Good Friday – Pr. Anderson sermon
St. John 1:29, ELH 331 v. 10 “To Stand in Joy Beside Thee”
April 3, 2026 | Christ Lutheran Church
In Nomine Iesu
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When soldiers go off to war, they are trained to be able to depend on one another for any situation they may be in. With the thought of being able to stand shoulder to shoulder with someone, this gives you a sense of security in what you are doing. Sports teams also look for this kind of comradery. Of course, we can apply this to our congregation as well. It makes the work easier if we are able to stand shoulder to shoulder with one another out in the world. What makes it special for us when we stand shoulder to shoulder is because of the One who stands with us. More importantly, He stands for us. To stand for us, we must look upon Him as the One who stood alone. Even though He had His mother, and His disciples, in the end when it all mattered, He followed the will of His Father and it was willed for even the Father to turn away. Today, one stands alone, And when Thy glory I shall see And taste Thy kingdom’s pleasure, Thy blood my royal robe shall be, My joy beyond all measure. In the midst of worldly troubles, the complete weight of sin, and the turning of the Father’s head, the lamb stands tall and alone for our joy. The very pain of hell suffered for us and through this one act, with His strength given to us in His blood, we will stand in joy beside Thee.
This is the only way anyone in this world can stand. It is also the only way we can stand with joy. Our minds are tempted into despair around every corner. The treasure of heaven seems out of reach and without faith is a true statement. It is out of reach without payment and the payment is something we can never make. Even in regulation, we see just how hard it is. Lambs were sacrificed every year at Passover and sacrifices were done every day in the Old Testament to point to the Lamb whom God would provide to take away the sin of the world. This image was to be painted for years to come. “Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household….Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old” (Exodus 12:3, 5a).
This is the next great visual for the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob of what their salvation would look like. As God continues to evolve Genesis 3:15, giving more beautiful information about the promised seed, this was something they could hold on to. The lamb means blood will be shed, He will be without blemish, sinless, used for substitution and redemption, and sins are completely taken away. This is all good news because it is the “good news,” and it is this news that is easily forgotten and rejected. With all of the sacrifices, these great images of God’s grace to forgive, the people forgot what goes into the sacrifice. They forgot that with the sacrifice and more important than the sacrifice, is the heart confessing the sins that it is asking God to forgive. No matter what time period we look at, whether deep in the Old Testament, in the New Testament with Jesus, or now, the Lord makes known He wants us to recognize what we have done and He is merciful.
He wanted to save us, He really did. He painted an even greater image with the lamb having two purposes. After taking one for sacrifice, Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness (Leviticus 16:21-22). He painted an image of His love forgetting our sins. He gives us all of these images because He knows how hard it is for us to hang on to them. He knows how easy it is to take our sins and just cling to them like our survival in this life depends on it. We are told this constantly by the devil, the world, and our own sinful nature.
For many today, people will ask the question why? We know the answer to this question. The Garden of Eden has told us why. Our very actions today have told us why. No matter how much good we may think we can accomplish in our lives, it will never be enough. God always provides the backdoor to sin and no will power in the world will stop us from jumping headlong into it instead. On our own all we can do is see a picture of us staring at the immense weight of our sins that should be on us and all we can do say “this picture isn’t pretty.” Today isn’t pretty, because we see what all of our sins look like and what is deserved because of them. While the world stands together with sin, its redemption is a lamb walked over to the slaughter alone. And Jesus publicly declared how lonely of a road it would be at His baptism. The Son of God in time, assumed the office and engaged in the removing of the sins of the world. For most of this ministry we can forget it because He suffered in silence. Today is not silent. Today, the crowd gathers to scream for His death, see Him whipped, beaten, scourged, cursed, and slaughtered.
Pilate would shout, “Behold the man!” We know this is more than a mere man being punished for something He didn’t do. Our only hope is to see a picture of something more. On this day it would have been hard to go back to the riverbank to hear, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” It would have been difficult to see all of Jesus’ ministry, to see the bearing and taking away being a continuous labor. A physical and spiritual labor the Lamb went uncomplaining forth to do. Uncomplaining and all alone. And all the people could do is stare up at the cross and a hymn that sits in your ears is, “What Wondrous Love is this, O my soul, O my soul!” This is why today is “good.” It is very good because this cross does not have the people on it. The people aren’t experiencing the pains of hell.
And because John’s cry is to Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, you don’t see yourself on the cross either! In the trembling of today, you do find its joy. You find the most precious treasure in the world and it is not gold or silver, but the precious body and blood of your God taking away your sins. There is not one sin that you have committed or will commit that isn’t hanging on the tree being taken away. The power and love of God is on full display as the Lamb reveals what He is capable of suffering. In the power and protection of forgiveness you can sing, Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” (Revelation 5:12) This is a cry adadfor all to be called to. It rallies the world to the cross where all hope of life is found. The death of your Savior is not the end. Your eyes are on Him and the answer you hear given to the thief you also can sing, When I appear before Thy throne, Thy righteousness shall be my crown, With these I need not hide me. A gracious and merciful substitution, a crown of thorns for the crown of His righteousness, the righteousness you do not need to hide from.
With the Lamb slaughtered, you cry John’s cry with the Agnus Dei. “O Christ, Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.” And mercy in the sign of the cross is what you see and hope in as stated by Martin Luther, “Sin has but two places where it may be, either it may be with you, so that it lies upon your neck, or upon Christ, the Lamb of God. If now it lies upon your neck, you are lost.” If, however, it lies upon Christ, you are free and will be saved. To stand in joy beside Thee. Amen.
We Pray:
And when Thy glory I shall see
And taste Thy kingdom’s pleasure,
Thy blood my royal robe shall be,
My joy beyond all measure;
When I appear before Thy throne,
Thy righteousness shall be my crown,
With these I need not hide me.
And there, in garments richly wrought
As Thine own bride, I shall be brought
To stand in joy beside Thee.
(Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary #331 v. 10)
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