GOOD FRIDAY PART 1

John 18:1--19:42

Imagine this scene: A judge raps sharply on the heavy wooden desk in front of him to bring the buzzing crowd to attention. The people in the courtroom eagerly and intently search the faces of the jury looking for some clue as to what the decision might be. But the 12 men and women on the jury file back into the courtroom with almost expressionless faces. By looking at them, there is no way to predict the outcome.

The judge speaks: What is your verdict? The foreman of the jury clears his throat. The people shift uneasily, nervously. All the weeks of evidence, the charges and counter charges, the experts called in by both sides, all of the testimony on behalf of the prosecution and the defense, all that is over. It comes to this moment.

The foreman unfolds the printed verdict and without looking up, reads clearly and loudly: Your honor, on all charges in this case, we the jury find the defendant to be........

Now, how that statement ends, depends who's on trial. The long gospel is familiar. We know from years of having heard the story, who's on trial and what the verdict is. We may protest the unfairness of the trial. We may claim that a guilty verdict was railroaded through, that JESUS is innocent. Regardless, the guilty verdict stands.

For a moment now, let's imagine another trial, another courtroom scene. The crowd in this courtroom listens even more intently than usual. They are on the very edge of their seats as the foreman reads the verdict, for they are the defendants. It's the courtroom audience that's on trial.

The crowd includes all of us. We are on trial. We are the accused. The charges are many. God is the judge and we stand accused of having broken our relationship with God.

The prosecuting attorney is Satan himself, and the devil is in fine form, calling witness after witness against us. When the guilty verdict that he's so sure of, is announced, he will take charge of all the defendants, we'll belong to him.

The devil has recorded confessions from everyone in the courtroom. "We have sinned through our own fault, in what we have said, in what we have done, and in what we have failed to do." The evidence is undeniable. Scripture is clear. "All have sinned and fallen short of God." "We, like sheep, have gone astray."

We are defenseless. And yet, there is one foolish enough to try and defend us. The defense attorney is JESUS. But there is little he can do against such overwhelming evidence. He calls to the stand psychologists who try to defend us by saying, "Well, they may be sinners, but it's not their fault. They are victims of social pressures, products of their environment. They learned it from their parents. They were born that way. They didn't know what they were doing."

But, as JESUS, the defense attorney rests his case, it's clear what the verdict will be, what it must be. The facts are there. In his final instructions to the jury, the judge reminds them of more scripture passages. "The soul that sins, shall die, the wages of sin is death."

The jury is out for a long time. We get very restless. Our lives are at stake. The defence attorney, JESUS, is somber and thoughtful. Finally the jury returns and the whole scene with which we began is repeated.

The foreman clears his throat, unfolds the printed verdict and reads: Your honor, on all charges in this case, we the jury, find the defendants to be......NOT GUILTY.

The crowd buzzes in disbelief. The prosecuting attorney falls back in shock. The defense attorney is...gone.....not there. He must have stepped out for a moment, just before the jury returned.

And so the crowd rises to leave, still wondering at the verdict, laughing now, and beginning to celebrate. As we turn to go out the door, we walk past a window and the laughter turns to silence.

We see through the clouded glass, in the distance, a shadow, an outline, a figure of a person. We see JESUS, the defense attorney....hanging on a cross.....dead. We the guilty are declared innocent, because the Innocent One is declared guilty in our place.

IT WAS THUS, THAT HE HUMBLED HIMSELF, OBEDIENTLY ACCEPTING DEATH, DEATH ON A CROSS.