In the name of Christ Jesus, dear gatherers at the foot of the cross:

"Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God" (Romans 11:33)!  What goes through your mind when you hear those words?  Where could you go to plumb the depths of God’s wisdom?  Where can the Christian find an inexhaustible treasury of knowledge?  In God’s holy Word.  And you wouldn’t have to search very long to find something of great value.

God’s wisdom is evident already in the first book of the Bible.  Remember the way Joseph addressed his brothers in Genesis.  Joseph’s brothers plotted to murder him.  They were the same ones who sold him into slavery only to discover years later that Joseph had become second in command to Pharaoh in Egypt.

Joseph said to them: "Don’t be afraid.  Am I in the place of God?  You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives" (Genesis 50:19,20).  Despite the evil intentions of his brothers, despite the way they had mistreated him in the past, God used Joseph to save their lives.  But even more importantly, God worked through the events of Joseph’s life to preserve the Jewish race and, within that race, the line of the Savior.

God’s wisdom is also clearly visible in the New Testament, especially in the life of Jesus.   Consider the prophecy of Caiaphas in John’s gospel.  Caiaphas was the high priest who presided over Jesus’ trial.  When the Sanhedrin argued about what ought to be done with Jesus, Caiaphas spoke up: "You know nothing at all!  You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish."  John adds this commentary.  "He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one" (John 11:49-52).

There is nothing more awe-inspiring than the wisdom of God!   Our Lord is able to use anything or anyone to accomplish what he desires.  But the most amazing display of God’s wisdom, the most awesome display of his love, involved the death of his Son.  The crucifixion of Jesus was the result of months of evil plotting and scheming.  In the end Jesus’ enemies go exactly what they wanted, but they were not the only ones.

Somehow, some way, God turned the terrible events of Holy Week, the hatred, the lying, the cold-blooded murder, into good.  On this solemn day, the day Christians call Good Friday, we revisit Mt. Calvary and marvel at the wisdom of God.  And one more time we reflect on the wondrous love of Jesus…

I.   Jesus was put to death against God’s will

II.    Jesus was put to death in accordance with God’s will

An angry mob watched as Jesus was nailed to the cross.  The tragic scene must have shattered the hopes of Jesus’ faithful followers, the people who knew that he was innocent, the people who knew who he really was.  Even though Jesus’ case had been brought before four different men—before Annas, before Caiaphas, before Herod, and before Pilate— not a single piece of evidence was produced to support a conviction.

The Jewish leaders weren’t really interested in justice anyway.  Hatred and jealousy, these were the forces that motivated them to arrest Jesus.  When Jesus died a slow death before their eyes,  when we might have expected at least a little compassion, the fire of their hatred burned hotter than ever.  They mocked Jesus’ claims to be the Son of God.  They scoffed at the idea that he could rebuild the temple in three days.  They challenged the so-called "king" to come down from the cross and save himself.

The events that ultimately led Jesus to the cross were the result of sin.  Everything Jesus’ enemies did, everything they said, could be traced back to their sinful motives.  Sinners caught in Satan’s snares were acting out their sinful desires.  The darkened skies were matched only by the darkness of sin in their hearts.  Every evil thought, every false accusation, every nail driven into his body—all of these things were contrary to God’s will.

On Good Friday, Satan and sinful men were united.  They reveled together in their victory.  What had they accomplished?  Listen to the words of Peter.  After the fact, he told the people of Jerusalem: "You handed him [Jesus] over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go.  You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.  You killed the author of life" (Acts 3:13-15).  God’s chosen people had chosen to defy God.  They killed Jesus.  They murdered the author of life.  God held them responsible for this terrible sin because they acted against God’s will.

"The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23).  The words of Paul in Romans could not be clearer.  People die because people sin.  If there were no sin in the world, there would be no death in the world.  It is easy to apply these words to ourselves, but how do we apply them to Jesus?  Jesus was perfect.  Jesus never sinned, but sin did lead him to his death.

