Good Friday (C)
Glory of Golgotha-Death of the Son of God
Friday, April 18, 2025
Trinity Lutheran Church-Columbia, MO
Luke 23:46
And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. (KJV)
Our Lord’s prayer is His last word; the cry of a dying man. His end had come. When one of our loved ones is in his death throes, we hope until the last moment that a change for the better might come. We avoid thinking the end has actually come until what we dread has become a reality. We hate death, avoid it as much as we are able. Even when we see the lifeless body of our loved one in front of us, it is difficult to comprehend. We have witnessed a crime against Nature and we rightfully hope that somehow we must be mistaken, that what has happened isn’t real, that the life has gone out of a person. As the disciples looked upon Jesus’ body they believed themselves to be mistaken, that somehow He should have been able to redeem Israel. They thought their hope depended on Him remaining alive, they expected Him to perform a miracle before their eyes and step down from the cross. This wishful thinking of theirs did not come to pass. The bitter sufferings of Jesus ended in death.
Jesus died according to Holy Scripture. He had to suffer and die and enter into glory. This necessary suffering was the eternal counsel of God. The very first prophecy given to Adam and Eve, announcing the coming of the Savior to the world pointed to His required death. The serpent, God said, was to bruise His heel (Gen. 3:15). The Old Testament prophecies reached their culmination when Isiah foretold of the Suffering Servant, and indicated that this suffering would end in the pouring out of the Servant’s soul unto death (Is. 53:12). Christ’s own life and teaching repeatedly pointed to His death as the consummation of His work. His first task was to gather His disciples and reveal His glory to them, to enable them to believe and confess that He was the Christ, the Son of the living God. After this had been done, He led them a step farther and spoke to them of the end which was waiting for Him in Jerusalem, of his Passion, death, and resurrection. Later, the Apostles testified to His death in their writings; proclaiming His death to be the salvation of the world, the basis of the entire Christian faith. And in the 2000 years since, our Lord’s death has been preached in the Church, hailed and extolled by Christians. On this Good Friday we meditate upon the death of the Son of God; that He truly died, that His was a wonderful death, and that because of His death, salvation unto us has come.
First, Christ really died. The Gospels speak of His death in words which could describe the death of any other person. “He gave up His spirit.” “How bowed His head and gave up the spirit.” “He said, “‘Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit,” and “having said thus, He yielded His spirit.” As with all people who die, His cheeks blanched, His skin became pale, His touch became cool, His eyes lost their light, His lips grew grey. Those who looked upon Him hanging there could see that His sufferings were at their end, that life had left Him. He did not die in private, in a comfortable hospice, with a little Ativan or morphine to be comfortable, or in the company of His pastor, but in public, surrounded by onlooking scoffing Jews and Gentiles. All who were there to hear Him commit His spirit to the Father saw Him bow His head to death. There would be no mistake of what was happening. Thus we say, He really and truly died. Christ was made like us, His brothers, in all things. He was like us in life. He was “born in the likeness of men” and “found in human form” (Philippians 2:7, 8). What we experience, He also experienced-hunger, thirst, sorrow, fatigue, sorrow. He was made like us in His death also. He went the way of all flesh.
He yielded His spirit. His soul left His body in the unnatural way that came as a result of the Fall. Death is the separation of body and soul. Medicine and science and pop culture can define death however they want, but death is ultimately and finally a spiritual and theological matter. For mortal men, it is a painful experience when the bond that unites body and soul, the bond established by the Creator Himself, is severed; when the soul disengages itself from the body and the lifeless remains sink into the earth to become worm’s food, laid in the grave. This is our lot and so it was with Christ, with the exception that He tasted the bitterness of death and felt its sting even before death reached for Him. Truly, Jesus died.
II.
Second, Jesus’ death was different because it was a magnificent death. There is a great difference between righteous and ungodly men with it comes to death. The ungodly pass away like beasts that perish (Ps. 49:20). The righteous, believers, on the other hand, commit their spirit into the hands of God. When we witness the passing of a godly person, we are compelled to say, “I hope my death is like his or hers.” The man who died on Calvary was righteous; He committed no evil. Even the pagan centurion beneath the Cross perceived and acknowledged Jesus’ innocence. Jesus died in faith, even though He had been forsaken for a short while He still committed His spirit to God. God’s Word was upon Jesus’ heart and lips, the 22nd and 69th Psalms were His spiritual strength. He died the death of the righteous (Num. 23:10).
