Good Friday 2025

When Jesus died on that Roman cross in the first century, an event which is one of the most verifiable facts in antiquity, a lot was going on.

A lot was going on.

A man was tragically dying for no crime that he had committed.

It was a travesty of justice unfolding.

And yet there was so much more happening behind the curtain, as it were.

The Book of Hebrews is written, we just heard it read, Abbey read it for us.

It's written to a group of people who know the Old Testament, probably mainly Jewish people.

And so there's, I guess, a bunch of jargon, words that you may not be familiar with in the 21st century.

Words like Christ and High Priest and Tabernacle, Blood of Goats and Carves, The Most Holy Place.

Well, you might have heard it before.

Chapter 9, 11 says, When Christ, and Christ is not his surname, Jesus Christ, it's a title.

The Messiah is the Christ.

Christians believe that God appointed one to solve the problem of sin, the anointed one, and that is Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah.

He came as high priest.

Now, high priest is again a jargon word that the Jews would have understood as the most significant religious leader for the Jewish people.

A man who would once a year go into the holy place in the temple and offer sacrifice for the sins of the people.

The tabernacle is a tent that was constructed and put up and down when the people of Israel were wandering in the desert.

And even after that, before the temple, it was the place where they could meet with God, the presence of the living God.

It's where sacrifice occurred on this cross, on this cross 2,000 years ago.

There was a very significant sacrifice happening.

The text from Chapter 9 of Hebrews talks about the blood of goats and calves.

Of course, it seems like a rather primitive way to deal with sin, ritual, cleansing, but it's what God designed for His people.

Because life is in the blood.

If we lose our blood, we lose our life.

And the Bible says that sin is death.

Sin leads to death.

And so, in God's wisdom, He instituted this idea where animals would lose their lives and the blood would be symbolic of covering sin.

It would be an atoning sacrifice, which means to cover.

But it was temporary.

And the priest would go into the holy place, as I mentioned, a sacred part of the temple where the living God dwelt.

And it was symbolized by the Ark of the Covenant.

So, for the Jewish people, they understand all these words, Christ High Priest, Tabernacle, Blood of Goats and Carves, the holy place.

Does that mean today, it's somewhat irrelevant for us?

I would put it to you, no.

Amen?

Absolutely not, because we all have to continually deal with sin.

And the sacrifice that Jesus gave on the cross is the fulfillment of all of that ritual and the fulfillment of our greatest desire that somehow we could have a way back to God.

Good Friday speaks to Dave of the sacrifice that truly cleanses Hebrews 9, 11 to 14.

Earthly sacrifices couldn't reach the heart.

They were temporary.

Let me read the text again.

Verse 13, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean.

How much more then will the blood of Christ to through the eternal spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death so that we may serve the living God.

The text says the eternal spirit and the unblemished son equals everlasting atonement.

How much more then?

Christ's sacrifice doesn't just cover sin, it cleanses sin.

Do you have a sense of remorse for guilt in life?

I sometimes wonder when I'm preparing a message like this, I think in the 21st century, do people still feel any guilt?

Or have we moved beyond that?

I somehow, in my YouTube algorithm, got Robin Williams coming the last couple of weeks, I guess you'd say.

And I always found him very funny, very funny guy, and there were some late night shows that were interviewing him.

And so, I found it interesting and, of course, he took his own life being diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, with Parkinson's.

It was a real tragedy.

But I found a video of him a few days before he died.

This is an incredibly intelligent man, a very successful man.

And he said, I am racked with guilt.

I can't deal with the shame I feel from my life.

He had so much, but he had this problem that I think many of us know about, a sense of guilt, the reality of sin, and the problem of a guilty conscience.

How do we cleanse our guilty conscience?

About a month ago, my wife, it was just half an hour before our Bible study, my wife Leanne came to me and said, something has died.

I was like, what's died?

Are we, are marriage okay?

Everything good?

She said, no, come out here.

And I went out into the kitchen.

She said, can you smell that?

I mean, my nose is not that great.

No, no, I can't smell it.

Come out the back.