Good Friday had to happen because of our sin.  It was necessary for Jesus to suffer and die at the hands of sinful men because we have defied God’s will.  It was never God’s intention for anyone to die, much less God’s one and only Son, but our sin hastened his death.  Our rebellion brought his condemnation.  Our defiance put God’s guilty verdict squarely on his shoulders.

What sinful men did to Jesus on Good Friday — what every sinner did to Jesus on Good Friday — was done against God’s will.  The evil deeds of our hands, the evil words from our mouths, the evil desires in our hearts, all of these sins caused Jesus to be nailed to the cross.  Jesus was put to death against God’s will, because sin was the cause of his death.

Here we are faced with one of the great paradoxes of the Christian faith.  Jesus was put to death against the will of God.  At the same time, God worked through these sinful actions to accomplish our salvation.  On Good Friday Jesus was put to death in accordance with God’s will.

When we talk about God’s will in connection with Holy Week, we are reminded of Jesus’ own words in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Jesus prayed specifically: "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.  Yet not as I will, but as you will" (Matthew 26:39).  Remember also the prophetic words of Isaiah, who lived 700 years before Jesus and wrote by inspiration: "Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand" (Isaiah 53:10).

When God created the world, death was not a part of his original plan.  In fact, God doesn’t want anyone to die.  God doesn’t want a single soul to become the object of eternal damnation.  And yet we are confronted with the clear Word of God.  It was God’s will for Jesus to suffer and die, to bear our sin, and to suffer the pains of hell itself.

God did not look with favor on the actions of Jesus’ enemies, but on Good Friday God’s will was still done.  It was God’s will to deliver sinners from damnation. It was God’s will for all people be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.  It was God’s will for us to live with him forever in heaven.

In order to accomplish this, God’s Son had to become what God despised most.  Jesus became sin for us.  Jesus redeemed us from the curse of God’s law by becoming a curse for us.  Jesus made himself the object of God’s hatred and scorn, everything that was contrary to God’s holy will, to save us.

Against God’s will, Jesus died in accordance with God’s will.  Does that sound like a contradiction?  Yes.  But for the Christian, it is just another example of God’s unapproachable wisdom.

No mere mortal could have devised such a plan for the salvation of the world.  In his divine wisdom, God designed the plan.  In his wondrous love, God carried out that plan on our behalf.  God sent his only Son to die in our place.  God sent his innocent Son to bear our sin.  God sent his perfect Son to rescue us from death.

When Jesus had suffered the pains of hell on the cross, he declared, "It is finished!" (John 19:30). Jesus accomplished everything for our salvation.  He paid our debt completely.  "When Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit" (Matthew 27:50).

Who heard that single solitary voice in the darkness?  Some Roman soldiers heard that cry.  As eyewitnesses of everything that had taken place, they could not help but confess: "Surely he was the Son of God" (Matthew 27:55)!  That cry pierced the hearts of the Jewish leaders, who knew deep down that this Jesus was no ordinary man.  That cry rang loud and clear in the very depths of hell, where Jesus went to proclaim his final victory over the Devil and his demons.  That cry resonated heard in the hearts of Jesus’ followers, whose sorrow turned to joy on Easter Sunday.  That cry reached up to heaven itself, where the Father exalted Jesus to his right hand as Prince and Savior.

Even in his dying breaths, even in the last words he spoke before he died, Jesus demonstrated that he had come to do God’s will.  He said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit" (23:46).  No one had taken Jesus’ life from him.  He gave it up willingly.  Jesus was born into the world for a single purpose, and he let nothing distract him from his mission.  Jesus came to save sinners.  On Good Friday, it was finished.

That’s what makes this Friday Good Friday.  On the cross we see the wondrous love of God displayed for all the world to see.  Jesus willingly took our place.  Jesus committed his spirit to the Father.  When he did so, he was also commending us to God.  Jesus’ final words assure us that death has no power over us.  The bonds of sin have been broken forever.

This is the paradox of Good Friday: Jesus, put to death against the will of God, accomplished the will of God by his death.  Ponder this miracle.  Ponder the wisdom of God.  Ponder the love of God.  What wondrous love this is!  Amen.