But the death of Christ differed from the death of righteous men. Sts. Matthew and Luke record that He cried out in a final sermon, “It is finished!” and “Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit.” Incredible! Every other person on earth who dies gives up their soul in a weak and gentle sigh, sometimes gasping; they lack the vitality and strength to call out loudly, and many times they are not even awake. Death closes in because all strength has ebbed away. Christ, however, does not die of exhaustion or weakness. Even to the last there was strength and life in Him. He died not because He had to, but because He intended do. We cannot say this of any other mortal man. The sad truth concerning us all is that we must die as a result of being born sinners, born under the consequences of the curse. We must succumb to the fatal, terminal prognosis of original sin. This was not true of Jesus. He could say, “I lay down My life, that I may take it up again…I lay it down of Myself. I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it up again” (St. John 10:17, 18). No one else in Creation possesses this power; none of us are lords of our lives. When our last hour comes, it means, “Thus far have you come and no farther shall you go.” We are not able to add one minute to the length of our days (Matt. 6:27). Christ, however, was Lord of His life. By His own strength He gave up His life and took it up again. It is true that Christ was put to death in the flesh, that Jews and Gentiles murdered Him. Nevertheless, men could not have touched Him if He had not voluntarily given Himself into their hands; even after He surrendered Himself, He could have held both suffering and death at bay or pushed them away entirely. By virtue of His own will and power He took His spirit and laid it in the Father’s hands. He offered Himself, of His own volition and power, to God. His dying was His own, purely love, purely voluntary.
His death is incredible still for other reasons. When Jesus called God Father, He used that title in a way that no other man, not even a believer, can rightly use it. Jesus is the only-begotten and eternal Son of God; He was born of the Father’s essence, and so by His very nature, is God Himself. Throughout His life and ministry He showed Himself to be the Divine Son. And in His passion He corroborated this with the same claim: as He went into death, he called God Father. He who died on the cross was God’s own Son. This is why He could claim power over life and death, only God has power to lay down His life and take it up again. The Son of God became man. He, the Word, the Second Person of the Trinity, the eternal Logos, was made flesh, the humanity was assumed into the Divine Person, as the Athanasian Creed teaches. In doing this, He appropriated to Himself, and made His very own, everything that belonged to the human nature, to us. The suffering and death which He endured according to His human nature was the suffering and dying of the Son of God. Here we peer into the unfathomable depths of the person of the God-Man! We cannot comprehend it, nevertheless, we confess, “O sorrow dread! God’s Son is dead!” The eternal Word, the Son of God—who is life itself, with the Father and the Spirit alone has immortality, who gives life to all men and upholds all life in creation, who alone has the power to rescue from death—He is made flesh and dies. God dies! But in dying He does not lay aside His human nature. The union between His divine and His human nature is inseparable, indissoluble. God and Man is united forever. Even in death He did not cease to be the God-Man. His body and soul were separated, but the bond which joined the human and divine natures was not severed. The Son of God remained in union with His body when it was taken from the Cross and laid in the grave. In light of this we see why it was impossible for His body to see corruption and remain in death (Ps. 16:10; Acts 13:35). God cannot rot. Because He who died on the Cross was God’s Son, therefore He had to rise again and now lives in a glorified state forever. Behold this depth of wisdom which human reason cannot grasp. This mystery is inscrutable but from it comes our light and our life. The divine and human natures must remain united in order for his death to be of benefit for us, to accomplish our redemption.
III.
Third, the death of the Son of God is the source of inestimable blessings: salvation, comfort, grace, peace, power, strength for life, death, and for all eternity.
We trust Christ died for us, that He gave His life as a ransom for many, that He came not be served, but to serve (Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45; John 13). For us, in our place, He laid down His life. If one died for all, then all were dead (2 Cor. 5:14). When the eternal Word was made flesh, He stepped into the place of the sons of Adam. In our stead He rendered perfect obedience to the Law and fulfilled its demands; for us He suffered and died. He died the death of the children of men. In Him all were dead. All that He accomplished and won by dying belongs to us.
All men die because all have sinned. Death is the payment of sin. Through Adam death came to all men. The sermon preached in the Garden, “in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die,” pertains to all of us. We are the image, we have the nature of fallen Adam. We have all eaten of the forbidden fruit, we have lusted after and done evil; we have all forsaken God. But apart from God there is no life. Therefore, we must all die. Christ’s, God’s Son, however, died for us, for all sinners. The Scripture declares He died for the ungodly (Rom. 5:6;1 Tim. 1:15), that He was delivered up for our offenses (Rom. 4:25) and died for our sins (1 Cor. 15:3). He died our death, temporally and eternally. Having loved His own who were in the world, he loved them to the end (Jn 13:1). In and with Him we have all died. But thanks be to God the man who is dead is freed from sin because He is justified (Rom. 6:7). We have nothing more to do with sin. Sin has ceased to have a claim upon us. We are free from guilt and iniquity, from the eternal threat of the Law. God’s eternal will for creation is fulfilled, thus Christ died the death of the righteous. He was righteous and holy from birth; and He remained obedient and holy unto and even in death. The Righteous, the Just, died for the unjust (1 Peter 3:18). Through His death we are made righteous before God.
