Good Friday – Pr. Faugstad homily
Text: St. Mark 15:37-39
Throughout the season of Lent, we have heard about several witnesses of Christ’s Passion whose lives were dramatically altered by their interactions with Jesus, people like the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, Simon of Cyrene who carried Jesus’ cross, and the thief who received grace. We could add others whose lives were changed, such as the servant Malchus who had his severed ear healed by Jesus, and the murderer Barabbas who was chosen for release instead of Jesus.
The centurion overseeing Jesus’ crucifixion also belongs on this list. We expect that he started his day on that Friday like any other day. But when he reported for his military duty, he quickly became aware of a recently arrested Jewish man named Jesus. What crimes Jesus had committed were unclear to him, and perhaps he did not even care. Whatever Governor Pilate ordered, he would carry out.
Was the centurion part of the battalion at the governor’s headquarters that stripped Jesus, put a scarlet robe on Him, drove a crown of thorns into His head, and mocked Him as the “King of the Jews”? Or if he did not actively take part, did the centurion laugh as they made a mockery of Jesus, spit on Him, and struck Him on the head? Did he enjoy seeing the Man suffer, particularly a Jewish man?
But the centurion would have noticed something different about Jesus. The apostle Peter describes this difference: “When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly” (1Pe. 2:23). The centurion could not help but notice that the first words out of Jesus’ mouth when He was nailed to the cross were not curses. His first words were, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luk. 23:34).
Then there was the care He showed for His heartbroken mother and the promise He made to the penitent thief (Joh. 19:26-27; Luk. 23:43). Jesus did not speak or act like any other criminal he had ever known. After this, around noon, the sky became strangely dark. The intensity of Jesus’ suffering was noticeable as He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mar. 15:34), and soon after this, “I thirst” (Joh. 19:28). The darkness lingered for three hours, until Jesus said, “It is finished” (Joh. 19:30). Then He cried out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” (Luk. 23:46).
With every word, the centurion became more and more captivated by this Man. Why did He speak like this? Who was this Father He kept calling out to? How could He say nothing in response to those who mocked and ridiculed Him? When Jesus breathed His last, the evangelists report that the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Along with that, the earth shook, and the rocks were split.
The centurion, hearing Jesus’ words and seeing the earthquake, was filled with awe. Something very unexpected had come over him. He could not explain what he had heard and seen. He had been trained to handle challenging situations while keeping his cool. He was a serious professional. And suddenly from his mouth came words of praise, “Certainly this man was innocent!” (Luk. 23:47). “Truly this Man was the Son of God!”
We do not know if this centurion came to understand and believe that Jesus was hanging on the cross that day for him. We don’t know if he joined the early Christians in devoting himself “to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Act. 2:42). The Bible does not say. We do learn that Pilate summoned the centurion to verify that Jesus had died on the cross (Mar. 15:44-45). Did the centurion report the details of all that he had heard and seen? Did he share his conclusion with Pilate about who Jesus must have been? If he had, would Pilate have listened?
By the grace of God, we hear the centurion’s words today. Through the eyewitness accounts of the evangelists, we stand in awe like the centurion of the sacrifice made by this innocent Man, the Son of God incarnate. Jesus was not on the cross paying for any sins of His own. He was on the cross paying for my sin and your sin. We shudder at the way Jesus was treated by the Roman soldiers. But it was our sins that put Him in the hands of these tormentors, our sins that got Him nailed to the cross.
Jesus endured this agony and suffering willingly for you. He was willing to suffer the eternal fires of hell and be forsaken by God for you. He was willing to die for you. What pride can there be in our hearts when we see how Jesus humbly offered Himself for us? What works can we boast about when the eternal Son of God gave up His holy life in our place?
The cross of Jesus removes all class distinctions, social status, nationality, worldly honor and glory. None of that matters in view of the Lamb of God sacrificed for the whole world’s sin, for the sins of Pontius Pilate, Barabbas, the thief, the centurion, you and me. “[N]ow in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace” (Eph. 2:13-14).
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(picture from the altarpiece in Weimar by Lucas Cranach the Younger, 1555)
The Fourth Sunday of Easter – Pr. Faugstad sermon
Text: Judges 2:10-23
In Christ Jesus, whom God the Father sent to save us from all the enemies who tempted and afflicted us, dear fellow redeemed:
I have had the experience multiple times that I am talking with strangers, and they find out I am a pastor, or I ask them if they ever go to church. And they respond with something like, “Fire would probably drop out of the sky on me if I tried to walk into a church.” Or, “If they knew the things I have done, no one would want me there.” Or, “It’s too late for me.” Their underlying assumption is that they have been too bad or sinned too much to be forgiven.
This is a good opportunity to assure them that “the blood of Jesus [God’s] Son cleanses us from all sin (1Jo. 1:7), even the sins we think are unforgiveable. The very fact that a Christian is having a conversation like this with a non-Christian shows that God is a gracious God who wants all sinners to come to repentance and faith. But we Christians who know this also wonder sometimes if we have sinned too much to be forgiven. We ask ourselves, “If I were in God’s place, would I still be patient with me? Would I still love me?” We wonder how it will go for us when we finally do “meet our Maker.”
Today’s reading gives us a good picture of who that Maker is and how He operates. What we have in Judges 2 is a summary of what the rest of the book is about. It gives the pattern of the Israelites being tempted toward the gods of the Canaanites and worshipping these false gods. Then the LORD allowed their enemies to oppress them. Then the people cried out for deliverance. Then the LORD in His mercy sent judges to save them. This happened again and again.
What was so appealing about the gods of the Canaanites? Our reading states that the Israelites “abandoned the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth.” The Canaanites believed that the god Baal brought the rain that caused all life to spring forth. Asherah was a female goddess associated with fertility. The pagan people worshipped Baal and Asherah by engaging in sexual intercourse on hills and other high places, so these make-believe gods would be pleased and would bring fruitfulness to the land.
The Israelites looked at their own religion of strict moral law and of restraining their sinful inclinations, and it didn’t seem nearly as exciting and fulfilling as the religion of the Canaanites. So as today’s reading says, “they whored after other gods.” They rejected the true God, the God who loved them. The same thing happens today. We teach the holy Commandments of God which were given for our protection and blessing and also as a check on our sinful nature. But many reject His Commandments because they want to live their own way, walk their own path, answer to no one but themselves.
That approach to life does sound appealing. But what has this self-centered attitude done to our culture and our communities? It has caused many to walk away from marriage and having children. When there are children, many of them grow up in broken homes. People are lonely, even as there are supposedly more and more ways to “stay connected.” Many wonder what the purpose of life is, and they try to fill the emptiness with possessions, entertainment, and pleasure.
When this happens among the baptized, those whom God in His mercy has brought out of darkness into His marvelous light, whom He has claimed as His own and covered in His righteousness—when this happens to us His people, He may try to wake us up like He did the Israelites. Our reading says, “He gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And He sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies…. [T]he hand of the LORD was against them for harm, as the LORD had warned…. And they were in terrible distress.”
A wake up call is not always pleasant. I imagine you have had a number of these as I have. You had to learn the hard way that you were neglecting your spouse, neglecting your family, neglecting your health. Your priorities were out of whack. Your Bible and devotion books were collecting dust. You felt stuck and unsettled. And somehow the Lord exposed your selfishness, or your pride, or your dishonesty, or your stubbornness.
Maybe it was through a sermon or through a conversation with a friend. Maybe it was because someone called you out, or you came to the realization by your own reflection. It hurts to go through this. It hurts to admit you were wrong, that you haven’t made good decisions, that you are not as right as you want to think. But that very recognition of your own weakness and failure, that is a gift from God. It shows He has not left you or rejected you. Once He has broken down your sinful works, He can build something better in you and with you.
This is why He sends crosses and trials; He does it to refine and strengthen our faith. It is too easy to take our prosperity and success for granted like the Israelites did, and to ignore the Word of God like they did. So God uses the troubles we experience to lead us to repentance, to an honest assessment of ourselves. And He uses our troubles to draw us closer to Him. He is not a “three strikes and you’re out” God, a God whose anger against our sin just keeps building and building until His wrath explodes against us.
Certainly His anger is kindled by continuous sinning, like it was toward the Israelites. But the afflictions He sent their way were done out of love. He did not want to lose them forever. He was ready to have mercy on them and eager to forgive them. Today’s reading says, “For the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them.” He wanted to save them. He wanted them to have relief from their troubles and to know that He, the only true God, was their God.
The Lord was patient with them. None of us would have been as patient with the Israelites as He was toward them. He had brought them out of slavery in Egypt, led them to the Promised Land, given them victory over their enemies, and handed them a beautiful place to live. They repaid Him by worshipping the false gods of the peoples they had defeated. Still, the LORD called them back. Still, He rescued them. Still, He blessed them.
