In the world, forgiveness is rare. People usually have to earn forgiveness to get it. When prisoners serving jail sentences receive pardons, we hear explanations attempting to show that he has merited it either through good behavior or enough suffering. Do you want forgiveness? You have to earn it.

We might think we Christians are better at this forgiveness thing. But we too would prefer people to work their way up to being forgiven. How many times has someone sinned against us, and we are ready to forgive them, but only if they ask. And when they ask, they have to at least do so sincerely like they really mean it.  But for those who don’t, we are often passive aggressive, trying to give them hints of what they need to do to make things up. We prefer to forgive good people, those who have earned it, or at least who are well intentioned.

Today is Good Friday.  To the world this is just another Friday, the day before the weekend.  It goes by quietly for many in the world.  But for Christians, this day is one of special devotion, where we ponder again upon the suffering of Jesus that He took upon Himself out of love.  And what love it is that allowed the sinful world to get their hands on God.  God who became flesh, who lived His life among us, handed over to be crucified.  Human hands that held Divine hands against rough wood and nailed them there. 

Today is also the day where we give the Romans and the Jews a hard time for killing Jesus. How could they have done such a thing? We took part tonight in reading the passion narrative from St. John, even saying those words, “crucify Him!”  Those are hard words to say and we’d like to think that if we were there that we would have stuck up for Jesus, or at least kept our mouths shut in condemning Him to die.  But we are no better than the Romans and the Jews. While we may not have drove the nails into His hands or feet, it was our sin just the same that led Him out of His great love to die for us sinners.  We don’t deserve forgiveness any more than those who were there that day crying out for blood.  So why then is today called “Good”?

Good Friday is not “good” because of you or me. It does not require our goodness to be good for us. We are not, and never can be, good enough. Good Friday is good for us because God is good to us. Good Friday is all about the goodness and the mercy and the love of a gracious Father who has sent His Son, the only Good One, to forgive our lack of good, our evil, our sin.

Good Friday is good because Jesus is good to us. Good Friday is all about the divine Son who became our suffering Servant, the one anointed with the Holy Spirit to take upon himself our sins, the sins of an unworthy people, the sins of his enemies, to the cross. Forgiveness might be rare for us. But it is not rare for God. Forgiveness is what God does. Plain and simple: God says the word of absolution and it is done for you!

And why does God forgive us? Why does God look favorably upon us even when we mess up, when we rebel against God in our sin? The answer lies in the crucifixion itself.  For there we see what love really is.  It is not tolerating evil.  It is not condoning sin. But Jesus freely takes our “no goodness” upon Himself for our sake.  There the Son of Man is rejected, and hanging from the cross, as His death approaches, Jesus speaks His last words, “it is finished.”  But it is not a prayer for himself. Jesus is not selfish. What great love that Jesus does not think of Himself in that great moment of suffering and death, but thinks only of the needy, thinks only of sinners like you and me. What we are unable to do, Jesus does for us.  He offers up His perfect and sinless life, and takes upon Himself the punishment for our sin, the chastisement of us all.

Beloved in the Lord, let us never take this for granted.  We don’t deserve this forgiveness, for we are not good of ourselves.  We are like sheep gone astray, each to his own way.  But for the sake of His Son, God looks favorably upon wandering sinners.  By His Spirit, He calls us to Himself to receive the forgiveness won by the Son of God through faith in Him and His good works for us.  So that when God looks upon a world full of evil and sin and death and the power of the devil, for all those who believe in Him, He now calls “good” for the sake of His Son.

Today is Good Friday. Today we see in Jesus’ sacrifice and prayer the love of God in Christ. On the cross, we see how good Jesus is to us. See what Jesus has done for you. See his blood shed for you! Hear His prayer given for you! Forgiveness divine. Forgiveness from the cross.

“It is finished.” And so it is. Our forgiveness, our life, our salvation was won upon the cross, earned by the life, suffering, and death of Jesus, and received by us solely through faith.  For Jesus’ sake, God the Father says to you today: “I forgive you all your sins.” You are no longer enemies but friends of Jesus, and children of God.  Today truly is good, for from the cross, the Son earns it, God declares it, and the Spirit delivers it. Amen.

*This sermon was adapted from: THE WAY OF GRACE: A Sermon Series on the Sacraments Copyright © 2011, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO.