Good Friday series of Homilies 

  Isaiah 52.13 – end 53

Jesus entered Jerusalem and was acclaimed by the people at the roadside. Shortly afterwards he became the victim of abuses and insults. Making his way to the Cross he carried, not only the Cross but also those hurts that had been shouted at him, the verbal abuse. Those stripes were cast upon him, an extra burden. He carried his stripes to the place of his crucifixion.

In the passage from Isaiah we learn that by the bruises he suffered, the wounds that he endured, punishments were made upon him, punishments that made us whole. ‘By his bruises we are healed’. Those wounds inflicted upon him removed from us the wounds that we carry. But did he remove from us the physical wounds that may have been inflicted upon us as we travel along the path of life? Did he remove from our souls the spiritual wounds that we have encountered?

The answer has to be yes to both questions. In one of the gospel writings it is very much physical healing, and in the first letter of Peter spiritual healing is the view. The burden that Jesus is carrying is being carried for you and me. A healing of our physical wounds and our spiritual wounds are on his shoulders.

That healing is promised to us all. Completely and without any reservation, healing is God’s promise to each end every one of us. the Bible tells us that we have been saved, are being saved, and will be saved. The ultimate healing is resurrection. A promise made to every believer. We may receive ‘roadside repairs’ to keep us going but it is the ultimate healing that will come to us. healing given to us through Jesus on the Cross.

We are back to promises as we read the passage from the Hebrews. Again, God has promised that he will not forget us, he will not cast us aside. His law, given to us, he will write in our hearts. He will write it in our minds. Our sinful path will no more be counted against us. As we learnt in the first Good Friday homily we have been given spiritual healing in addition to physical healing. Our healing comes with the words, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more”.

We can now stand before God our Father in true cleanliness. Our sins have been removed from us. We are cleansed in both body and soul. We can approach the sanctuary, through the blood of Jesus, and with our hearts sprinkled clean from any evil conscience. We carry with us that hope, a certainty, that we have a great high priest who looks over us. A high priest that we can approach with truth in our hearts. This we can do because of that promise made to us.

So cleansed and healed we are now able to go out and encourage all whom we meet to devote their life to love and to good deeds. About us we will see those who turn their backs to any form of social duty. Those who are not willing to go out of their way to give help where it can be seen to be useful. That is their habit, their way of life. But we, fill our lives with encouragement, for ourselves, and for each other, ready to step forward in the name of Jesus.

Many of us have a ‘secret place’, actually not all that secret as probably half of Exeter knows of it, but somewhere we drive to for some peace and quiet. A place to escape from the everyday life of telephone ringing and the adverts played as you listen to some calming and quiet music on the radio.

Jesus knew of such a place, and he would visit there with his disciples. It was a place with a garden. It was also, ironically, the place where Jesus was to be betrayed. Soldiers and police were taken there to arrest him and Jesus, knowing what was about to happen stepped forward to be bound.

When the soldiers were asked for whom they were looking they answered ‘Jesus of Nazareth’. Jesus replied, ‘I am he’. Here he declared his divine identity. Here, in the garden, there was such a display of divine presence, of majesty and of power that those who were the enemies of Jesus, confronting him in the garden, were powerless to stand against him.

Jesus stood there in lowliness and humility. Before him were the guards and soldiers, armed and ready to take him away. Yet, in this picture we have before us we also see something of the majesty of his glory. It was something that all around must have perceived as they fell before him. His extra dignity, his calmness of reply, must have profoundly affected everyone.

When faced with adversity there are time when we might feel ready to burst out, to proclaim loudly our innocence. Jesus just stood there and said, ‘I am he’. In calmness (after the occasion of Malchus losing his ear) he was led away after saying to Peter, ‘am I not to drink the cup that the father has given me’. His work had to be completed, work set for him by his Father.

Collect for Good Friday

Almighty Father,

look with mercy on this your family

for which our Lord Jesus Christ was

content to be betrayed and given up into

the hands of sinners and to suffer death

upon the cross;

who is alive and glorified with you and

the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.