The Buts Of Good Friday

Choices were made. That is the reality of life; choices are made. Good choices, bad choices and indifferent choices, but life is determined by the choices we make. And often, we don’t understand the consequences that might come as a result of the choices we make. We are simply living in the moment without concern for the future.

American sociologist Robert K. Merton coined the phrase “The Law of unintended consequences,” Which simply means that oftentimes when we make choices, the consequences aren’t what we planned or even anticipated.

It’s Good Friday, which is, for many, the beginning of the Easter weekend.

Last year, I realized that the entire Easter story hinged on choices that people made, choices they didn’t have to make but chose to make.

It all came down to choices. That is the reality of life; it all comes down to choices.

A few years ago, we had a series at Cornerstone called “After the But. . .” Maybe you remember it. It was based on the old saying that “after the but comes the truth.”

And we all know the reality of that statement, even if we’ve never actually processed it. We know that if we are in a conversation with someone, and they add the word “But,” things are going to change.

You are doing a great job, but. . .

I love you, but. . .

When I was a kid, the word but was used a lot in my report cards, Denn could be a good student, but.

For most of you, the thought of a sermon being started a year in advance is a foreign concept, but (see there we go) I have a file full of sermon ideas, and last Easter, I started thinking about the number of times the story could have changed in the Easter story, and how the story might have changed without the buts.

We think that the story began on Good Friday, but of course, it started well before Jesus’ arrest in the Garden.

There had been friction between Jesus and the leaders of the established religion almost from the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, but it had come to a head in John chapter 11.

It’s here that we read the story of Jesus’ friend Lazarus, how he had become sick with some unknown ailment, and before Jesus could get there, he died and was buried. In response to the grief of Lazarus’ sisters, Mary and Martha, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.

Now, I would think that this would be pretty powerful evidence that Jesus was, in fact, the Messiah. However, that wasn’t the way the leaders of the religious establishment saw it. Let’s pick up the story in John 11:47–50 Then the leading priests and Pharisees called the high council together. “What are we going to do?” they asked each other. “This man certainly performs many miraculous signs. If we allow him to go on like this, soon everyone will believe in him. Then the Roman army will come and destroy both our Temple and our nation.” Caiaphas, who was high priest at that time, said, “You don’t know what you’re talking about! You don’t realize that it’s better for you that one man should die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed.”

The Religious Leaders Could Have Accepted Jesus, but. . .

Trouble had been brewing for a while. Even though the Jews had been waiting for a messiah; they were waiting for a very specific type of Messiah, and apparently, Jesus didn’t fit the bill.

He touched lepers, embraced tax collectors and encouraged sinners. That wasn’t very messiahish. And he was more concerned with people than he was with tradition and he would rather teach about being peacemakers than about overthrowing Romans.

Today, there are people who have the same problem with Jesus, he’s not the Jesus, they want him to be.

They want a Jesus who loves everyone without condition—a Jesus who never challenges people to be obedient and who never mentions the consequences of being disobedient.

They love the Jesus, who told the woman who was caught in adultery that he didn’t condemn her, but they aren’t ready to accept the Jesus, who told her to go and sin no more.

So, the Religious Leaders could have accepted Jesus, but instead, they chose to reject him. The unintended consequence was that 35 years later, the Romans would decimate Jerusalem and scatter the residents of Israel because the people had continued to seek a Messiah who would lead them against Rome.

Let’s keep going in the story, Matthew 26:14–16 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the leading priests and asked, “How much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you?” And they gave him thirty pieces of silver. From that time on, Judas began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus.