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Summary: We learn what goes through Mary’s mind as she sees her son on the cross. |
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Summary: In the church, we are given to each other to love each other. When people we love are going through personal Good Fridays, when they and we are grieving or suffering, in the end, the only thing we have to give to each other immediately is ourselves. In the longer term, we have the gospel to offer and we have hope to offer, but in the short run, when the pain is fresh, we have ourselves to give. By holding on to one another for dear life, we enter into that sense of belonging together that Jesus urged on his mother Mary and his disciple John. |
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Summary: Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross guaranteed the future for those who trust and follow him. His resolute facing of the cross models for his disciples how to confront the sufferings of the present as they seek to participate in God’s mission. |
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Summary: Pontius Pilate’s question, What is truth? is answered by Jesus’ silence. Jesus shows us that we access truth, not with words, but with life — his life. Truth is not something that we can lay claim to; truth lays claim to us. Through living Jesus’ life we are taken up into truth. |
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Summary: Each of those involved in the death of Jesus had a story to tell. All could justify what they did, but their excuses are weak. The passion and death of Jesus leaves us with a choice as to whom we follow. Do we go the route of Pilate? Do we throw in with the high priests and the mob? Do we side with the soldiers or do we take up the invitation of Jesus and follow him? Only an honest reflection will give us the answer. |
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Summary: Good Friday does not make sense. We do not always know what to think about it or to do with it. On this day, an innocent man is crucified upon a cross. God remains silent while his Son agonizes in pain. Why then do we call this day, “good”? We call it good because the cross is good. There is glory in the cross. The cross is where our king reigns, and this is good. |
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Summary: Jesus’ death culminates in his proclaiming, “It is finished.” In doing so, Jesus announces that he has accomplished God’s long-awaited work of salvation. Our text challenges us to respond by (re)affirming our trust in Jesus’ work on the cross. |
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Summary: It is not always obvious who is in control of events. People who think only in terms of political, military and economic power will see Pilate and Caiaphas as the ones in control of Jesus’ arrest and execution. Religious people will say that God was in control. There is some truth in both views but the writer of the Fourth Gospel has presented the Passion in a way that brings out a surprising truth: It is God present in the man Jesus who is arrested, convicted and crucified who is ultimately the one in charge. |
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Summary: There’s a looking-glass quality to the arrest and mock trial of Jesus, with its “sentence first — verdict afterward,” by the religious and civil authorities in Judea. The arresting party has both authority and the weaponry to put Jesus in custody, but they are blown over like a pack of cards by two little words. There is nothing, however, amusing about the horrifying death inflicted upon Jesus, although — spoiler alert — we know in advance that it’s more than a matter of life and death — it’s death first, and abundant, eternal life for all of us afterwards.
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Summary: Today is Good Friday because Jesus died to save us. |
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Summary: The church has long included the reality of Jesus’ arrest, death, burial and resurrection in the various affirmations of faith (the Apostles’ Creed, etc.). It is important for people of faith to slow down and consider (or reconsider) the magnitude of all that happened as Jesus approached and endured the cross. The questions that were asked in the midst of this world-changing event are important for believers to wrestle with and answer before God. |
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Summary: The passion narrative is framed with descriptions of two different gardens. The time Jesus spent in the garden of Gethsemane is important because it connects us to the hope and restoration we find in a new garden on Easter morning. How can we truly meet Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane so that Easter is more meaningful than ever before? |
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Summary: Of all the gospels, John’s is the most descriptive regarding Jesus’ suffering during the Passion. When Jesus announces that “it is finished,” he speaks those words in relief and faith in what God does in the Cross. After Jesus’ death, the blood and water that come from Jesus’ side represent God’s grace from a desolate situation. |
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Summary: Because many people have heard the Good Friday story so often, they may think they know it through and through. But what they overlook in the story can be as important as what they think they already know. |
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Summary: For Jesus, truth is something that is felt, acted out and embraced in all of life. When we belong to his truth, we practice Christian hospitality. |
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Summary: The trial of Jesus before Pilate was the trial of the first century. In the trial of our century, we still must decide for or against Jesus. |
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Summary: Pilate asks Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” It’s a loaded question that doesn’t address the fullness of Jesus’ identity or his purpose. The question causes Jesus to inquire about Pilate and whether he is asking for himself or based on information he’s heard. Identities are complex and not neatly or easily categorized. God calls us to be more than clichéd characteristics. We are greater than the sum of our parts. |
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Summary: Jesus Christ is the truth. To accept him as Lord is to enter into his kingdom, allowing ourselves to “belong to the truth.” |
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Summary: As Jesus stood before Pilate, he spoke of a kingdom that was not of this world. Jesus went on to relate his kingdom and his kingship to the truth and the results of that truth. How we acknowledge Christ as King is the all-important decision of our life. |
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There are 19 sermons in your results. |
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