Sermon for Good Friday of Year C, 2016

The text for this sermon was the Passion Gospel found in John. You can read the full text of the Gospel here.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of all our hearts be acceptable to you, O Christ, our God and our Redeemer.

At the end of today’s gospel, we are left with an empty cross. To those who first lived the Jesus story, this was its horrible climax. Their Rabbi, their Lord, their promise of a future filled with hope, was executed by their Roman overlords. Hope was destroyed with the death of their leader and teacher. With Jesus’ end, everything was finished. Or so it seemed.

As I was preparing for this sermon, I found myself thinking about symbols of faith. One of those symbols is the cross, which remains an essential symbol of our faith. Without it and its brutal suffering, the empty tomb would not have been possible. Yet it is not the only symbol of faith. There is the bread which we shared yesterday evening, a commemoration and a celebration of the bread which Jesus shared with His disciples. You can probably think of other symbols of faith important to you.

Another symbol which comes to my mind is that of stone – not that of the tomb, but that found in the Garden of Gethsemane. You may recall that in January I spent two weeks in the Holy Land. One of the sites we visited was the church commemorating Gethsemane. We don’t know whether it is the exact place where Jesus and his disciples waited in what would become the last night of His earthly life. But we do know, based on the geography of Scripture, that it was somewhere in the immediate vicinity. It is situated in a valley which looks up to the Temple Mount and the surrounding city of Jerusalem. Behind it is a steep hill. Today that hill is covered with Jewish graves, some of which were there in Jesus’ day and centuries before. He had only to walk up the hill and out of town to safety. He probably had a good idea of what was coming. The Romans used crucifixion not only as a punishment, but as a deterrent, hanging the dying along well-used public roads for all to see. Like other prophets before Him, He followed the call to question the powers-that-be in His community. He knew from His Scriptural heritage it had not ended well for those prophets, either.

At the front of the church at the Garden of Gethsemane, at the foot of the altar, is a large stone. Pilgrims swarm near, to kneel and touch it. It is expansive, flat and cool. It has been smoothed along the edges, shining from the touch of generations of pilgrims. As I knelt among the swarm, I felt quiet in spite of them. I imagined Jesus lying on the cool stone, praying that the worst may be withheld. Though is disciples are nearby, they are asleep and unaware. Jesus is alone, perhaps more alone than he has ever been. He could have risen and walked up the hill. Instead, he stayed.

That stone has become, for me, a symbol of faith.

Yesterday, Jesus celebrated with his friends. Today, we are left with an empty cross. With Jesus’ end, everything was finished. Or so it seemed…until God had the last word.