Blood and Life
Grace to you and
peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
The unbelief and pride and rage of the Jews blinded them.
They could not see—indeed, they refused to see. The man they killed was their
Messiah, their King, their Lord and God. They would not believe. They did not even
believe their own words when they attempted to convince Pilate to kill Jesus: “His
blood be on us and on our children.” With those words, they called
down upon themselves a curse. They were blinded by their unbelief and rage. If
only they could put away their pride and confess their sin. If only their
unbelief did not veil their hearts.
When we decorate this sanctuary for Good Friday, we veil the
processional crucifix. We veil the body of Christ our Lord, extended and
suspended on the cross, to remind ourselves that we have much in common with
that angry mob. We all so often are blinded by our unbelief, blinded by the
desires of our flesh. We are blinded by our will to choose death of our souls.
We choose death by living for ourselves, by living against our neighbor, by
living against the Lord’s will, by living as if we matter most.
We veil the Christ who hangs before us because we are ashamed
and afraid. We are ashamed of what our sins have done. We are afraid of our own
selves—what our hands will do, what our mouths will say. We are ashamed that,
by our words and deeds, we have plotted against the Lord. We are afraid that
our lust for everything but the Kingdom
of God has nailed the Son
of God to the cross. And so we veil the Christ who hangs before us.
That fear and shame, the sight of what our evil has done, the
knowledge of our unworthiness to stand here in this place where the sacrifice
is available—let that drive us to our knees so that we cry out in true faith
saying, “His blood be on us and on our children.” For that is precisely
what Our Lord Jesus wants for us. He wants to bathe us in His holy blood, to
revive and refresh and nourish us with His precious and life-giving blood. And
when His watered blood has hit your forehead, when you’ve drunk from His holy
chalice—then, as St. Paul
writes, “Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus.” He does not
see this as your undoing, but as your life. He does not see this as the reason
to damn you, but the way to save you. He does not see this as the justification
for punishing you, but the reason for reconciling you to Himself, renewing you
in Him, and restoring in you the Life He is—and the Life He desires to live in
and through you.
Our Lord Jesus does not feel cheated as you look at Him on
the cross. And even though He is humiliated, He will not humiliate you for what
you’ve done to Him. Instead, He uses His cross to lift you up and exalt you. He
lifts up your heart and presents to you His broken body so that you might give
Him thanks. And His spilled blood now becomes the promise and the blessing for
you and your children.
What a wonderful exchange occurs. The Jews meant this
as the death of a blasphemer. But He converted it into the way of Life for
those who had rejected Him. You see the Son of God suspended on a tree. But He
tells you to believe that it is your life and salvation. We veil His cross because
of the shame and fear we feel. But He calls it His triumphant day, the day He
is glorified. You look and are repulsed. But He uses the repulsive cross to
draw all men to Himself. The world calls it the curse of a fool. But we have
come to believe that this crucifixion is the wisdom and power of God. Let us
boast in the cross of Christ our Lord.
To Him be all glory, honor, and worship, now and forever. In the name of
the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God
which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus
always. Amen.
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