Good Friday Sermon and Service - Seven Last Words of Christ
The hymn text for Lutheran Service Book 447 Jesus, inYour Dying Woes is found at https://hymnary.org/hymn/LSB2006/447
2024 Brief Meditations on the Seven Last Words of Christ
First Word – Luke 23:34
34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”[a] And they cast lots to divide his garments.
Luke 6 records The Sermon on the Plain where Jesus says, “But I say to you who hear, ‘love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” In this first word from the cross, Jesus is praying for his executioners. They are Roman soldiers who are following orders. But, they are probably not being very nice about it. Nailing someone unto a cross is rough work and the executed don’t receive their punishment calmly or willingly. The instinct to fight or flee to stay alive would be in full force. Physical abuse and intimidation are how the soldiers get the job done.
With this particular condemned criminal though, instead of hearing weeping, cursing, and begging, and feeling great resistance, the soldiers hear Jesus praying for them. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” The Greek indicates that Jesus’s prayer is not a one off, but a continuous action. He is praying for all those who are “just following orders.”
While we consider Jesus’ grace toward the soldiers, we also recognize that Jesus does not specifically say, “you soldiers” or “you men.” He says “forgive them.” It could very well be that Jesus is praying for his disciples too. Until the resurrection and his explanation, they really did not understand.
All the disciples need Jesus’ compassion and prayers. We recall that they all deserted him. Peter, within Jesus’ hearing, denied even knowing Jesus. Judas betrayed Jesus.
The gospels tell us that Jesus comes for all people. Jesus intends to save Jew and Gentile alike. Prof. Arthur Just says in his commentary on Luke: “Luke has shown in his narrative of the four trials of Jesus that ultimately all people are responsible for Jesus’ sentence to death. Jews and Gentiles are both indispensably involved in his condemnation and sentencing.” This means us too. From the cross, Jesus prays for us too.
Let us sing the first three verses of Jesus, in Your Dying Woes LSB 447.
First Word: Luke 23:34--
1 Jesus, in Your dying woes,
Even while Your lifeblood flows,
Craving pardon for Your foes;
Hear us, holy Jesus.
2 Savior, for our pardon sue
When our sins Your pangs renew,
For we know not what we do:
Hear us, holy Jesus.
3 Oh, may we, who mercy need,
Be like You in heart and deed,
When with wrong our spirits bleed: Hear us, holy Jesus.
Second Word – Luke 23:43
43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
When Jesus stood before Pilate, he chose to say as little as possible. He did not go into a defense of his words or actions. Jesus follows the same pattern here. Why waste breath and energy? When the one criminal berates Jesus, he is silent. They are all there to die. Jesus is not about to do a Houdini escape trick with an unrepentant criminal. Jesus awaits a confession of faith. He receives it in the other criminal. This nameless criminal admits his errant ways and confesses his faith in Jesus. Whether he understood the exact nature of Jesus’ kingdom, when he asked “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” is beside the point. He looked at Jesus, saw clear as day that he was innocent, and he had faith in him. Whatever comes next, he wants to be with Jesus. What faith this man has in Jesus! The Lord blesses with the undeserved promise, “today you will be with me in paradise.” The grace, the promise, that Jesus extends here is unmerited, unearned. He’s a criminal who acknowledges his own complicity and guilt in why is on a cross. But, at this moment he is repentant, and he has faith in Jesus.
The criminal is promised paradise. The word “paradise” takes us back in our biblically informed imagination to the Garden of Eden. Life was easy then. Food and drink were always available. There was no conflict then. The animals got along. The water always came when it was supposed to. There was always something good to eat. Adam and Eve got along. It was as good a place as possible to be.
We don’t know a thing about the confessing criminal, but we have to wonder, Did he ever know true love, a calm home, an abundance of food and drink? Did he ever know a life without conflict? Did he ever know a life without desperation? Well, he will now. Jesus promised him paradise. And, it will happen Today.
Let us sing verses 4-6.
4 Jesus, pitying the sighs
Of the thief, who near You dies,
Promising him paradise;
Hear us, holy Jesus.
5 May we in our guilt and shame
Still Your love and mercy claim,
Calling humbly on Your name:
Hear us, holy Jesus.
