Good Friday March 29, 2024
“Evil Friday is also Good Friday” Luke 23:44-56
Rev. John R. Larson Ascension Lutheran Church Littleton, Colorado
Tonight I’m going to take a risk. Let’s see how it goes. I’m going to take something very familiar and very precious and I’m going to change its name. I’m going to add something to what we call it, and I’m very aware that it may sound odd and strange to you. It might even sound wrong. But I think I should take the risk.
Based on our reading from Luke 23, I want to say this to you: Evil Friday is also Good Friday. There – the risk is out in the open. We never refer to that Friday long ago as “Evil Friday.” We always refer to it as “Good Friday.” And we should. And we should do that the rest of our life. But that day was also evil and dark.
A number of you have been with us in worship during our Lenten mid-week services since Ash Wednesday. I have been using a theme for these past few months based on the book of Genesis and the words of Joseph to his brothers, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good, to keep many people alive today.” (Genesis 50:20) Do you know the story? Joseph is despised by his brothers, and they sell him as a slave to some enemies. They made some money, and he was out of their hair. Problem solved. But God kept His hand on Joseph. He saved him from certain death. He rose to a position of power in Egypt and was able to save the lives of many, including the lives of his brothers, from starvation.
But now their father, Jacob, has died and they fear that Joseph will exact retribution on them. They fear what was to come to them from him. Now, don’t misunderstand what Joseph was saying to his brothers. He was not saying, “Well, you tried to do evil things, but what you did really wasn’t evil.” No. His brothers did evil to him. He acknowledged their plan. But what God actually did was to use the evil to bring good. Sometimes that is how God works. He grabs the evil and He uses it for His larger plan.
Like today. On that first Good Friday, evil is dripping over everything. We could call that day “Evil Friday”. Our reading says this, “It was now about the sixth hour (noon), and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour (3:00), for the sun stopped shining.” (Luke 23:44-45) What was this? Was this an eclipse, like what we will experience on April 8? No. I think we are catching a picture of evil. When Jesus was arrested, at night, He spoke these words to those who came for Him, “Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour – when darkness reigns.” (Luke 22:53)
Good Friday was “Evil Friday”. It was time to fight such evil and such darkness. In John 12 Jesus would say of this day, “Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.” (John 12:31) But on that day evil was apparent. It is sort-of-like Joseph who would say pointedly, “You meant it for evil.”
On Tuesday Pastor Mike Paulison gave an update on things in Haiti. He writes in his e-mail, “Chaos, destruction, and devastation are all tools of the enemy. John 10:10 tells us that the enemy comes only to ‘steal, kill, and destroy.’ If you don’t believe in Satan or his plan, you would have to reassess your views in light of current suffering.” On “Evil Friday”, “Darkness came over the whole land.”
Something else happened when Jesus died. “The curtain in the temple was torn in two.” Why? Who tore it? God did. God tore that curtain in the temple. God is rejecting the former place of sacrifice and forgiveness. Sacrifice and forgiveness would need to come from another place. That place would be in the temple of the body of Jesus. He is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
In this account of Good Friday we run into another unexpected believer. Once again it is a gentile – just as we ran into the thief on the cross and his plea for new life, we run into the Roman centurion and his brilliant, light-filled confession of faith. This man was a man of great respect and leadership. He was in charge of 100 soldiers. He trained them and led them. And now he leads us to see that Evil Friday is also Good Friday. He watches the darkness descend. He hears the last words of Jesus, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” And then we read this, “The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, ‘Surely this was a righteous man.’” (Luke 23:27)
The phrase that ‘he praised God’ can also be translated ‘he glorified God’. Luke uses that word, “glorify”, consistently in his gospel. On the first Christmas, the shepherds returned to their fields, and they glorified God over what they had heard and seen. Jesus forgives and heals a paralytic and both the man and the crowd glorified God. At Nain, the crowd saw Jesus raise a widow’s son back to life, and they glorified God. A woman was crippled and bent over for 18 years of her life and Jesus healed her. What did she do? (You can probably guess by now!) She glorified God. Ten lepers – all healed. But just one – a foreigner – returned, glorifying God.
The centurion glorified God. He knew that God was at work in the midst of evil. Do you see Evil Friday is also Good Friday because our great God is at work? The death of our Lord was good because the payment for our sins was made fully and completely. And Good Friday would not be the last day when God was doing a work that was marvelous. Easter was still coming. On these days, especially, we see the fulfillment of that word from Jospeh, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good, the saving of many lives.”
In Pastor Mike Paulison’s letter he ends his opening paragraph, after talking about the immense chaos in Haiti with the words, “On the surface, there seems to be no hope.” Now a lot of you know Pastor Mike and Pastor Mike never ends anything with that type of gloom. He goes on, “As we celebrate Holy Week, we need to be reminded of the truths of this week. Historically, this was a week full of painful and dark events. The Son of God suffered in ways that were unimaginable and then was impaled on a Roman cross. Who would have ever thought that the week would have a hopeful end? But Easter changed everything. God made clear that the enemy doesn’t get to write the story or its ending. Only God has that right.”
What an ending our God writes on Good Friday and on Easter. What a good ending He writes in our lives. Evil Friday is also Good Friday. For Jesus. For me. For you. For everyone. Amen!!
(The thoughts for this sermon come from the Lenten Series, “You Meant It For Evil, But God Meant It For Good.” Concordia Seminary Press, 2022, Jeffrey Gibbs)
