Rev. David Holwick COMMUNITY GOOD FRIDAY SERVICE
First Baptist Church Succasunna Presbyterian Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
April 17, 1992
Genesis 22:1-11
BUT WHERE IS THE LAMB?
I. The significance of Good Friday.
A. Far less popular than Christmas.
1) No special sales, popular songs, parties.
2) Church services are lightly attended.
B. But spiritually there is no comparison.
1) Good Friday is the focal point of God's plan.
2) Without Good Friday, there would be no Easter, no hope.
C. Good Friday has a morbid air to it.
1) It deals with desertion and despair, betrayal and death.
2) We don't want to confront these issues, but they are
vitally important for us.
II. Good Friday deals with helplessness.
A. It's foundation goes back 4,000 years ago, to the sacrifice of
Isaac by Abraham.
B. Most of us put ourselves in the position of power.
"Hanoi Hilton" movie.
Major Fischer (composite of actual prisoners?) had been
imprisoned since his helicopter malfunctioned just over DMZ.
At Christmas dinner, winter of 1969, he was asked to give a
sermonette to the other men.
He told them:
"When I was young, at religious school, I remember a great deal
was made of Abraham and Isaac...
How God ordered Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, his only son, his
beloved child.
Abraham stood with a knife in his hand and wrestled within
himself to decide whether to believe, trust God, or to
deny him.
And I suppose that most of us identified with Abraham, wondering
how we would use free choice if THAT was us.
Well, since I've been in here I've had time to think about
Isaac.
Helpless, tied up on an altar, an audience to what might become
his own death.
#2040
III. Many people feel helpless today.
A. Reasons for this feeling:
1) Deadly illness.
a) Pray for healing, go to doctors, horrible treatments.
b) Sometimes nothing gets better.
2) Family problems.
a) Loveless marriage: what can you do to make someone
care for you? Little.
b) Divorce: Fault is never totally one-sided, but usually
one person is the leaver and the other is the left.
c) Children: Do your best, but it often seems a roll of
the dice.
3) Lousy economy. Man laid off for sixteen months.
a) Now he wishes he had taken that job in Pennsylvania.
4) Paul and Romans 8:36 - we feel like lambs for the slaughter.
B. Being helpless goes against our strong, independent natures.
1) We value heroic overcomers.
a) Deitrich Bonhoeffer scoffed at Christians who appeal to
our helplessness - modern people don't feel helpless.
2) But sometimes no amount of your own strength can save you.
a) Bonhoeffer reconsider inside prison?
IV. Jesus was in the ultimate helpless situation.
A. The events of the week went steadily downhill.
1) In Gethsemane - take suffering away, but your will be done.
a) Suffering wasn't taken away.
2) He submitted to a kangaroo court.
3) He was nailed to a cross.
B. Jesus chose to be helpless.
1) Even his birth was a decision to step down from the Godhead.
a) On cross, Jesus could have called legions of angels.
b) He chose to be a victim, for our sakes.
2) Human sacrifice is never commanded in the Old Testament.
a) It is absolutely condemned.
b) For Isaac, a ram was substituted.
c) On the cross, God substituted himself.
V. The cross was a victory in disguise.
A. The disciples did not recognize this till Easter Sunday.
1) But the victory was gained on the cross.
2) Because on the cross we gained access to God's grace.
B. No matter what happens to us in this life, we can be conquerors.
1) In "Hanoi Hilton," Major Fischer came to this realization.
Two of his men were caught trying to escape.
As commanding officer, Fischer was sentenced to death.
As he waited for his execution, he tapped out on the wall:
"None of the men here are ordinary.
They are the bravest of the brave, people who go on even
when deserted by friends and countrymen.
What they carry inside them is the spirit that makes all
human beings unique, makes them heroic."
[Only the death of Ho Chi Minh cancelled his execution.]
2) Everyone can claim victory in Jesus.
Gideon Alan Pirrello was doing a Scripture distribution at a
nursing home on March 14, 1992.
He asked the director what the age ranges were, and was told
the residents were from 23 to 100 years old.
Alan was curious as to why a 23 year old would be in a
nursing home and asked to see him.
His name was Ronato.
Seven years previously, at age 16, Ronato had been hit by a
truck and had been in a deep coma ever since.
Pirrello read him some Scripture and told the unresponsive
body about the love of Jesus Christ for him.
In faith Alan asked Ronato to receive Jesus as his Savior.
Everyone was stunned when tears began to roll down his
cheeks.
The nurses said they had never seen him cry for any reason.
#2027
VI. Whether strong or weak, we need to place our trust in Jesus.
A. He sympathizes with us in our weakness and can help. Heb. 4:15
B. Even better, he forgives our sins and reconciles us to God.
1) No one is strong enough to wipe out their own sins.
2) Only Jesus can do this.
C. Just as it worked out for Isaac, God will work it out for us.