The Lord Is just as Patient with You. He brought you out of the slavery of sin at your Baptism, taught you His unchanging truth throughout your years, absolved you of your sins week after week, and regularly called you to His holy Supper where He gives His own body and blood for your spiritual and eternal good. How have you thanked Him for these gifts? How have your words and actions in your day-to-day life shown your appreciation for what He has done?
When we reflect on this, we see that we are no more deserving of His grace than the Israelites were, but He gives it to us just as He gave it to them. When all we had done was sin, God the Father sent His holy Son to take our place. He sent His Son to be born of Mary, who descended from the same wayward Israelites we are hearing about today. Despite their tremendous sins against Him, God kept His promise to send a Savior and carried it out through them. Though they were faithless, He remained faithful; He could not deny Himself (2Ti. 2:13).
He is also faithful toward you. 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” He wants you every day to repent of your sin and trust His promises. He wants you to rely on Him in times of trouble and triumph, sadness and joy, in good days and bad. The love He has for you is not some weak connection that could easily break and separate you from Him. He loves you with a strong love, a love so strong that He sacrificed His only Son for your salvation.
His Son had the same love for you. He willingly accepted your hurtful words and selfish actions. He paid the penalty for your dishonesty and pride. He suffered for your sinful stubbornness. He died for you, so that you would not be overcome by your spiritual enemies but would rest securely in His grace. His death on the cross for all sin means you have not sinned too much to be forgiven. The fact that you are sitting here today listening to His Word shows that He is merciful to you and wants you to know His love for you.
In His love, He promises to turn your times of suffering and trial into good. It is always tempting to dwell on the suffering, but it is better to cling to our Lord’s promise, the promise He spoke to His disciples in the Holy Gospel. Jesus said to them and us, “So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.” (Joh. 16:22).
The Lord, who died and rose again in victory, is with you each step of the way, ever-patient, always gracious, bearing your griefs and carrying your sorrows. He brings you comfort and joy as He meets you in His powerful Word and Sacraments. And He prepares you to greet Him when He returns on the last day to give you eternal salvation. On that day, you will praise Him for His patience with you, and your heart will be filled with a heavenly joy that no sadness or trouble will ever take away.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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(picture from Jerico Lutheran Church altar painting)
Good Friday – Pr. Faugstad homily
Text: St. Luke 23:39-43
At first, both the criminals crucified with Jesus reviled Him (Mat. 27:44, Mar. 15:32). They joined their voices with the chief priests, scribes, elders, soldiers, and passers-by in attacking Jesus with ugly, blasphemous words. The verbal assault came from all around Him. “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross” (Mat. 27:40). “He saved others,” they said mockingly; “he cannot save himself…. [L]et him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him” (v. 42).
These piercing, biting words had a common source. The devil was behind them. When Jesus began His public work, the devil was there tempting Him, attacking Him. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, over and over again (Mat. 4:3,6). And why shouldn’t Jesus make bread out of stones and jump down safely from the top of the temple? Why shouldn’t He come down from the cross and show all those scoffers who He really was?
Because then He would have become something He wasn’t. Then He would have chosen the world’s way instead of God’s way. If He had come down from the cross, He might have gained the world’s glory, but He would have forfeited our souls. He had to be on that cross, He had to stay on that cross, so that His blood would ransom us from our slavery to sin, so that His death would satisfy the holy wrath of God.
“Are You not the Christ?” said one of the criminals, “Save Yourself and us!” He said, “save us,” but he wasn’t talking about his soul. He just wanted to escape death. He wanted to escape the consequences for his wrongdoing without actually changing his behavior. He expressed no remorse for his sins. He probably blamed everyone else for his bad situation because that is what unbelievers do. They refuse to listen to the holy Law of God which condemns every one of us equally.
But the Law did its work on the heart of the other criminal. Hanging there on the cross, knowing death was fast approaching, he thought about his many sins. He deserved this torment, just as the other criminal did. But not Jesus. So when he heard his fellow criminal yelling at Jesus and treating Jesus as though He were like them, he had to respond. “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.”
Those are faithful and true words, “this Man has done nothing wrong.” Jesus was perfectly innocent. He was the only innocent man at the scene—the only innocent man in the whole world. He was entirely holy, not a bad bone in His body. So why was He nailed to a cross to die? The criminal next to Him knew: Jesus was suffering for him. The innocent Man had taken on the sin of the guilty. The world’s Savior was hanging next to him.
In all humility this criminal said to Him, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” But why should He? Why should Jesus remember this man whose sins He was currently suffering for? Why should He remember any of us who have broken God’s holy Law again and again? The answer is because He loves us. This is what the Son of God took on human flesh to do. He knew it would culminate in the cross. He knew what terrible torments and agonies were coming to Him. And He still went forward.