6 May our hearts to You incline
And their thoughts Your cross entwine.
Cheer our souls with hope divine:
Hear us, holy Jesus.
Third Word – John 19:26-27
26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
We do not know what happened to Joseph, Mary’s husband. The last time that we heard anything about Joseph is when Jesus was twelve years old. The family had come to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration. Jesus stayed behind in the Temple to learn with the Rabbis but did not let his parents know. After that event, Joseph no longer appears in the gospels. I assume that he entered his eternal rest.
If that is the case, Jesus became the head of the household. He has a responsibility to care for His mother. From the cross, he takes his responsibility as Mary’s son seriously. He appoints John the beloved disciple to look after her. His Mother now has a son to provide for her needs.
In Mark 3:31-35 (Matthew 12:46-50) when Jesus’ mother and brothers come asking for him, Jesus asks, “who are my mother and my brothers?” He answers the question in terms of discipleship. “Whoever does the will of God is brother and sister and mother to me.”
In many Christian communities, the cross of Christ is the one thing that binds people together. The Holy Spirit leads people into faith and into a congregation where most families are not related by blood or marriage. After a time, the congregation becomes our family. Jesus is our brother. Through Jesus, we gain sisters and brothers and new parents and grandparents. We behold them all as a gift from God.
Let us sing verses 7-9
7 Jesus, loving to the end
Her whose heart Your sorrows rend,
And Your dearest human friend:
Hear us, holy Jesus.
8 May we in Your sorrows share,
For Your sake all peril dare,
And enjoy Your tender care:
Hear us, holy Jesus.
9 May we all Your loved ones be,
All one holy family,
Loving, since Your love we see: Hear us, holy Jesus.
Fourth Word - Mark 15:34
34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
At the third hour, Jesus was crucified. From the third hour to the sixth hour, from 9am – noon, Jesus endured the suffering of the crucifixion as well as the harassment of those who mocked him. At the sixth hour, darkness spread throughout the land. The darkness is reminiscent of the ninth plague in Egypt when all of the land, except where the Israelites lived, was pitch dark for three days.
Egypt was under judgment from God. Through Moses God made it clear to Pharoah, that the LORD God, not Pharoah, was Lord of sun, sky, and earth. The LORD God can manipulate nature at will. As Jesus bore the weight of the world’s sin upon his body, the darkness only intensified God’s judgment upon Him. Jesus is receiving all of the Father’s wrath that we deserved. Jesus is suffering what we should suffer.
Now, in the ninth hour, about three in the afternoon, Jesus is drawing close to the end. This whole time he is breathing, feeling the pain in his flesh, suffering under God’s condemnation, and he is no doubt praying. But, finally, he cries out in prayer loud enough for others to hear. He prays in the family and common tongue of Aramaic. He is praying Psalm 22.
We note that there is a change in how he addresses our heavenly Father. At the first word from the cross, he begged his Father to forgive those who injured him for they do not know what they are doing. Now, he addresses his Father as God. He is experiencing the full weight of God’s judgment upon humanity now. The sacrificial Lamb of God suffers in our behalf.
Let us sing verses 10-12.
10 Jesus, whelmed in fears unknown,
With our evil left alone.
While no light from heav'n is shown:
Hear us, holy Jesus.
11 When we seem in vain to pray
And our hope seems far away,
In the darkness be our stay:
Hear us, holy Jesus.
12 Though no Father seem to hear,
Though no light our spirits cheer,
May we know that God is near:
Hear us, holy Jesus.
Fifth Word – John 19:28
28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.”
In the early years of the church, a number of different ideas emerged about how to explain Jesus and his crucifixion. Many well-intentioned people could not fathom that God could possibly be human too, let alone suffer and die. One explanation that was offered is called Docetism. Docetism argues that Jesus’ body was not a real human body. Rather, it only appeared to be a body. It was perhaps a phantom.
The Holy Spirit foresaw this and inspired the writers of the gospels to include incidents in Jesus’ life where he expressed hunger and when he ate. We recall that he also ate after the resurrection as well. The resurrection includes a real body that can be touched and that may be fed with real food.
