Good Friday Service
John 18:1- 19:41
The Courtroom
Grace and Peace to your from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who is the Christ. Amen
I would like you to imagine that you are in a courtroom.
In this courtroom there is the prosecuting attorney seated behind a table, the defense attorney seated behind a table, a judge seated behind the bench of justice, and the jury. All of us are seated behind the defense attorney, for each of us is on trial, there are no onlookers, no spectators, no innocent bystanders at this trial, everyone is on trial.
You and I are on trial, we are accused of many charges. Charges that resulted because we sin by thought, word and deed. We sin by things we have done and things, we have left undone.
Behind the judge’s bench sits the judge looking each of us in the eye sternly because the judge is God himself.
And the prosecuting attorney, the one who is trying to prove our guilt, our sinful ways,is none other that Satan himself. He is in fine form calling witness after witness against us. The devil not only calls witness after witness to testify against us, to proclaim our sinful deeds. Or the deeds of love we have failed to do, but he also has videotaped highlights of our lives, things we did which we thought no one knew about. Things we thought about doing which we thought were in secret. He showed lies and gossip we spread about someone we thought no one knew came from us. In that videotape, even the inner thoughts, of our mind’s eye come to life. Our thoughts of hate, of not forgiving another, revenge, selfish attitudes, placing our wants and needs as the number one priority in life. All of these the devil has on videotape and is playing it before us, before our neighbors, our spouse, our families and God himself.
As all the tapes, as all the witnesses are heard, as the devil even quotes from our Bible, " All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God," or ’’All we are like sheep and have gone astray," or "No one is righteous no not one!" the evidence becomes overwhelming. We are defenseless, the guilt seems overwhelming, the sin too great to be defensed.
But after the prosecuting attorney is finished, after Satan as paraded our lives before us and God. The defense attorney begins to represents us, for this attorney of ours is Christ Jesus. But there is little he can do against such overwhelming evidence. Jesus calls witnesses who try to say our deeds are not sins, even one witness blames the prosecuting attorney, the devil, for our sins. We are called in our own behalf, but to no avail. We confess we have sinned, we have broken the law, we stand in judgment.
As the defense attorney rests his case, it’s clear what the verdict will be, must be. The facts are there.
In the final instruction to the jury, the judge reminds them of more scripture as he says, "The soul that sins shall die." The wages of sin is death."
The jury is out for a long time. We get very restless. We squirm, we move in our seats. We know that our very lives are at stake. The defense attorney, Jesus, is sober and thoughtful
Finally the jury returns.
Has the jury reached a verdicts?"
"Yes!!! We have your Honor!"
"What is your verdict?"’
The foremen clears his throat, He unfolds the printed verdict and without looking up he reads clearly and loudly,
"Your Honor, ON ALL CHARGES IN THIS CASE, WE FIND THE DEFENDANTS TO BE NOT GUILTY!
Not guilty? The crowd buzzes in disbelief. You turn to your neighbor and question, you laugh you cry, you wonder, you wonder why, how can this be? You know deep within your heart and soul, the guilt, the wrongs, the burdens you carry with you are a heavy weight upon your back, upon your very life. You glance over at the prosecuting attorney who falls back into his chair slumped over in shock and disbelief. He wanted the guilty verdict because he knew of our guilt. He wanted to take charge of us, to be in complete control.
Then you look for the defense attorney, for Christ Jesus, but he is not there, not at his table. He must have stepped out for a moment just before the jury returned.
The crowd begins to rise, you rise too, and begin to file out of that great courtroom. You are now laughing, celebrating the verdict, the victory which is yours. As you turn to go out the door, you walk past a window and the laughter turns to silence. You, the others in the crowd, stare out the clouded window, stare through the clouded glass. You see in the distance a shadow and then an outline, there is a figure of a person, a man.
You focus your eyes, and you see your defense attorney.......you see him hanging on cross and you see Him take his final breath and then slump over dead, the life blood, all the life giving spirit, the love, compassion, all the kindness in which he defended you gone from his soul, his heart, his very life.
Then, then the impact hits you between the eyes. Your defense attorney, Christ Jesus died in your place. You who are guilty, you have sinned. You have been made innocent because the Innocent One, the one who had been defending you is declared guilty in your place. You walk past the clouded window, the clouded glass staring at the cross, staring at your defense attorney, staring in disbelief. You stare in thanksgiving, in love, in praise,in wonderment that He loved you so much that he died on the cross so you wouldn’t be punished for your sins.
You think to you yourself, "He must have made a deal with the judge, he knew he couldn’t win the case, the evidence, yes that evidence those tapes, those witnesses, my very confession of sin was too overwhelming. He knew he couldn’t win. He knew the verdict before it was even pronounced so he made a deal with the judge. He asked if he could take your place. He asked if he could take my place, take my punishment for the sins, the wrongs which were clearly demonstrated in my life.
You continue to file out of that courtroom, your eyes fixed on the clouded window, on that form in the distance hanging on that cross, lifeless, limp, bruised, punished for the sins he didn’t commit..
You file past, feeling sad, but grateful, feeling overwhelmed, but loved. You feel pleased that someone loved you so much. You file out feeling good that life your life is in his hands.
The church now goes dark and you stare at a cross made from a tree standing there in the chancel draped with a black cloth and you think as the pastor says....
Lord, as I sit here in complete darkness, as I see the faint silhouette of the block draped cross in this dim light, as I sense the emptiness, the nakedness, the harshness of this hour, Lord, I am over-whelmed.
Over-whelmed that you died on my Cross. Yes, Lord, I can now say my cross, because Lord, for the first time I am being honest with you and myself. I know my sin, my sins of thought, word and deed. My sins of unloving, my sins of not loving someone when the opportunity arises. Lord, I have finally become honest and quite playing games with you. I sit here this evening bearing my soul, my inner thoughts to you.
Lord, Jesus, as I come to the full realization of my sin and the punishment which was suppose to be mine. I can truly appreciate, can truly be thankful, can truly be in awe and wonder of such love you have for me. Love, that was willing to die, so I wouldn’t have to. Love which was honest and caring. Love which knew me better than I have known myself for a long time.
Lord, I gaze at the cross, at the death, at the finality of the cross. At the same time, I know that Easter is coming. I know that there is hope to live. I know through the resurrection there is new life for me. Lord I thank you for that new life, for that second chance, for the opportunity to live in and through you.
Lord, help me to make the most of my chance, help me to live for you.
The people are ushered out in silence following the sermons and ending meditation.
Written by Pastor Tim Zingale April 3, 2006
