Falling in love with Jesus

Worship for Trinity United Shediac April 25, 2021

Sunday Worship April 18, 2021

Worship for April 11, 202 Trinity United Church Shediac NB

Easter Service 2021

"The Hidden Message In Good Friday"

There is a hidden message in Good Friday and It’s all about us. Let me explain. To understand the hidden message of the cross, we need to look more closely at the human journey, meaning our own personal walk with Jesus. The political and religious right of that time clearly misunderstood Jesus’ message and mission, as did His disciples, His relatives and those who tried to follow Him. I’m not to sure that many of us today do either. Often those who followed Him found themselves, as do many Christians today, in the midst of seeking a personal position of status or control in our relationships with each other or within our community of faith. They who followed Jesus, misunderstood His mission, thinking that He was destined to over throw the Roman Empire, take away their kingdom and to set up a new kingdom, The Kingdom of Heaven. The thought was, that they themselves would hold positions of authority and power to govern with Him. But Jesus’ mission was clearly to not to govern but to expose the corrupt ways of a man made religion and to show how power and authority had fueled division, predigest and racism within the different classes and cultures of there time. To expose how wealth, materialism and power had twisted the minds of both the good and bad people of that day. Jesus would expose the injustice of oppressing the poor, the sick, the outcast and those on the margins of life. Now I ask you, Isn't this all sounding a bit familiar?

Jew and Greek alike had twisted the Hebrew story of Yahweh and its creation story, a story where God always creates good out of kayos and its darkness. A story of love, rescue and restoration only to prefer a Greek narrative, that focused on one instance of missing the mark, labelling that event as “The Great Fall from Grace”. In do so they created a new vision of Yahweh, now a punitive God of judgment and punishment. Do you not see that this is why the truth about the Gospel according to Christ and the cross was seen as foolishness to those who were perishing, and especially to some of his closest friends and followers. How could a punitive God be a God who loves his enemies and prays for those who persecute them. A God who exalts the lowly, crushes the wealthy and powerful. They and we find it hard to comprehend a God who’s love and forgiveness is so radical that it cannot be earned. How could that be? For the religious and nonreligious right and left of that day, and many in our day, rejection or foolishness would become the norm. His closest followers would eventually prove their disloyalty as they hid in fear of ending up on a cross just like their once hailed Master. Then, Jesus does the unthinkable, by putting His full trust in a restorative Yahweh. Trusting Yahweh to turn His darkest hour into something good. It was then, that Jesus committed himself to be the ultimate sacrifice. Willingly offering himself up as the passive lamb to the slaughter if you will, in the greatest act of love and obedience the world would ever know. Foolishness to some. In doing so God’s unconditional love, forgiveness and restorative powers would be offered to a world lost to its own sin.

The hidden message of Good Friday is for us: Blessed are they who have not seen but have believed. Blessed are they who have die in Him, for they will inherit the kingdom or God and the eternal life. Has this years personal Easter journey change for you, or is the cross still just foolishness. Let us pray. 

 

The Gospel according to Christ and the message of the cross was seen by many as foolishness.

1 Corinthians 1: 18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Many of Jesus’ teachings were never really understood:

Matthew 5:44 “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.”