He went forward for the criminals hanging next to Him on their crosses, for the passers-by, soldiers, elders, scribes, and chief priests who mocked Him. He went forward for you and me and every sinner. He willingly accepted the wrath of God and the fires of hell for all your sins. He took your place, so you would be clothed in His righteousness and made an heir of His kingdom. The criminal, in faith, expected nothing less, and Jesus said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
The promise could not have been more at odds with the present reality. The three men gasped for breath on blood-stained crosses with smug spectators gathered around them. “Truly,” Jesus said to him, “today with Me… today in Paradise.” And even as the criminal’s suffering intensified, even as his breathing became shallower, even as he perhaps watched the soldiers break the legs of his companion and then come his way, the criminal repeated those words, “Today with Jesus… today in Paradise.”
What happened next? You, dear fellow redeemed, will experience it yourself. When your breathing becomes shallow, and your death approaches, you will cling to the same promise: “Today with Jesus… today in Paradise.” Jesus’ death in your place secured that for you. He forgives you all your selfish choices, all your unfaithfulness, all your attempts to deflect the blame for your sins. His holy blood cleanses you of all your sin (1Jo. 1:7).
One day, you will get to meet that criminal. You will get to see him pain-free and at peace. You will get to hear how his ugly words of reviling were exchanged for a beautiful song of praise, and you will join him in that song to the living Lord Jesus—in Paradise.
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(picture from “The Crucifixion” by Giambattista Tiepolo [1696-1770] at the Saint Louis Art Museum)
Palm Sunday – Pr. Faugstad sermon
Text: St. Matthew 21:1-9
In Christ Jesus, who gladly hears the praise from the mouths of us little children, dear fellow redeemed:
The Jews traveled to Jerusalem from all directions to prepare for the Passover. They arrived at least a week early, so they could take part in the purification rites before the feast (Joh. 11:55). As they connected with friends and family in the holy city, the topic of conversation in the homes, in the streets, and in the temple was Jesus—Jesus of Nazareth (v. 56).
Not long before this, maybe a few months, Jesus had gone to Bethany where His friend Lazarus had died and was buried. Lazarus had been dead for four days when Jesus got there, but Jesus called him out of the tomb, alive and well. Now Jesus returned to Bethany where he enjoyed a dinner with Lazarus and others on the Sabbath, on Saturday.
Word came to Jerusalem that Jesus was there, so large crowds came to see both Him and Lazarus, the formerly dead man walking (Joh. 12:9). By the time Sunday arrived, it is certain that all Jerusalem knew about the presence of Jesus. When they heard that He was coming to the city, they went out to meet Him, not just hundreds, not just thousands, but very likely tens of thousands!
They had come to welcome their King. They made a carpet of palm branches and cloaks. They cheered His arrival. They shouted His praises. They sang the words of an old song—perhaps a thousand years old—“Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” The crowds on every side of Jesus were of all types—some old, some young; some darker-skinned, some lighter-skinned; some wealthy, some poor; men, women, and children.
We can picture ourselves in the crowd, watching Jesus go by, riding on a donkey. The sound was like a stadium filled with excited fans. “Hosanna! Here He comes! The One who has power over death! He is not afraid! Here comes the Conqueror! The King! Hosanna to the Son of David!” As you picture the people, I want you especially to find the children in the crowd. Some of them cling tightly to their parents’ legs as they watch Jesus come. Some are held in their mothers’ arms or sit on their fathers’ shoulders. Some of the older children dart around through the crowd or climb the trees to get a better look.
Some of them had probably seen Jesus before. They could have been part of the crowds of five thousand or four thousand who were miraculously fed from the small amount of loaves and fish. They could have been among those whom Jesus welcomed when the disciples wanted to shoo them away. “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them,” said Jesus, “‘for to such belongs the kingdom of God’…. And he took them in his arms and blessed them” (Mar. 10:14,16).
Whether they had seen Him before or not, the children would not forget this day. They would remember the great crowd and a humble Lord entering the city on Palm Sunday. We can tell what an impact this had on the children by the fact that they were still clustered around Him and singing His praises the next day.
Jesus spent the night of Palm Sunday back in Bethany (Mar. 11:11). When He returned to Jerusalem on Monday morning, His first order of business was to clear the temple of those who were buying and selling. They had turned the temple into a place for commerce instead of honoring it as a place of prayer. Wherever Jesus went that day, the children followed Him crying out, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” The chief priests and scribes were so bothered by this that they complained to Jesus: “Do you hear what these are saying?” And He said to them, “[H]ave you never read, ‘Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise’?” (Mat. 21:16).
