4/3/26 “Love Ran Red” (Good Friday Sermon)
“Love Ran Red”
Luke 23:1-56
Back in 2014, CCM artist Chris Tomlin released a song called ‘At The Cross’....
...and the subtitle of the song was “Love Ran Red”
The song lyrics go like this:
There’s a place where mercy reigns...and never dies...There’s a place where streams of grace flow deep and wide......Where all the love I’ve ever found comes like a flood, comes flowing down....
At the cross, at the cross....I surrender my life....I’m in awe of you, I’m in awe of you....Where your love ran red, and my sin washed white...I owe all to you, I owe all to you, Jesus..... where your love ran red, your love ran red.
I love how this song paints a lyrical tapestry of spiritual truth within these words: “Where your love ran red, and my sins washed white”
These 10 words eloquently speak of the process by which the stain of sin upon the garments of our lives....has been completely removed....through the shed blood of Jesus Christ...
He was the only man in all of human history to have lived a sinless life of perfection....
....and it was only a perfect, unblemished human life that could ever qualify to redeem mankind from physical & spiritual death ....
....what we call the atonement.
One might wonder why this needed to happen....
Why did Jesus need to experience such suffering, pain, torture...and death.
Why couldn’t he have just come to earth...teach lessons about the kingdom of heaven...and how to be saved by believing upon His name....and - when he was finished – ascend back up into heaven....?
No excruciating torture...no whippings....no beatings...no thorns in the head...no pealing off of flesh....no plucking out of the beard...
....no nails through the hands & feet.
....no prolonged, agonizing death of having to struggle for each breath for hours on end.
...and....no spiritual separation from the Father....which - for Jesus - was the most painful part of the entire ordeal.
Why?....WHY did this have to happen in such a bloody, gruesome manner?
Why not a simple beheading?....or impalement....those were also methods of execution in Rome during the first century....
....why not something....less.....graphic?
Well, there were some reasons why it had to go down this way.
The first being this: Jesus’ death was as brutal as our sins are treacherous.
....we – as human beings – needed a visual – and visceral - reminder of the horrific ramifications of sin....
Sin is defined as ‘missing the mark of God’s perfectly-established moral law’
As one commentator put it, “Christ was broken just as the world was broken. We are meant to face it for our own good; to feel the devastation, the horror of it, and to be drawn to our knees.”
It begs the question for each and every one of us here tonight: Do the events of Good Friday truly bring us to our knees?
...does the cross convict us to the point that we choose to remain in the disciplines of the faith? - even when we don’t feel like it.
....does it drive us to read the scriptures each day?....
to stay connected to God through prayer?....to participate in the church with other believers, using the gifts and talents that we’ve been given?
....to actively love others the way we are loved by Christ?
...or...is the cross simply a vague, centuries-old image of Christianity....a trinket....a fashion accessory....an ancient symbol of mercy – and nothing more.
Those in attendance at Jesus’ crucifixion....those who witnessed the brutal, bloody spectacle....
....they also were able to experience – first hand – a visual demonstration of the devastating effects of sin.....all sin....every sin.
From murder to drunkenness...from stabbing to stealing...from Adultery to Idolatry...
ALL sin – separates us from a holy & righteous God...
...A God who’s very nature is that of righteousness....the opposite of sin.
The prophet Habakkuk reminds us of just how holy God is when he writes, “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong....” (Habakkuk 1:13)
This verse is a reminder of just how far from God we truly are in our flesh...
So far from God....that a savior from outside the realm of ordinary humanity would be needed....in order to provide a way of redemption
As the apostle Paul writes in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death.....”
Because of our sin nature passed down from Adam, all of us were born under the curse of death – both physically....and spiritually.
It would take a sinless human being to willingly sacrifice themself on behalf of mankind ....in order to pay the enormous penalty of sin....
....and - in turn - make it possible for mankind to incorporate the righteousness of that perfect person.
Praise God there was such a man....and His name is Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:17 says, “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.”
When we think about Good Friday....we ought to respond with such gratitude that it drives us to the side of the savior...
....the grace displayed through His suffering is – indeed – amazing.
A second reason why the events of Good Friday required such pain and suffering on the part of Jesus was that it was prophesized in the Old Testament – especially Isaiah chapter 53.
Many of you know Isaiah 53:5 by heart, “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed”....
the King James renders it, “By His Stripes we are healed” ....referring to the many skin-tearing lashes that Jesus would suffer at the hands of the Roman guards.
These words were written 700 years before Jesus walked the earth!
Another OT passage that details the agony of Good Friday comes from Psalm 22:16, written from the perspective of Jesus himself, “Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.”
Did you know that Jesus fulfilled every single OT prophecy written about him?
Does anyone know approximately how many prophecies there are in the OT that are fulfilled in the life of Jesus?..... (Over 300)!
The odds of all of these prophecies coming to fruition in the life of one individual are so incredibly remote ....that it would never happen, had the Bible been written by man - apart from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
We often hear the question from skeptics “If the Bible was written by men, how can the truth it contains be more reliable than any other book?”
It’s a good question....and it deserves a good answer.
Fortunately, fulfilled prophecies are one of the best lines of evidence that this book (The Bible) is no mere work of man.
In order for every prophecy to find fulfillment in a collection of works written over the course of some 1,600 years – by 40 different authors – there is simply no other explanation for its perfect accuracy....than it being directly inspired by God Himself.
A third reason why the events of Good Friday were so brutal....was for Jesus to experience the entire human condition.
If Jesus had not himself endured the full extent of what a human body can go through before it simply gives out....
....He – on an experiential level – would not be able to fully empathize with someone enduring a similar situation.
The author of Hebrews describes it this way, “In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.” (Hebrews 2:10)
In other words, even though Jesus was perfect in his nature before going to the cross, he was made even more complete in His experiential understanding of mankind through the events of Good Friday.
It’s difficult to think of how a perfect God could somehow improve upon himself....but it seems as though Jesus needed to endure the limits of human suffering in order to fully know His own creation.
It makes sense....if you think about it.
You and I can create things...but we don’t know what it's like to actually BE that thing that we create, right?
I can find some wood....shape it into a guitar...slap some metal strings on it...strum it and enjoy the sound that it makes....
...but - unless I were to actually become a guitar – I would lack in my understanding of what it fully means to be a guitar.
That’s why the author of Hebrews also says this about Jesus: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)
Jesus entered fully into the sufferings of this world and emerged victorious over them....
....He was completed in his experience on earth by the things he suffered....
If Jesus had not endured the most intense agony that a human being can endure, it could have been claimed of Him that he would then be unable to understand what some people go through in terms of torture, pain, betrayal, rejection, oppression, and public humiliation.
....BUT, Jesus DID experience all of these things to their fullest extent.
Therefore, we can have that much more confidence in His presence with us – and compassion for us - while we navigate anything that life brings our way.
If you are enduring some hardship in life right now....know that Jesus endured worse....and allow that knowledge of the savior to provide comfort in your anguish.
Jesus loves you...He will never leave you nor forsake you....and he fully understands your circumstances.....even if others around you don’t.
This brings us to our fourth – and final – reason why Jesus had to suffer in the manner that he did.
For Jesus, the most painful component of Good Friday wasn’t even the physical torture...
As bad as the beatings, lashings, and piercings were....his greatest pain was spiritual....it was that of being separated from God the Father....
....Because Jesus took on himself the sin of all humanity – past, present, and future sin – it meant that the eternal bond within the triune Godhead would be broken...
....at least for a time.
The gospel of Matthew records this intense moment when from the lips of the savior we hear these words, “....Eloi, Eloi, sabachthani? - which means, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
In this moment, Jesus was experiencing a pain so profound that it caused a host of natural – and supernatural – events to occur....
Rocks split open...the sky went dark...people came out of their graves!
This was no ordinary Friday afternoon down at the city park...
It even prompted one of the Roman soldiers to say, “....Surely this was a righteous man.” (Luke 23:47)
....Ya think?
That was the understatement of the millennium !
What he didn’t understand –in fact, what no one understood...except Jesus – was that the 2nd member of the Triune God of all creation had just sacrificed His life in order for mankind to have the chance of living in the presence of God for all eternity.
....and this is the message that we – his followers – preach to a lost and dying world.
It’s a message the planet needs...but doesn’t want.
It’s a message that will fall on more deaf ears....than ears that will listen.
Yet we proclaim it anyway – regardless of the circumstances....or the consequences.
It’s a message that will cause others to dislike you....to say hurtful things about you...
....it might get you fired – even if you’re a professional athlete, as we just saw this past week.
Yet – we proclaim it anyway.
Why? Because its the truth.
Because Jesus told us to.
Because the message of the gospel is the greatest message that will ever fall upon the ears of mankind
Because it's the least we can do for what our savior did for us....
The sacrificial Love that drove Jesus to the cross for you and I is a love that should drive us to live in obedience and trust.
I began this sermon with lyrics from a recent Christian song...
....I’ll end it with the lyrics of a hymn from 1747 by Charles Wesley that reminds us of the love of God:
Love divine, all loves excelling.... joy of Heav’n to Earth come down...fix in us thy humble dwelling...all thy faithful mercies crown...Jesus, thou art all compassion...pure, unbounded love Thou art...visit us with Thy salvation....enter every trembling heart.
Let’s Pray.
