The First Word: Luke 23:34
33 And when they came to the place that is called
The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right
and one on his left. 34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know
not what they do.”[b] And they cast
lots to divide his garments.
This year I’d
like to take a different approach to the 7 words from the cross. We might juxtapose, or place alongside of
these 7 words the 7 days of Creation. Here,
at Calvary, as there in Genesis, God is doing something unique in all of
history. Here, as there, the Lord’s word
is active and powerful. There, creating,
here, redeeming the world.
In Genesis it
all began with a word, “let there be light”.
He spoke, and things happened.
The word accomplished what it said. So here he spoke forgiveness, and it
happened! “Father, forgive them,” he
prays, or to put it another way, “Let there be forgiveness” and there was.
God saw the
light and it was good. We see the
forgiveness of the Light of the world, and we call this dark Friday,
“Good”. For the prayer Jesus offers to
the Father, to forgive them, is a prayer for us who have walked in
darkness. May we embrace the light of
his forgiveness, life, and salvation, and have no fear.
The Second Word: Luke 23:43
39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed
at him,[d] saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save
yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him,
saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of
condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we
are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing
wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus,
remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me
in paradise.”
On the second
day, God separated the waters above and the waters below. He called the expanse between them, “heaven”,
and it was so. Evening and morning, the
second day.
For those
thieves that hung dying, heaven must have seemed a far-distant hope. They were dying for crimes they had committed.
Earthly punishment was underway. Eternal
punishment was looming. But one of the
two, however it happened, looked to Jesus in faith. He prayed, “remember me in your
kingdom”. So humble, he didn’t even ask
to be saved, just remembered. And Jesus,
who always answers the prayer of faith, does more than he could have hoped for.
He promises
heaven. “Today you will be with me in
paradise”. When Jesus commends his
spirit to the Father, he brings the spirit of this faithful, forgiven thief
along also.
Likewise does
he respond to your prayers, oh faithful Christians. Likewise will he bring you to paradise, to heaven,
and even one day to resurrection, when this life’s sorrows end.
The 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.
The third day
of Creation saw the gathering of waters and the appearing of dry ground. God then filled the ground with vegetation and
fruit. And it was good.
Here before
Jesus’ cross stood Mary, his mother, and his dear beloved disciple, John. Where all the others had fled and scattered,
these faithful two stood there, gathered with him to the end.
Jesus, the
fruit of Mary’s womb, as Elizabeth once called him, was dying before his
mother’s eyes. A bitter aspect of all
this agony, for Jesus to look on the tears of his own mother. He wouldn’t stop her pain, but he did provide
for her care. Woman, behold your son.
John, behold your mother. And John gathered
her into his own home from that hour.
May the Lord
who gathered the waters together continue to gather together his church, to
himself to receive blessings, and to each other, to love and care for one
another. And may that gathering continue
to bear fruit – in good works done for our neighbor, the true fruits of faith.
The
Fourth Word: Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34
46 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?”
On the fourth day, God created the sun, moon and stars. He made them for signs and seasons, days and
years. We mark the time by their motion
and their cycles. They rule the day and
the night. They separate day and night,
light and dark.
And here we have the darkest word. Jesus withstands the full force of God’s
wrath. A burning fire with all the power
of millions of suns. Though it was at
about this moment on Good Friday that the sun itself darkened. The heavenly bodies which rule day and night
bow and kneel as the creator dies for his creation.
And what is the great pain of the cross? The nails, the thorns, the shame and
derision? No, the worst of it is being
forsaken by the Father. Separated from God.
Cast into the outer darkness and severed from the source of all that is
good. Jesus suffered such wrath – not
only for one of us, but for all. Jesus
suffered this horror, to save us from an eternity of suffering.
Our earthly days are numbered – and the sun, moon and
stars witness the passing of such days.
But his redemption is forever- and in the kingdom that is to come there
will be no more sun, for he himself will be our light. He faced the darkness for us, so that we will
never be forsaken by God.
The
Fifth Word: John 19:28
28 After this,
Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the
Scripture), “I thirst.”
The Fifth Day of creation saw the waters filled with
life. Swarming and teeming fish of all
kinds. And the air full of birds
according to their kinds. The waters of
this world still teem with life, and the birds of the air still depend on the riches
of the sea. The God who created life still sustains it. The God who made fruitful the seas – still
multiplies their bounty for the sustaining of life.
For his part, Jesus is thirsty. He had lost a lot of blood and sweat, and his
life was fading. Once before, when he
thirsted, he asked a woman for a drink from Jacob’s well. He called out her sin, but also intrigued her
with talk of living water that would make one never thirst again. “Sir, give me this water,” she pleaded. And in the gracious words he spoke, he did.
Jesus thirsted. He
who gives life to teeming swarms of fish and birds and animals and men… living
water that springs up even to eternal life – he thirsted. But this drink wasn’t to save or even prolong
his life. It was to prepare his mouth
for the next word – the important declaration he was about to make. For here at the cross, the one who thirsts,
becomes the fountain of living water for all who trust in him. And in that water is more life than in all
the oceans of this planet. Eternal,
abundant, springing up forever.
The
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.
On the sixth day, God’s work of creation finished with
the beasts and creepy crawlies of the land, and finally with the crown of his
creation – man. Made in his own image,
male and female he created them.
At first, Adam’s clay-fashioned body had no life in
it. It wasn’t yet finished. But God
breathed the life in, the spirit into Adam’s nostrils. And all of creation was finally declared
“very good”.
Jesus is about to give up his spirit here. The Second Adam to die for the sins of the
First Adam and all his children. But
before he does, he makes a declaration.
“It is finished”, and then the breath goes out of him. The work is all done.
Just as he declared creation “very good” with the
formation of Adam. Now, the work of
redemption gets its own exclamation point.
A final word that puts a bow on top.
And the Lord and giver of life gave up his spirit, so
that all who are in him would not die, but live. The work is done, it’s finished. It’s
perfected. And so are we, in him. So also, our sins are finished. So the new Adam again arises in us, and in
Christ are we once again found to be, “very good”.
The 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.
Jesus’ final word is a word of rest. The work is done, now his spirit rests with
the Father. Just as God’s work of
creation, when finished, led him to rest.
So his rest on Saturday of creation week pointed forward to Christ’s
rest in the tomb of Holy Saturday. When
Christ had completed all his work of redemption on the cross, he rested.
His work completed, and done well, it is acceptable to
the Father. He is acceptable to the
Father, into whose hands he commits his spirit.
And he rests.
We who are in Christ are the same. We, too, can rest in peace, both now and in
our death, for we are safe and secure in him.
We know our spirits are committed to the Father’s care and keeping, and
we will await the resurrection of the dead and the life of the word to come in
the nearer presence of the Father – or as Jesus calls it, paradise. One day our sabbath-rest in the tomb will
end, and we will wake to the glory of life eternal in him.
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