full 49 gates was Moshe.34 However, the final 50th gate still lay beyond his grasp. The secret of this ultimate step would lie within the secret nature of Yovel.
Who Knows 50

***

What do the trees say?

John 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

"The way is love, it's in the air tonight." ~ Roy

The secret nature of Yovel, the Jubilee.

we will be able to travel the entire Universe in the blink of an eye

The speed of light!

It's like that Messianic "giant leap" in Hebrew [צעד גדול]. It equals 207, which is ohr [אור], light (Let there be light!)

The eureka effect (also known as the Aha! moment or eureka moment) refers to the common human experience of suddenly understanding a previously incomprehensible problem or concept.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_effect

Matthew 24

26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

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