The children were doing what God had called them to do. They were telling the truth, and they were praising their Lord. Their faithfulness was a wonderful witness to everyone around them. The clear and faithful confession of children still has this effect among us. It strengthens us to hear the simple and honest words of children as they sing, “Jesus loves me! This I know, / For the Bible tells me so,” as they recite their Christmas program passages, and as they publicly confess their faith in front of church before their Confirmation day.
There are reciprocal blessings as we train our children in the Word of God. They benefit from our efforts by learning more about what God has done for them. And we benefit by hearing them repeat and confess what they have learned. The beauty of the children’s confession is that they haven’t learned to doubt what God tells them in His Word. They believe what the Bible says.
That changes as we get older. Then we want to question everything. We provide evidence from the difficulties in our lives that God must not love us as much as He says He does, or that He must not be as powerful as we thought. But what is actually happening is that the devil, the world, and our own flesh are tempting us to doubt the sure promises of God. God hasn’t changed, and neither has His Word. What changes is you and me. We decide that chasing riches, fame, and pleasure in the world is better than the eternal gifts of God. And if someone calls us out for living different than the Bible says, we often get mad at them. We embrace the sin and cast aside the Word.
Or we maintain a belief in Jesus, but we keep it mostly to ourselves. We don’t want people to think we are pushing our beliefs on them. We don’t want them to think we are weird. So we keep our mouths shut. We don’t warn our friends about their bad behavior. And we don’t share the hope we have of forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus.
Little children don’t make these careful calculations. They say what they believe. Sometimes they even annoy their parents by pointing out when their parents do or say something wrong. Children are constantly watching, learning how to operate from those who care for them. That is quite the responsibility for adults! Our children are a reflection of us—both our bad and our good.
If we curse and swear, so will they. If we act selfishly, so will they. If we speak badly about others, so will they. If we prioritize almost everything else before the Word of God, so will they. But if we watch what we say, if we speak well of others, if we look to help those around us, if we “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Mat. 6:33), they are likely to do the same. Your presence here today is almost certainly a reflection of the faithful example provided you by your parents or another influential Christian in your life. If we want the Church to continue, we can’t leave it to someone else to do. The responsibility is yours and mine.
Children are watching, and they are listening. Once the Jerusalem children learned who Jesus was, they kept singing His praises and sharing the good news. The important religious leaders—the smart guys, the men of influence—rejected Jesus. The children believed in Him. As much as we need to be an example to our children, Jesus wants us to learn from their example too. He says, “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it” (Mar. 10:15). And, “unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mat. 18:3).
That is our approach as we bow our heads and enter Holy Week again this year. Like the little children gathered around Jesus, we gather here to gladly hear and learn His holy Word and receive His blessed Sacraments. And we open our mouths to joyfully confess who He is and praise Him for His mercies.
We know why He rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. It was to win the victory over our sin and death. He knew what He would face. He knew that He would have to suffer both for those who rejoiced at His coming and for those who despised Him. He went to the cross to pay for all sin, to pour out His holy blood so all wrongs would be washed away.
He shed His blood to cleanse you of all the times in your life when you behaved childishly, when you were a poor example to those in your care, when you failed to speak the truth, and when you doubted God’s Word. God the Father does not see those sins on you anymore, because they were transferred to Jesus, and Jesus left them buried in the grave when He rose from the dead. The Holy Spirit connected you with Jesus’ death and resurrection when you were baptized. That is when you became a child of your heavenly Father. That is when he adopted you to be His own, now and forever.
Each week, you come back here to your Father’s house to hear this message. He speaks His promises through His Word, and you speak back to Him what you have heard. That’s what happens in our Sunday School classes, our Catechism classes, and the Divine Service every week. We learn to participate in the holy conversation that God initiated with us sinners.
It is a holy conversation that can only be appreciated by those who have been given ears to hear it. Unbelievers hear what we say, and many of them mock us and laugh at us, “Do you hear what these are saying?” Some of them even try to silence our voices, because they hate what we say. But whatever is said about us or to us, we can reply with all childlike honesty and innocence that we are only telling what we have been told.
This is how we praise our Lord and Savior. We say back to Him and share with others what He has given to us. There is no better way to honor and glorify His name. And our dear Father loves to hear this faithful confession from the mouths of His dear children. “The children sang their praises, / The simplest and the best” (Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary #279, v. 1).
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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(picture from “The Procession in the Streets of Jerusalem” by James Tissot, 1836-1902)