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<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\nAt Jubilee Church I preached yesterday\u2019s sermon. \u00a0Here are some notes from the sermon with some extra material woven in.<\/p>\n
Earlier today on Twitter somebody asked why people would wish each other a \u201chappy\u201d Good Friday. It begs the question why we even call the day \u201cgood.\u201d \u00a0But many Christians have a real tendency to celebrate even on the day their Lord died. Why is this? It is in part because we know the end of the story! \u00a0As the old preacher once said \u201cIt\u2019s Friday, but Sunday\u2019s a-comin\u2019!\u201d But it was not as though Jesus died and then was in defeat until he rose again. The cross itself marked a great victory! He boldly declared \u201cIT IS FINISHED<\/strong>\u2026 bowed his head and gave up his spirit\u201d (John 19:30). And on that day, death died as the son of man expired! So much so that the temple curtain was ripped in two from top to bottom, indicating the way into the Holy of Holies was now open, and tombs around Jerusalem were emptied as many rose from the dead! \u00a0So, we celebrate his death, but we must at the same time face the horrific nature of it.<\/p>\nHe was despised and rejected by men;
\na man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
\nand as one from whom men hide their faces
\nhe was despised, and we esteemed him not.
\nSurely he has borne our griefs
\nand carried our sorrows;
\nyet we esteemed him stricken,
\nsmitten by God, and afflicted.
\nBut he was pierced for our transgressions;
\nhe was crushed for our iniquities;
\nupon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
\nand with his wounds we are healed.
\nAll we like sheep have gone astray;
\nwe have turned\u2014every one\u2014to his own way;
\nand the Lord has laid on him
\nthe iniquity of us all.
\nHe was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
\nyet he opened not his mouth;
\nlike a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
\nand like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
\nso he opened not his mouth.
\nBy oppression and judgment he was taken away;
\nand as for his generation, who considered
\nthat he was cut off out of the land of the living,
\nstricken for the transgression of my people?
\nAnd they made his grave with the wicked
\nand with a rich man in his death,
\nalthough he had done no violence,
\nand there was no deceit in his mouth.
\nYet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
\nhe has put him to grief;
\nwhen his soul makes an offering for guilt,
\nhe shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
\nthe will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
\nOut of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
\nby his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
\nmake many to be accounted righteous,
\nand he shall bear their iniquities.
\nTherefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
\nand he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
\nbecause he poured out his soul to death
\nand was numbered with the transgressors;
\nyet he bore the sin of many,
\nand makes intercession for the transgressors.
\n(Isaiah 53:3-12)\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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