As the gospels attest, Jesus has a real human body and it is taking a beating right now. He is suffering physically, emotionally, and mentally. And his real human body is thirsty. He cries out, “I thirst.”
Jesus’ announcement that he is dehydrated, leads to a fulfilling of scripture. The next verse in John says, “A jar full of sour wine stood there, so that they put a sponge full of sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth.” This fulfills the prophecy of Psalm 69:21, “…for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.”
The detail of a hyssop branch is also important. Exodus 12:22 states that hyssop was used to sprinkle the blood of the paschal lamb on the doorposts of the Israelite houses.
Jesus, the one who cries out “I thirst”, is our paschal lamb. On account of his blood shed for us, the wrath of our heavenly Father passes over us.
Let us sing verses 13-15.
13 Jesus, in Your thirst and pain,
While Your wounds Your lifeblood drain,
Thirsting more our love to gain:
Hear us, holy Jesus.
14 Thirst for us in mercy still;
All Your holy work fulfill;
Satisfy Your loving will:
Hear us, holy Jesus.
15 May we thirst Your love to know;
Lead us in our sin and woe
Where the healing waters flow: Hear us, holy Jesus.
Sixth Word – John 19:30
30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
In John 10, Jesus speaks one of those beautiful “I am” statements. He says, I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd knows his sheep and the sheep know His voice and follow Him. The Shepherd loves His sheep and will lay down his life for them. Jesus says in verses 17 & 18, “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.” Jesus assures us here and elsewhere that what happens to Jesus, especially at the end, is no surprise to him. More importantly, while there are many actors working against Jesus, none of them will fulfill their devious and desperate plans until he decides it is time.
He was arrested and tried after the Passover meal because he wanted the Apostles to understand that he is the Paschal Lamb. The Lord’s Supper is instituted after the Passover Meal because he wants to underscore the point that by the spilling of his blood as a sacrifice, the Father’s judgment of wrath toward us for our sins is going to pass over us and unto Jesus, our paschal lamb.
Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion are going to work according to the Divine calendar, not anything or anyone else’s. The same is with His death. He has suffered the condemnation we so justly deserved. His blood is spilled. The scriptures have all been fulfilled by his words and actions. It is time to stop. His work, his humiliation, is finished. He gives up His spirit. His exaltation begins with the descent into hell.
This is the literary and theological climax of the Gospel of John.
Let us sing verses 16-18
16 Jesus, all our ransom paid,
All Your Father's will obeyed;
By Your suff'rings perfect made:
Hear us, holy Jesus.
17 Save us in our soul's distress;
Be our help to cheer and bless
While we grow in holiness:
Hear us, holy Jesus.
18 Brighten all our heav'nward way
With an ever holier ray
Till we pass to perfect day: Hear us, holy Jesus.
Seventh Word – Luke 23:46
46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.
The first and last words of Christ on the cross are addressed to our heavenly Father. Jesus, throughout his life and throughout his passion has been doing the Father’s will. The Father sent the son into the world out of love. As Jesus explained to Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.” In obedience and love, the Son enters his state of humiliation through the Incarnation. Now, with his last words and his last breath, he leaves his state of humiliation to enter his state of exaltation.
Throughout his time on the cross, he has either recited or fulfilled Scripture. These last words are no different. Jesus utters words of trust in his heavenly Father by quoting from Psalm 31:5. “Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God.”
Jesus dies on the cross so that we may have peace. Through the cross, Christ reconciles us to our heavenly Father. His obedience and sacrifice pave the way for us to meet our own deaths with a sense of peace that the world simply cannot give. To hear once again the announcement that “you are forgiven” frees us from the battles we endure in this vale of tears. We go forward into God’s future, trusting in him alone for our salvation and saying, “Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God.”
Let us conclude our hymn with verses 19-21.
19 Jesus, all Your labor vast,
All Your woe and conflict past,
Yielding up Your soul at last:
Hear us, holy Jesus.
20 When the death shades round us low'r,
Guard us from the temper's pow'r,
keep us in that trial hour:
Hear us, holy Jesus.
21 May Your life and death supply
Grace to live and grace to die,
Grace to reach the home on high: Hear us, holy Jesus.
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