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Good Friday – April 18^th, 2025 Trinity Ev. Lutheran Church, Block, Kansas Rev. Joshua Woelmer Text: St. John’s Passion “It Is Finished” Theme: Jesus took upon himself the consequences for our sins and the sin of the world. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Newton’s Third Law of Motion states that “for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” This is what allows rocket ships to blast off into outer space. By releasing the force of combustion downwards, the rocket goes up. When you walk or jump, you are pushing off against the ground in one direction so your body can go in the other. A bird’s wings push air down so that the air can push the bird up. An explosion pushes a bullet out of a gun, so there is recoil into your hand or shoulder. This is important for the study of physics, but that general principle applies in many areas of life. It could also be described as cause and effect. We recognize this on a gut level. If someone is mean to you, you may be tempted to retaliate against them. If someone is nice to you, you may be more willing to give them what they want. This is certainly found in the Bible. It’s called the Golden Rule. Jesus says, “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them” (Matt 7:12). Even the pagan religions recognize this. They may call it karma or fate, but the underlying principle is the same. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Another way of putting it is that actions and ideas have consequences. We ignore this to our peril. This is part of wisdom, especially earthly wisdom. We must learn from our mistakes and the mistakes of others. A father who has gone bankrupt will hopefully teach his children how to avoid going bankrupt themselves. My parents pointed out the bad decisions of some of my friends and told me not to be like them. I thought it was unfair at the time, but some of their messages sank in. Sometimes it can seem like there are no consequences for your actions. Imagine a boy who touches a live electric fence but doesn’t get shocked. He may think that it’s not live, that there’s no electricity flowing through it. He doesn’t realize that his rubber boots are insulating him from the effect. As soon as he touches the wire with both hands, well, then he feels the effect. As Christians, we ought to have a healthy understanding of our human nature as being thoroughly tainted by sin. It’s not just that we make mistakes from time to time, but that we often desire what we shouldn’t, we do what we shouldn’t, and we think what we shouldn’t. Sin reaches to the depths of who we are. Romans 3:23 reminds us: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The whole chapter of Romans 3 is a litany of reminders that no one is righteous, no not one. We are all sinners. Sin also has consequences. We can readily see these consequences when they directly affect other people. Relationships are hurt, angers flare, and damage is done. However, earthly punishments are not the only consequences of our sin. Adam and Eve learned the hard way—yes, they would be punished with pain and death. A punishment even worse than these things was separation from God. No longer would they be in perfect communion with God. We are sundered from God by our sin. There is a separation between us that we cannot bridge. It is worse than that: Romans 8 says, “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God,” (7) and Romans 5 says that we in our sin are “enemies” of God (10). Furthermore, God is angry over sin. Romans 1 says, “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth” (18). What are the consequences of sin? Wrath of God, hostility, separation, debt, punishment, and much more. These things do not just “go away.” We do not believe in cheap grace, as if God just wiped the slate clean without payment for our sins. Rather, all of these consequences for our sin were placed on Jesus. By dying on the cross, he suffered the consequences of our sin. This is what it means when we say that he died “for our sake” or “in our place.” This is what Isaiah 53 means when he prophesies, “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed” (4–5). Jesus obeyed His Father’s will and died instead of you. He suffered alienation from God so that you would have union with God again. Jesus therefore has accomplished the opposite of all our punishments by his cross. No longer is God wrathful for you, because his wrath was poured out upon Jesus. Romans 5 says, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God” (8). No longer are we separated from God, for Jesus has achieved “peace with God” and is our “reconciler” (Rom 5:1, 10). No longer do you owe God anything: God has “[canceled] the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross” (Col 2:14). You have been bought back out of sin by the blood of Christ: “you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Pet 1:18–19). Are there consequences for your sin? You bet there are—but they have been placed on Jesus as He hung dying on the cross. The grace we receive from God is not cheap—it cost Jesus His life. Three of Jesus’s words from the cross encapsulate all of this. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). His prayer was answered: you are forgiven. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt 27:46). He was forsaken instead of you. God the Father allowed Jesus to die, that you would be brought closer to Him. Finally, “It is finished” (John 19:30). The most striking of the words of the cross, it tells us that all has been accomplished. Jesus took upon himself the consequences of your sins and the just reaction of God to them. You are not guilty because Jesus was pronounced the guiltiest man in His Father’s eyes. “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction,” Newton says. “Yes,” said Jesus, “For every sinful action of man, I will pay the equal and opposite reaction of God’s wrath.” So he did, and it is now finished. Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen. 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Good Friday – April 18^th, 2025

Trinity Ev. Lutheran Church, Block, Kansas

Rev. Joshua Woelmer

Text: St. John’s Passion

“It Is Finished”

Theme: Jesus took upon himself the consequences for our sins and the sin of the world.