So we went out the back, and there's a space that goes under the house, out the back of our house.

And she said, those flies, something's dead down there.

Do you smell that?

I said, I still can't smell it.

Um, which is helpful as a man.

And anyway, I thought, well, okay, maybe something's dead down there.

Maybe there's a rat or something.

There's half an hour before Bible study.

We'll deal with it after.

Leanne would not be deterred.

She, next thing I see her coming up the stairs, she's double bagged, a bag with gloves on, hands me gloves, and says, there is a huge dead possum underneath the house.

So we went down and I went in and put it in the bag and we got rid of it.

Death smells, doesn't it?

But you just can't get away from it.

You can't leave a dead big possum under your house.

You could, but it's not going to be pleasant for anybody.

And I don't think that's too different from sin in our lives.

There's just a bit of a stench and you know it and I know it, and maybe more people know it than we think.

Sin creates stains, messes that are really hard to clean up.

The Bible says, How much more then will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself, unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death?

What can wash away our sin?

What can cleanse a conscience of guilt and failure?

From poor choices which have incurred moral consequences on others and on our own lives?

It's a question that has echoed throughout the centuries.

People from all over the globe have tried to work out, what can wash away our sin?

The Christian understanding from the Bible is nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Hallelujah.

Nothing but the blood of Jesus, the perfect, crucified Saviour.

Good Friday speaks of the sacrifice that truly cleanses, and the sacrifice that is offered once for all.

Hebrews 10, verse 10.

By that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Day after day, every priest, this is talking about the old, Old Testament Jewish way of performing rituals that cleanse temporarily.

Day after day, every priest stands and performs his religious duties again and again.

He offers the same sacrifices which can never take away sin.

But when this priest, Jesus, had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.

And since that time, he waits for his enemies to make his footstool.

We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus once for all.

Under the old system, the priest stood daily.

There was no seat.

Well, there was a mercy seat, but he wasn't allowed to sit on it in the tabernacle.

Why could he never sit down?

Because the job was never finished.

There was always more.

More sacrifices to be given.

More blood of animals.

But it was never enough to cover, cleanse and complete the payment for sin.

But Jesus, Hebrews says, he offered one sacrifice and then he sat down.

Not because he was tired, but because it was done.

It was done.

Remember on the cross he said, it is finished.

The cross was not a temporary fix.

Not a religious patch.

It was the once for all final answer to the problem of sin.

One sacrifice, one saviour, one moment that changed eternity.

We don't add to this solution for sin by being good.

That's what the Bible teaches.

Many of us are sitting here today thinking, that's the truth.

You add to what Jesus did, or you don't even need what Jesus did.

You just do as much as you can to be good.

If you read the Bible and you have any respect for it, the Bible categorically says, you can't get your sins cleansed by being good enough.

One solution, the blood of Christ, no more sacrifices, no more anything.

We receive the result of this solution for sin by receiving the gift of forgiveness and reconciliation with God.

By faith, it's a gift.

Hallelujah.

It's a gift.

There's a sacrifice that's been offered that truly cleanses.

Only one could.

It was given once for all.

And it is the sacrifice that perfects us forever.

Verse 14 says, for by one sacrifice, he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

Our theme as a church for the year is everlasting.

God is from everlasting to everlasting.

This salvation that is accomplished in Jesus' death and later his resurrection provides an eternal salvation.

We are perfected forever.

I forgot to bring a rope.

I had a rope at home.

I wanted to give an illustration.

The rope was probably from here to Chris over there.

So it's quite a long rope.

And I had put some tape on one little end of it.

And the illustration is simply life seems long, but it's probably really relatively short, certainly in light of eternal life.

And so the rope illustration, which is from Francis Chan, is a very powerful one because you hold it up, and you can see there's this tiny part of the rope that represents our life now.

But the Bible says you're going to actually either live with the Lord by His grace on the new earth, or you will suffer the consequences of sin because you haven't been able to pay for it.

And the consequence of sin is eternal death, separation from God.

Remember we said at the start, sin leads to death.

Some may have told you, or you may think, the Bible teaches that there's a chance in purgatory somewhere between this life and the next for you to have friends and family pray for you.

Or maybe years ago, hundreds of years ago, you paid indulgences to the church to buy people out of hell.

That's not what the Bible teaches.

The Bible is really clear.

You've got to know this.

There is only one time to respond to the grace.

I point over here because this represents the death of Jesus, the table.

Or I could be pointing back here to a cross.

The death of Jesus and his blood shed for us must be received in this life by faith, by the grace of God.

And then there's a whole lot of living to do, which will go on forever, but also starts right now.

The beautiful verse that talks about being perfected forever is John 3.16.

You may have heard it before, but it's a wonderful verse.

God so loved the world, he doesn't hate you.

He loved you enough to send his son.

He gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Not just life that much of the rope, the whole rope forever and ever.

The Bible is clear.

If we turn from our sin in what, again, another jargon word, in repentance.

And repentance just means you're walking one way, serving one Lord.

Turn from that and give your allegiance to Jesus Christ as Lord.

Turn from sin and follow the way of the master.

The Bible is clear.

If we do that, we ask for forgiveness.

We receive the gift that Jesus has accomplished by dying on the cross, what will happen?

We will be cleansed, absolutely and completely.

Granted life, which is eternal and also starts now.

The Bible says it's a full life.

It's the most full life.

Now, will it be without suffering following Jesus?

No, he's our Lord and he says, if I get beaten up, you're probably going to experience suffering too.

It's not going to be without challenge following Jesus, but it's going to be the most full experience of living this one life you could ever live.

Hallelujah.

Amen.

I don't know where you're at today.

Some of us come to church a few times a year.

It's so good to have you here, and I hope you feel comfortable to come forward to communion and to reach out and see if you feel the Lord reaching back to you, because I really believe He is.

If you have never given your response to Jesus, can I implore you today to do that?

To acknowledge, Lord, I'm a sinner, like Robin Williams was a sinner.

He felt guilt.

I know that.

I think you did die for me.

Would you take me?

I believe, at least I'm trying to believe.

It's a big thing to believe that God was in a human, dying on a cross to save me from my sin and cleanse me of my guilt, but I do believe.

I just want to encourage you to step into that belief today.

Many of us here in this room are Christians, and we did exactly the same.

No one earned it, we just received the gift.

And it's a wonderful experience.

On Sunday, Lord willing, we're going to fill up the Baptist tree here, and we have four or five all up people who have said they would like to testify that their life changed when they responded to Jesus in faith.

And they're going to celebrate that, and that's going to be a great thing for us to be part of.

So can I invite you in the name of Jesus for him, for his glory, come follow him.

Come follow him.

And maybe today, you're someone who, you are a Christian, but like a lot of Jesus parables, you've been wandering away.

And I hope maybe today, this Good Friday, could arrest you, could grab hold of you, and help you lift your eyes up to the one who died for you.

May you be reminded he is worth it.

He's worth it.

Not to come back and earn his favour, just to come back and go, thank you, Lord, that even though I have failed you, you love me.

You can't show me any more love than you already have.

Can't.

The cross is enough.

And maybe today, you are full, full of the Holy Spirit, as we are as Christians.

You're full and brimming with thankfulness, gratitude, a heart to live for God's glory, and praise God for you.

Praise God.

The table is here.

The invitation is for all.

First time coming back, feeling ashamed.

For those who are feeling okay, they're just walking in humility and trusting the Lord.

Let me pray.

Glorious Lord Jesus, Messiah, anointed one, saviour of the world, lamb of God.

Thank you for dying for us on the cross, on that Friday.

Lord, we remember on the night before you were betrayed, the night before you were crucified, you met with your disciples and you took the bread and the cup, and you gave us something to keep remembering you with.

And so as we take the bread today, we do it with immense gratitude in our hearts.

Remembering your perfect life, given for us.

And the cup you said, this is the once and for all offering of blood that will cover sin forever.

And so as we drink the cup, we are thinking of the wonder of your blood.

Perfect.

Holy enough.

Thank you for your invitation to come to the table.

And we do so in your name.

Amen.

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