Good Friday Vespers, 2020
7 PM Central Daylight Time
The hymn tunes are linked to the hymn name.
The words are linked to the the hymn number,
using the new hymn blog.
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
Hymn # 172:1-5 O Sacred Head
The Order of Vespers p. 41
The Psalmody Psalm 22 p. 128
The Lections
Sermon Hymn #143 O Dearest Jesus
The Lections
Sermon Hymn #143 O Dearest Jesus
The Sermon –
The Foundational Sin
The Prayers
The Lord’s Prayer
The Collect for Grace p. 45
Hymn #153 Stricken Smitten
Prayers and Announcements
Hymn #153 Stricken Smitten
Prayers and Announcements
- Treatment and recovery - Rush Limbaugh, Kermit Way, Christina Jackson. Recovery - John Hicks.
- In the last stage of cancer and heart disease - Tom Fulcher, Diane Popp's brother-in-law.
- Diagnosis and treatment - Randy Anderson, Andrea's father.
- Someone's brother has health issues.
- Pray for our country as the major trials continue. And help all those suffering from economic difficulties.
- Good Friday Vespers, 7 PM
- Easter Sunday Holy Communion, 10 AM
Psalm 22 KJV
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
2 O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.
3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
4 Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.
5 They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.
6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
8 He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
9 But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.
10 I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly.
11 Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.
12 Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
13 They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.
18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.
19 But be not thou far from me, O Lord: O my strength, haste thee to help me.
20 Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.
21 Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.
22 I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.
23 Ye that fear the Lord, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.
24 For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.
25 My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.
26 The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.
27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.
28 For the kingdom is the Lord's: and he is the governor among the nations.
29 All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.
30 A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.
31 They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this. 
Isaiah 52 KJV
Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. 14 As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: 15 So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: forthat which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.
53:1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? 2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Background for the Gospel Sermon, John 16
Tonight we are going to emphasize the basic and central message of Luther's Biblical teaching, which is no different from the Apostle Paul's teaching.
The reason this is often missed - Spirit and Word are almost interchangeable in the Bible. They are not the same, but they always work together, so that references to the Spirit always include the Word, and references to the Word always include the divine energy of the Spirit. The highly respected (but completely neglected) Adolph Hoenecke wrote, "The Spirit never without the Word, the Word never without the Spirit. That is sound doctrine." (Hoenecke, Dogmatics)
The central passage is simple in wording, difficult to understand at first, then drops down like lightning bolts in a vast thunderstorm. I drove through one where 10,000 lightning bolts were counted, and the roads flooded. I could not get home the normal way, from Tucson to Phoenix. Loved it.
John 16 8 And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because they believe not on Me; 10 Of righteousness, because I go to My Father, and ye see Me no more; 11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
This is the central message of the Bible - sin is not believing in the Savior. To show how true this is, those who do not believe remain in a constant stage of rage, discomfort, denial, and studied indifference.
The scandal of the cross is the scandal in the modern sense of the term. The scandal in those days was the trigger on the trap, and the trap was meant to kill enemies or animals. So the entire enterprise of modern theology, influencing all the seminaries (especially Fuller, Trinity Divinity, and the Ivy Leagues) is denial of the cross, and what it means - forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life.
The Foundational Sin
John 16 8 And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because they believe not on Me; 10 Of righteousness, because I go to My Father, and ye see Me no more; 11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
I do not want to go into great detail about this, but modern theology, stemming largely from Halle University Pietism, holds the Bible at a distance and treats Jesus the Son of God at arm's length, willing to accept few things, but never the central tenets of the Christian faith:
- His Virgin Birth, thus the Incarnation;
- The Trinity;
- His miracles;
- His death having any particular meaning;
- His Resurrection and Ascension.
I know this from Notre Dame, especially from the future Catholic college president and his priest friend, who were disgusted that I definitely believed in the Virgin Birth and the Resurrection.
But we are almost as bad if we treat the foundational sin as carnal sin, coveting, etc - the Second Table. That does not mean they are not sins, because God commands what is good for us.
The problem is ignoring what Jesus said the foundational sin is.
The Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin - because they do believe on Me.
For active, worshiping Christians, this has a two-fold effect - to take this seriously as the foundation teaching of the Son of God.