Sin separated us from God and made us His enemies, but the wall of hostility has been torn down by Christ. He has reconciled us in the body of His flesh (Colossians 1:22). In this way and only this way can we come near to God and be united to Him. Christ became Incarnate that He might lead the fallen back to the Father. Since He has done this, the Father of Jesus Christ is now our Father. He loves us as a father loves His children.
God is fully reconciled. In the scales of God’s justice lie the sufferings, body and blood, and death of the Son of God. These outweigh all the guilt of the wicked world. The Son of God, God, died. Yet death does not destroy Him. It did not damage His person. Because it was the God-Man who died it gave imperishable worth to His death and obtained eternal redemption for us (Heb. 9:12). Truly we are reconciled to God by the death of His Son.
Knowing all this, we believe and trust, in God, our heavenly Father in life and death. The bitterness of dying is experienced daily by Christians. Daily we die to sin, mortify the flesh, and renounce the wicked world. This means that we daily bear in our bodies the dying of the Lord Jesus (2 Cor. 4:10). This requires spiritual strength for it is easy to succumb to the world’s false promise of life; our strength must come from Christ’s death. This alone has broken the power of sin. Through faith in Jesus we can rule over sin and gain the victory and know our heavenly Father delights to give it for Jesus’ sake. At the thought of our heavenly Father we are not filled with dread, but with confidence and courage. Neither do we fear death. It was because of sin that we were afraid. But now, that God’s Son has died, we no longer dread hell, death, or the devil, who held the power of death (Heb. 2:14, 15), We go through life with a quiet joy in our hearts, even though we know death awaits us at the end. The death of the Son of God fortifies us with strength and courage for that final battle. We can now die as He did, with the Word of God on our lips. And we have all the comfort of Christ’s suffering, blood, and death in our hearts.
As we consider the Lord’s death and what it means for our own, please hear this devotion from our fathers in the faith, from around the year 1760.
Comforting word of encouragement to the terminally ill,
based on the three articles of the Apostles’ Creed
Dear Christian friend, according to God’s will you are now in the final struggle with sin, death, the devil, and hell. Well then, wage a good warfare and hold faith, and there will be laid up for you the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to you on the Day (2 Tim. 4:7-9). Be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. But above all, take up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the evil one (Eph. 6:10, 16). Hold fast in your heart your Christian faith, which you learned and have confessed until this day.
You believe that God Almighty is the true Father of all who are named children in heaven and on earth (Eph. 3:5). Therefore He also will be your Father and reserve a heavenly inheritance for you.
You believe that He has made you and given you your body and soul. Neither, therefore, will He forget you, whom He created. For He hates nothing which He has made (Wis. 11:25).
You believe that the only Son of God, Jesus Christ, came into the world to destroy the works of the devil and save sinners (1 John 3:8). Therefore you have no need to fear the devil or doubt your salvation.
You believe that Jesus Christ suffered, was crucified, and shed His innocent blood for all poor sinners. Therefore you have been cleansed by His blood from all your sins (1 John 1:7).
You believe that Jesus Christ descended into hell and destroyed it for all His believers (Hosea 13:14). Therefore the flames of hell can never touch you.
You believe that Jesus Christ rose again from the dead on the third day (Acts 10:40). Therefore, He overcame death, that you might never have to taste it and that temporal death might only be slumber and a door to eternal life.
You believe that Jesus Christ ascended into heaven. Therefore you will also have an entrance into it. For He said to His Father, “Father, I will that where I am, they whom You have given Me may also be, that they may see My glory which You have given Me” (John 17:24).
You believe that Jesus Christ sat down at the right hand of God. Therefore you have an advocate with the Father, interceding for you in the best manner (Rom. 8:34; 1 John 1:21).
You believe that Jesus will come again to judge the unbelievers. And so long as you believe steadfastly, you will not come into judgment (John 5:24).
You believe in the Holy Spirit. Therefore He will help you in your weakness and when you can no longer speak for yourself, He will represent you before God with groanings too deep for words, crying, “Abba, dear Father!” (Rom. 8:15, 26).
You believe in the forgiveness of sins. Therefore it will be for you as you believe. God has compassion on you. He has trodden your iniquities underfoot and cast all your sins into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19).
You believe in the resurrection of the body. Therefore you are not burdened when imagining your death, since you will not remain in the grave but only rest in it until the happy day of your resurrection dawns (1 Thessalonians 4:14).
You believe in the life everlasting. Therefore you go out of this perishable and accursed life into an imperishable and blessed life (1 Corinthians 15:42), in which your Lord Jesus Christ has long since prepared a place for you, and will now graciously admit you to it (John 14:2-3).
Now then, go confidently and in peace in the name of your heavenly Father, in the name of your dear Redeemer Jesus Christ, and in the name of your highest Comforter, the Holy Spirit. Cling firmly to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the whole world (John 1:29) and say in your heart: “Lord, into Your hands I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, Lord God of truth!” (Ps. 31:6)
The Lord, who has kept your going in to this life, also keep your going out and take you to Himself in eternal joy. Amen, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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