Homily for Good Friday on John 18
Pastor Uri Brito
People of God, the gospel of St. John is a story of betrayal, mockery and innocence. This is made clear as we analyze the events preceding the death of our Messiah. In chapter 18, Judas betrays our Lord with a kiss. Psalm 2 says to” kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. ” But the prophetic tone of the Psalter is one of submission. We are to kiss the Son out of submission. Judas kisses the Son out of rebellion. Instead of appeasing the Lord’s anger, Judas now takes the first step in bringing the judgment of God upon this world through God’s crucified Son. The cross condemns unbelief and it saves those in the light. Our lives are to be lived in utter submission to our crucified Lord and we kiss the Son not in betrayal, but in utter submission to our King.
In John 18, there is yet another denial. It is the well-known denial of Peter. Peter denies our Lord three times. The Jews in chapter 19 also deny the Lord three times. And finally, if we consider the gospel of St. Mark chapter 15, we see that there is a three-fold mockery of our Lord at the cross. This three-fold mockery and denial reveal the fullness of the sufferings of our Lord. Now the religious leaders of the day deny our Lord because they are in utter rebellion with the true God of Israel. Peter denies our Lord because the sufferings accompanied with following Messiah are too much for him to bear. If our great King is to bear the cross, then the people of the King are to bear that cross as well. Peter understood that truth and it was too much for him to bear. We know that this denial of Peter was not what characterized his life; rather Peter’s life was ultimately an example of true crucifixion as he bore the cross of Christ until his martyrdom. Peter’s life in many ways is the life of the church. Peter’s life is the life of infant Christianity. But Christianity cannot live in infancy. It must carry its cross until the end. It must press on to maturity. Brothers and sisters, this is also a reflection of our lives. We too have denied our Lord, if not in word, certainly in deed. We have at times taken the easier route, rather than the crucified route. We have looked out for our own interests, rather than the interest of others. We have loved ourselves; we have served ourselves first, rather than serving our families. We have preferred the bounty of this world’s goods first, rather than the simple bread of life. Our crucified Lord tells us to live as I have lived and then you will be raised as I will be raised. Continue reading “Good Friday Homily; Mockery and Denial: The Sufferings of Christ”