May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again, saying, "Hail, king of the Jews!" And they struck him in the face. Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, "Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him." When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, "Here is the man!" As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, "Crucify! Crucify!" But Pilate answered, "You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him." The Jews insisted, "We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God." When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, and he went back inside the palace. "Where do you come from?" he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. "Do you refuse to speak to me?" Pilate said. "Don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?"

Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin." From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, "If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar." When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge's seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour. "Here is your king," Pilate said to the Jews. But they shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!" "Shall I crucify your king?" Pilate asked. "We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests answered. Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). Here they crucified him, and with him two others--one on each side and Jesus in the middle. Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek.

The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, "Do not write `The King of the Jews,' but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews." Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written." When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. "Let's not tear it," they said to one another. "Let's decide by lot who will get it." This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said, "They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing." So this is what the soldiers did. Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: "Not one of his bones will be broken," and, as another scripture says, "They will look on the one they have pierced." Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus' body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs.

At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. (John 19)

In Christ's name and to his glory, dear friends: Our Scripture reading has already been read today. Let us begin this meditation with prayer.

WHAT LANGUAGE SHALL I BORROW     TO THANK YOU, DEAREST FRIEND,
FOR THIS, YOUR DYING SORROW     YOUR PITY WITHOUT END?
OH, MAKE ME YOURS FOREVER,     AND KEEP ME STRONG AND TRUE.
LORD, LET ME NEVER, NEVER,     OUTLIVE MY LOVE FOR YOU. AMEN (CW 105:5)

In his book Isaiah the prophet says, The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart. (57:1) If one listens to Scripture that describes what Jesus, the man of sorrows, went through during his life, and especially during the last 24 hours of his life; and if one listens to Scripture when it tells us that he went through this hell for the world of sinners, it would be a truly wretched being who would not be moved to thanks and praise. Yet, we see in Scripture and still experience today that sinful mankind can be so unmoved even by these awesome and tender events. John was right when he wrote that Jesus, the Light, came to darkness but the darkness has not understood him or accepted him. (John 1) Does that mean it is inevitable that we too will ignore him? No! By grace alone. For John writes, Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. So we have the prayer on our hearts our whole life long--Lord, let me never, never outlive my love for you. Today we consider the Good Friday Gospel from St. John under the central thought THE RIGHTEOUS ONE FOR THE UNRIGHTEOUS ONES.

Let us first consider the unrighteous ones who need Christ's righteousness. Do you know what the word righteous and its opposite unrighteous mean? Righteous means holy, sinless; unrighteous means sinful, unholy. It is for the unholy, the sinful-- the unrighteous--that the righteous One, Jesus, suffered this day. We heard Isaiah say that Christ was numbered with the transgressors. He was placed among the sinners, the unholy ones. Specifically that means Jesus was crucified along with criminals guilty of high crimes. But generally the phrase also means that Jesus came to a world of darkness, sin and unrighteousness. And the unrighteous world showed its true colors in how it treated Jesus. Here are some examples from the Good Friday gospel:

First, we hear of Pilate, the Roman governor. He did not want to be bothered with Jesus. What shall I do with Jesus? Was his question. He knew that Jesus had committed no crime, but he was more concerned with his popularity with the crowd than he was about doing what is right. Give me no responsibility! It reminds us of how easily we feel it a bother to honor God and love neighbor, especially when it requires sacrifice or is inconvenient. Oh, how dark is this world of unrighteousness!

Then, we hear of Jews who did not want Christ's claim that he was the king of the Jews posted on the cross. It was customary to post the crimes of the crucified at the cross. Rome knew well how to deter future crime with public punishment. But this accusation was embarrassing. What kind of people are these Jews that their king is so shamefully treated? They must be a weak and useless people! And this accusation that Jesus' crime was that he was king of the Jews was frustrating. Can we never rid ourselves of this "king"? It reminds us of how we sometimes balk at Christ's claim on us--You are not your own; you were bought at a price; honor God with your body. Oh, how dark is this world of unrighteousness!

Next, we hear of the soldiers and their little game of chance over Christ's clothes. Think of it--God is right there in their presence, taking up the guilt of their sins on his own holy body, and all they can think about is a seamless swatch of cloth! What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? (Matthew 16:26) Precious little--that's what people are willing to give up heaven for. It reminds us of how important the unimportant seems to us sometime. I cannot worship God by praying to him or meditating on his word. I am too busy. Busy with what? Oh, how dark is this world of unrighteousness!

There is more, but we must move on now. The righteous One for the unrighteous ones--this is our theme. Let us now consider this righteous one. He is the Lord Jesus Christ being crucified this day. He is righteous. That means he is holy, sinless, the Lamb of God without blemish or defect. (1 Peter 1:29). He is the Lamb of God. There is no other like him--holy God and holy Man in one being. His holiness is not just that he knows what is right and wrong but that he does what is right and shuns what is wrong. Here are some examples from the Good Friday gospel.

He knows what it means to honor and love the heavenly Father as the first three commandments demand. He means what he said 12 hours earlier and carries it out perfectly, from the heart, what he said--not my will but your will be done. He is in great agony and facing terror that no man will ever know since he is carrying the full holy anger of God over sin. Yet Jesus is concerned about someone else, even an enemy. He takes time to talk, really converse, with Pilate. Is that your own idea (that I am a king) or did someone tell you about me? Pilate makes it clear that he wants to hear none of Jesus' thoughts. But Jesus tells him anyway. How typical of God! He comes to those who don't want him because he knows how much they need him. It's as if Jesus is thinking and pleading: I will win this one too...will you please listen to me. Then too, he makes sure that his mother is well provided for. Again, how typical of God. God is love and when God puts himself under the law then he is perfect love for God and for neighbor. This is the righteous one.

But even more wonderful--this righteous one is not just being righteous, he is procuring it and bestowing it on the world. The old testament believers called the Messiah, the Lord our righteousness. In other words, the Savior would be the source of righteousness, not merely the perfect model of it. We heard Isaiah say that his atoning sacrifice would justify many (Isaiah 53). His work would make it happen that God would declare the unrighteous righteous. And the Apostle would later write that God in Christ has become both just/holy AND the One who makes sinners just/holy through the redemption of Jesus Christ (Romans 3).

No one sitting here today is excluded. Each of us is in the theme. I am one of the unrighteous ones. I am one for whom the righteous One gave his life. Oh, then do not be left behind, but join in with those who know this, take comfort in it, and praise God for it.      Amen.