One is that true, sincere belief in Christ means that we are certain that all our sins are taken away. There are many beautiful phrases in hymns and the Psalms that express this, but we have to think, feel, and act as if this is the reality - not just words.
Contrition is knowledge of our sins and sorrow for them. However, we are not given the job of punishing ourselves for those sins. Christ has substituted Himself for us. Punishing ourselves is the same and saying His atoning death was inadequate, that we must do more.
Oddly enough, that is the message of Romanism, which draws ignorant Lutheran clergy to its bosom. It is also the emphasis of many groups that prescribe certain emotions or experiences that prove something. One example is suffering until there is a "breakthrough of grace." The access to grace is not yelling and shouting, but faith in Christ.
We are not forgiven because we feel forgiven. Our feelings are based upon the absolute knowledge of what Christ suffered for us. Emotions vary like weather and the shape of the moon - only less reliable and more volatile. What gives us peace is the knowledge proclaimed in the Word as the truth for all ages. He died and rose for us.
As Luther taught, we should look at the suffering of Christ as our sins nailed to the cross, not as anything else.
Then to show the efficacy of forgiveness, we make an effort to leave behind the error of clinging to the past (re-injuring ourselves, as some might say). Where we are weak, God will strengthen us, and help us maintain a healthy pattern, though being sin-free will never happen. A Christian life is full of contrition and absolution. The alternative is all around us, when the true faith is neglected, even hated.
Knowing the complete action of daily forgiveness through faith in Christ, we reflect that grace in having a gracious attitude toward others.
5 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
5 δικαιωθεντες ουν εκ πιστεως ειρηνην εχομεν προς τον θεον δια του κυριου ημων ιησου χριστου
2 δι ου και την προσαγωγην εσχηκαμεν τη πιστει εις την χαριν ταυτην εν η εστηκαμεν και καυχωμεθα επ ελπιδι της δοξης του θεου
4318 prosagōgḗ (from 4314 /prós, "with, towards" and 71 /ágō, "come") – properly, come towards (near); have access (approach), with intimate (face-to-face) interaction (note the prefix pros). All three occasions of 4318 /prosagōgḗ ("interactive access") refer to "having audience (direct access) with God" (J. B. Lightfoot, MM).
So we can see that the Spirit teaches through Paul that we have something are better than an audience with the ambassador, pope, or President. We have an audience with our gracious Savior, through faith. And how can that happen without a change in us?
Jesus said, in many ways, that believers have the wisdom and knowledge that all the great kings and wise men sought in the past. That drew the Wise Men to Bethlehem and the Roman soldiers to Christ. Was it only idle curiosity and a need for healing that drove the Roman officer to Christ? No, he believed in the Savior and in the efficacy of the Word - only say the Word and my servant will be healed.
In the same way, the word of absolution following our confession of sin brings instant healing. Faith is the access, the audience with God's grace in Jesus.
13. Thirteenthly. Then cast your sins from yourself upon Christ, believe with a festive spirit that your sins are his wounds and sufferings, that he carries them and makes satisfaction for them, as Isaiah 53:6 says: “Jehovah hath laid on him the iniquity of us all;” and St. Peter in his first Epistle 1 Peter 2:24: “Who his own self bare our sins in his body upon the tree” of the cross; and St. Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:21: “Him who knew no sin was made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” Upon these and like passages you must rely with all your weight, and so much the more the harder your conscience martyrs you. For if you do not take this course, but miss the opportunity of stilling your heart, then you will never secure peace, and must yet finally despair in doubt. For if we deal with our sins in our conscience and let them continue within us and be cherished in our hearts, they become much too strong for us to manage and they will live forever. But when we see that they are laid on Christ and he has triumphed over them by his resurrection and we fearlessly believe it, then they are dead and have become as nothing. For upon Christ they cannot rest, there they are swallowed up by his resurrection, and you see now no wound, no pain, in him, that is, no sign of sin. Thus St. Paul speaks in Romans 4:25, that he was delivered up for our trespasses and was raised for our justification; that is, in his sufferings he made known our sins and also crucified them; but by his resurrection he makes us righteous and free from all sin, even if we believe the same differently.
