Good Friday Group Sermon: Creation's Response

Good Friday Group Sermon: “Creation’s Response”

Good Morning! 

I will be reading from Matt 27:45-56 verses.

45. From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 

46. And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice “Eli, Eli, sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have your forsaken me?”

47. When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “This man is calling for Elijah.”

48. At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink.

49. But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.”

50. Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. 

51. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.  The earth shook, and the rocks were split. 

52. The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. 

54. Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, “Truly this man was the Son of God”.



Call:  This is the word of God

Response:  For the people of God.



Jesus is dead!



Let us contemplate for a few moments on the idea of “Creation’s Response”!



In the Gospel of John, we find what can be an awesome eulogy for Jesus.  John says…



John Chapter 1:1-18 Message Bible – The Life – Light

The Word was first, the Word present to God, God present to the Word.  The Word was God, in readiness for God from day one.

Everything was created through him; nothing -not one thing! – came into being without him.  What came into existence was Life, and the Life was Light to live by.  The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn’t put it out.

There once was a man, his name John, sent by God to point out the way to the Life-Light.  He came to show everyone where to look, who to believe in. John was not himself the Light; he was there to show the way to the Light.

The Life-Light was the real thing:

Every person entering Life he brings into Light.

He was in the world, the world was there through him, and yet the world didn’t even notice.

He came to his own people, but they didn’t want him.

But whoever did want him, who believed he was who he claimed and would do what he said, He made to be their true selves, their child-of God selves.

These are the God-begotten, not blood-begotten, not flesh-begotten, not sex-begotten.

The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.  We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish.

John pointed him out and called, “This is the One! The One I told you was coming after me but in fact, was ahead of me.  He has always been ahead of me, has always had the first word.”

We all live off his generous bounty, gift after gift after gift. 

We got the basics from Moses, and then the exuberant giving and receiving, This endless knowing and understanding – all this came through Jesus, the Messiah.

No one has ever seen God, not so much as a glimpse.

This one-of-a-kind God-Expression, who exists at the very heart of the Father, has made him plain as day.



But we opps!  We, I mean they... killed him.



And as he died – the sun refused to shine

At his death the earth shook, the rocks split, and the earth expelled it dead.

What an amazing spectacle!

That to which he had given life recognized and responded to his death.

Even the centurions who hours earlier were lashing Jesus with a cat and nine tails, ripping the skin and flesh from his bones, stripping his clothes off, mocking and teasing him, and forcing a crown of thrones on his head had to stop and take notice.

Creation had spoken in response to Jesus’ death.

The centurions were terrified by Creation’s response and in turn, their response was “Truly this man was the son of God!”

What will your response be?