SERMON/HOMILY ON THE PASSION OF THE LORD - GOOD FRIDAY 29TH MARCH 2024

SERMON/HOMILY ON THE PASSION OF THE LORD - GOOD FRIDAY 29TH MARCH 2024

Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Ps.31; Heb.4:14-16; 5:7-9; John 18:1-19:42

Lessons from Good Friday

At last He has been caught! The Jesus who had been confronting and reprimanding the Scribes and the Pharisees; the Jesus who worked miracles even on Sabbath day (not minding that it infuriated the authorities), the Jesus who had the capacity to know the thought of men and always knew when questions were put forward to Him just to test him; the Jesus whom the authorities have often time wanted to arrest and persecute but for fear of the crowds who held Him to be a prophet; the Jesus who had often slipped through the crowds when He was about to be arrested; the Jesus who had made possible all that was thought impossible, including raising the dead; this Jesus has finally been caught. He’s been publicly scourged and humiliated. He’s labeled a criminal and He carried this label to the grave. It is disheartening that the last identity given to this man whom people have argued whether He is the Messiah or not, is that of a Criminal. What a bad way to end a good story!

Nevertheless, today remains Good Friday. What makes today good is not how Jesus died but how He lived, why He lived and why He died. Before and after Jesus, many persons died as Criminals (some innocently accused) but their death is not termed good. Jesus’ death is good because He is the Son of God who came, lived and died redeeming us. Beloved, one lesson we immediately learn from this is: the true indices for evaluating life are not how and when we die but how we have lived. A life is not unfortunate because the person died at a young age or died in an unfortunate circumstance, such as accident. A life is unfortunate if it was not well lived. From Jesus death, let us learn to attach “goodness” to what truly matters.

Again, it was not Jesus who named today “Good Friday”. We did, because Jesus lived and died for our own good. We are gathered here today to acknowledge what Jesus did for us. From this, we learn that our death too will be good not on account of what we do for ourselves in life but what we do for others while we lived. A life that is not shared is not good at all. While we live, we can tell our stories as we dim it fit; but when we die, others will tell our story from their experience of it. If their experience is not good, we may as well have been lying about our stories. It is true that we should not judge because we do not fully know what others are passing through. But then, this is no justification for living a life that is not truly good to others.

Humanly speaking, the death of Jesus was orcastrated by the calumny of men. The Trial proceeded to condemnation because those who knew the truth were afraid to confront falsehood. An innocent man was killed because no one wanted to oppose the “powerful”. The situation has not changed today. Evil have continued to triumph because good men say and do nothing. Beloved, be mindful of who you seek to please. _You cannot be in the good book of a bad person because a bad person cannot have a good book_ . The evil we do not confront today, will overshadow us in the nearest future. All of us have the capacity to do something about the evils in our world today. The attitude of “it does not concern me” is the best support ever that has been given to evil. Do not be intimated that your voice alone is not enough to overrule the evil around you; let your stand against evil be made known.

The death of Jesus disappointed those who identified with Him. The death of Jesus brought mockery to his followers, just as the followers of those who lost the last elections are been mocked by some of those whose candidates won. But know this, in following Jesus, mockery must come but this mockery is not defeat. The worst has to first happen so that when Jesus’ power is manifested, it will be obvious that He has destroyed the worst. We must learn to remain with Jesus at our moments of mockery. Never trust the friendliness of your mockers in your time of crisis. God perfects everything at his own time and in his own way. If the righteous perseveres, the story will never end on “Good Friday”.

The death of Jesus is the greatest miracle ever done for humanity. This miracle happened without man praying for it. This does not suggest that prayer is not important but that God who is love is always disposed to giving us the best. Christianity is not a life that is dependent on miracles but a life that is lived on love. Where love exists, miracles will always happen, justice will always prevail. Today is Good Friday because Jesus’ death destroyed death (the greatest enemy of man); His death turned evil into good; His death paid wickedness with kindness. Whether the rest of our days on earth and our death will be good depends how on the decision we make today to either be like Jesus or like any other character (Judas, Peter, Pilate, Herod, the crowds, etc) who contributed to His death.