Good Friday Broadcast Sermon - Geoff Macann

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Good Friday Broadcast Sermon - Geoff Macann - 1965

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

We have been saved by an accident of time. We are living in 1965 A.D. and Christ was crucified in 29 A.D. There is a Negro Spiritual that has as its theme "Were you there when they crucified my Lord?" People may say don't be silly of course we weren't there when they crucified Jesus, this is the 20^th Century and Jesus was crucified in the 1^st.

Well: who was there when they crucified Him? Who was there on that 1^st Good Friday? Who was there when they crucified my Lord? Who was there to cry "Hosanna" and then in the next breath to cry "Crucify, Crucify" I'll tell you one who was there.

Stupidity was there; dull, blind, bigoted stupidity. Stupidity is always there when men reject that which is best and choose the worst.

It was stupidity that put the chains on Jeremiah and dropped him down the muddy well.
It was stupidity that burned John Huss and Joan of Arc at the stake and who assassinated Abraham Lincoln.
It was stupidity that gave power to Benito Mussolini and who made a man like Adolf Hitler the ruler of the German people

and it was stupidity supported by pride and prejudice and petty little convictions that blinded them to the truth and that caused men to crucify the fairest, noblest spirit that the world has ever known.

Yes! Stupidity was there, the blind selfish stupidity of men tied up in their own blind narrow ideas; stupidity is always at hand when people are being persecuted. And we will be lucky if our own complacent blindness and smugness of heart does not bring the same tragedy to our own day. Stupidity was certainly there.

Fear was there also, fear of the truth, fear of new ideas, fear of new ways, fear of change, fear of goodness that always breeds intolerance. Fear was there. Fear that fanned the flames of hatred, for men hate what they fear, and the measure of their hatred is the measure of their fear. Fear was there safely encased behind the Roman Law and strong arm methods, for fear knows no reason, its only method is force and violence. Fear does not dare to trust in anything else and because fear was there so was cruelty. For fear and cruelty and fear often go hand in hand.

Yes! Cruelty was there. Cruelty plaited a crown of thorns and crushed it down on his brow until the drops of blood ran in red streams down his face and then cruelty flung a purple robe round his shoulders and spat in his face and laughed with mad scorn and tried to break his spirit. There was cruelty in the crowd, there always is. Cruelty cried "Crucify Crucify" and drove nails into his blood-caked hands and feet. Cruelty was there which began with selfish carelessness and ended with malicious torture, which started with ridicule and ended with blows.

Cruelty was there sustained by so-called righteous indignation in the hearts of the rulers of the people, self-justification on the part of the rulers of the people and a mistaken sense of duty in the soldiers and love of spectacle in the crowd. But whatever the reason and the cause it was still cruelty heartless, cruelty of those determined to get their own way no matter what the cost to others. It is cruelty that maintains slavery and the drug traffic which causes wars and ruins women. Cruelty starves and kills for gain. Talk about the crucifixion being contemporary. At this very moment there are thousands of cruel men and women whose actions were there when they crucified my Lord.

Indifference was there too. The record says "The bystanders sat and watched him there." One more misguided enthusiast come to grief they would say. "Too bad! One more idealist banging his head against a wall. Pity it bad to happen. It's no business of mine, everyone must look after Number One, if I don't nobody else will." So life went on the same as ever, people prepared for the Passover, young men and women were married, people had parties, they played games and made business deals, they went for holidays and ate and slept and worked and laughed and swore and fought and lusted and all the time the young man hung on the Cross and his life's blood drained away and they went about their business and cared not whether he lived or died.

Yes! Indifference was there on the side of cruelty. The mistake that Jesus made in their eyes was that he wanted to change things for the better. Every man who wants to change things for the better has to face indifference and spiritual laziness and to pour out his hearts blood before men are stirred to action. Yes! Indifference was certainly there and still is. Have you ever heard the poem by G. A. Studdert-Kennedy called "Indifference".

Listen to this:

When Jesus came to Golgotha, they hanged Him on a tree,
They drove great nails through hands and feet, and made a Calvary;
They crowned Him with a crown of thorns, red were His wounds and deep,
For those were crude and cruel days, and human flesh was cheap.

When Jesus came to Birmingham, they simply passed Him by.
They would not hurt a hair of Him, they only let Him die;
For men had grown more tender, and they would not give Him pain,
They only just passed down the street, and left Him in the rain.

Still Jesus cried, 'Forgive them, for they know not what they do',
And still it rained the winter rain that drenched Him through and through;
The crowds went home and left the streets without a soul to see,
And Jesus crouched against a wall, and cried for Calvary.

Stupidity, Fear, Lust, Cruelty and Indifference were all there and all had a hand in nailing our Master to the Cross. But the picture was not all bad. There were others who there.

There was Hope hid in the heart of the brigand who hung beside him on the Cross, not much to hope for but a quick death you'd think. But no, he had hope: "Master remember me" he said.

Yes, hope was there and Dignity. Was Jesus the Victim or was he the Victor on the Cross at Calvary. He was in command throughout. It was he who led the way to the Cross. From the moment that he was arrested He was the master. As he stood before his judges Pilate, Caiaphas and Herod, it was they and not he who was on trial.

And Self-Sacrifice was there, counting it of no cost that his blood was spilled for us. A sacrifice that knew the issues of life: "That except a grain of wheat fall to the ground and die it abides alone but if it die it will bring forth much fruit". Here was a sacrifice born of love: "Greater love hath no man than this that he lay down his life for his friends". Yes! Sacrifice was there and love was too and forgiveness was with them "Father forgive them for they know not what they do" forgive their stupidity, their lust, their cruelty and their indifference.

Love was there strong enough to suffer cruelty and hatred without resentment. Love that held no malice. Who could have blamed him if in his pain and agony if he had cried out in rebellion at their beastliness and cursed them with a mighty curse, for the hard cruel selfish travesties of men that they were ... but he didn't. "Father forgive them" he said.

They were all there that day. Stupidity, fear, lust, cruelty and indifference on the one hand and hope and trust and dignity and self-sacrifice, love and forgiveness on the other.

And the question still stands "Were you there when they crucified my Lord?" and if you were: on which side did you stand?