Behold the Man

We do not gather today to admire a noble martyr. We are not here merely to remember an example of courage under suffering. We are not here simply to reflect upon injustice, cruelty, or the tragedy of human violence. No, we are here because our sin required this. This truth, as difficult as it is to confess, is the great offense behind Good Friday and, indeed, the Christian religion. But it is also the source of our greatest comfort.

The offense is this: your sin is so serious before God, so damnable, so deserving of wrath and judgment, that nothing less than the suffering and death of the Son of God could atone for it.

And the comfort is this: that suffering and death have now been offered for your salvation, forgiveness, and life. Good Friday is not sentimental nor is it mild. Good Friday is where God shows us what sin really is and what its cost is. Sinners do not like that. By nature, we always want to minimize our guilt. We want to call sin a weakness, a mistake, a lapse in judgment, a rough patch, a personal struggle. We want to excuse it, explain it, manage it, or compare it favorably to the sins of others.