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Newton’s Third Law of Motion states that “for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” This is what allows rocket ships to blast off into outer space. By releasing the force of combustion downwards, the rocket goes up. When you walk or jump, you are pushing off against the ground in one direction so your body can go in the other. A bird’s wings push air down so that the air can push the bird up. An explosion pushes a bullet out of a gun, so there is recoil into your hand or shoulder.

This is important for the study of physics, but that general principle applies in many areas of life. It could also be described as cause and effect. We recognize this on a gut level. If someone is mean to you, you may be tempted to retaliate against them. If someone is nice to you, you may be more willing to give them what they want. This is certainly found in the Bible. It’s called the Golden Rule. Jesus says, “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them” (Matt 7:12). Even the pagan religions recognize this. They may call it karma or fate, but the underlying principle is the same. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Another way of putting it is that actions and ideas have consequences. We ignore this to our peril. This is part of wisdom, especially earthly wisdom. We must learn from our mistakes and the mistakes of others. A father who has gone bankrupt will hopefully teach his children how to avoid going bankrupt themselves. My parents pointed out the bad decisions of some of my friends and told me not to be like them. I thought it was unfair at the time, but some of their messages sank in.

Sometimes it can seem like there are no consequences for your actions. Imagine a boy who touches a live electric fence but doesn’t get shocked. He may think that it’s not live, that there’s no electricity flowing through it. He doesn’t realize that his rubber boots are insulating him from the effect. As soon as he touches the wire with both hands, well, then he feels the effect.

As Christians, we ought to have a healthy understanding of our human nature as being thoroughly tainted by sin. It’s not just that we make mistakes from time to time, but that we often desire what we shouldn’t, we do what we shouldn’t, and we think what we shouldn’t. Sin reaches to the depths of who we are. Romans 3:23 reminds us: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The whole chapter of Romans 3 is a litany of reminders that no one is righteous, no not one. We are all sinners. Sin also has consequences. We can readily see these consequences when they directly affect other people. Relationships are hurt, angers flare, and damage is done.

However, earthly punishments are not the only consequences of our sin. Adam and Eve learned the hard way—yes, they would be punished with pain and death. A punishment even worse than these things was separation from God. No longer would they be in perfect communion with God. We are sundered from God by our sin. There is a separation between us that we cannot bridge.

It is worse than that: Romans 8 says, “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God,” (7) and Romans 5 says that we in our sin are “enemies” of God (10). Furthermore, God is angry over sin. Romans 1 says, “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth” (18). What are the consequences of sin? Wrath of God, hostility, separation, debt, punishment, and much more.

These things do not just “go away.” We do not believe in cheap grace, as if God just wiped the slate clean without payment for our sins.

Rather, all of these consequences for our sin were placed on Jesus. By dying on the cross, he suffered the consequences of our sin. This is what it means when we say that he died “for our sake” or “in our place.” This is what Isaiah 53 means when he prophesies, “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed” (4–5). Jesus obeyed His Father’s will and died instead of you. He suffered alienation from God so that you would have union with God again.

Jesus therefore has accomplished the opposite of all our punishments by his cross. No longer is God wrathful for you, because his wrath was poured out upon Jesus. Romans 5 says, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God” (8). No longer are we separated from God, for Jesus has achieved “peace with God” and is our “reconciler” (Rom 5:1, 10). No longer do you owe God anything: God has “[canceled] the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross” (Col 2:14). You have been bought back out of sin by the blood of Christ: “you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Pet 1:18–19).

Are there consequences for your sin? You bet there are—but they have been placed on Jesus as He hung dying on the cross. The grace we receive from God is not cheap—it cost Jesus His life. Three of Jesus’s words from the cross encapsulate all of this. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). His prayer was answered: you are forgiven. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt 27:46). He was forsaken instead of you. God the Father allowed Jesus to die, that you would be brought closer to Him. Finally, “It is finished” (John 19:30). The most striking of the words of the cross, it tells us that all has been accomplished. Jesus took upon himself the consequences of your sins and the just reaction of God to them. You are not guilty because Jesus was pronounced the guiltiest man in His Father’s eyes. “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction,” Newton says. “Yes,” said Jesus, “For every sinful action of man, I will pay the equal and opposite reaction of God’s wrath.” So he did, and it is now finished.

Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.

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