{"id":6140,"date":"2021-04-02T17:04:07","date_gmt":"2021-04-02T21:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=6140"},"modified":"2021-04-02T17:04:07","modified_gmt":"2021-04-02T21:04:07","slug":"good-friday-homily-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/good-friday-homily-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Good Friday – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Good Friday:  Celebration of the Lord\u2019s Passion<\/a>
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
Psalm 31:2, 6, 12-13, 15-16, 17, 25 (Luke 23:46)
Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9
John 18:1-19:42
April 2, 2021<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I begin with two questions.  First, who is responsible for the death of Jesus?  Secondly, why was He put to death?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have just heard the story of Jesus\u2019 Passion, the suffering He endured.  His Passion brings us salvation.  That\u2019s why we read it twice during Holy Week.  On Sunday we heard the Passion as told in the Gospel of Mark and today we hear John\u2019s telling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is another way in which we recall Jesus\u2019 Passion, the Stations of the Cross.  The fourteen stations remind us of what Jesus went through for us<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First Station is \u201cJesus is condemned to death.\u201d  Here, I return to the two questions I began with.  Who is responsible for Jesus\u2019 death and why was He put to death?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Historically, the death of Jesus is attributed to Pilate.  It is true that Pilate was the one who gave the order to crucify Jesus.  However, while it is no excuse, he approved Jesus\u2019 Crucifixion more to appease the crowd than anything else. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When they brought Jesus to him, Pilate asked, \u201cWhat charge do you bring against this man?<\/em>\u201d to which they replied, \u201cIf he were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.<\/em>\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In essence, they have no charge to offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pilate will question Jesus himself.  He still sees no charge.  In fact, Pilate said three <\/em><\/strong>times, \u201cI find no guilt in him<\/em>.\u201d  Pilate even tries to release Jesus but the crowds will not let him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pilate is culpable in Jesus\u2019 death because he consented to it but he is not the one who desired it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who was that brought Jesus to Pilate?  It was the Jews who opposed Jesus (not all Jews were bad).  They had no civil charge to offer.  After Pilate said three times, \u201cI find no guilt in him<\/em>,\u201d they say, \u201cWe have a law, and according to that law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Jesus was not who He said He was, they would be right in their charge.  However, what He says is true.  He is an innocent man. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Jews wanted Jesus dead for their own purposes.  However, they did not have \u201cthe right to execute anyone<\/em>.\u201d  That\u2019s why they took him to Pilate.  Pilate is the one who has the power to release Jesus or to crucify him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Pilate does not realize the real source of his power in this matter.  Jesus responds to Pilate, \u201cYou would have no power over me if it had not been given to you from above<\/strong>.  For this reason the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who handed Jesus over to the chief priests and the Pharisees?  Judas Iscariot.  Judas has his share of the blame to bear in this.  Just like the Jews who brought Jesus to Pilate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, Jesus was crucified because it was the Father\u2019s Will to bring about our salvation.  In John\u2019s Passion, Jesus freely identifies himself as the one they are looking for when Judas Iscariot brings them to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus is in control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is Jesus who willingly \u201chanded over the spirit<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why?  Why was Jesus condemned to death?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We find the answer to this question in our first reading from Isaiah.  This passage is the last of four Suffering Servant passages in Isaiah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This one begins with speaking of the servant as one who \u201cshall prosper, he shall be raised high and greatly exalted<\/em>.\u201d  Jesus fulfills this passage but before He is raised up and exalted, He will suffer, \u201cmarred was his look beyond human semblance<\/em>.\u201d  Seen on the Cross, He would have been held in \u201cno esteem<\/em>\u201d by those saw the Crucifixion as his defeat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In human terms, on the Cross Jesus would hardly be described as one who prospered.  Yet, it exactly what God sent him to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He accepts the punishment for our sins.<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured\u2026he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins.<\/em>\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are the ones who went astray in sin, \u201ceach following his own way.<\/em>\u201d  For this, \u201cthe LORD laid upon him the guilt of us all.<\/em>\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For us, Jesus \u201cwas harshly treated.<\/em>\u201d  For us, for our salvation, He submitted to his Passion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThough he had done no wrong<\/em>,\u201d Jesus was condemned to death as He gave his life as an \u201coffering for sin<\/em>.\u201d  It is \u201cthrough his suffering<\/em>\u201d that Jesus justified many, winning pardon for our offenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus came to die for us so that we might be saved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, when we hear Jesus\u2019 last words, \u201cIt is finished<\/em>.\u201d, it is not just his human life that He speaks of.  He has completed, He has finished what his Father sent him to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus died for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you Jesus!<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Good Friday:  Celebration of the Lord\u2019s PassionIsaiah 52:13-53:12Psalm 31:2, 6, 12-13, 15-16, 17, 25 (Luke 23:46)Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9John 18:1-19:42April 2, 2021 I begin with two questions.  First, who is responsible for the death of Jesus?  Secondly, why was He put to death? We have just heard the story of Jesus\u2019 Passion, the suffering He endured.  …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Good Friday – Homily’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[491,26,82,150],"tags":[27,855,930,931],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-1B2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6140"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6140"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6146,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6140\/revisions\/6146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}