This is a repost of an article I published for Good Friday 2018 – it’s as applicable now as it was then. ANO
As one of my areas of interest is justice and injustice in a Christian context, it’s easy to get frustrated about the church’s inability to deal with clear violations of church teaching. Something I have to continually remember is that – even when the sun hides behind a cloud and the “bad guys” seem to get the upper hand – the foolishness of God is superior to the wisdom of man:
…God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being[d] might boast in the presence of God. 1 Corinthians 1:27-29
When a pastor is wrongfully mistreated and run out of a church, when the trust of members of a church are abused by so-called church leaders, when any of the myriad of things sinners do to each other in this vale of tears takes place, in the midst of our pain and sorrow we still know for a certainty that
…those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
Christ’s arrest, trial, conviction, and execution is a prime example of both these texts. What Christ endured on His way to the cross was one of the greatest miscarriages of justice the world would ever know. A Google search yields a number of references of the laws the Sanhedrin broke in rushing to a “guilty verdict” of a man who had never sinned. This page records no less than eighteen different breaches of law – any one of which should’ve rendered the trial null and void.
But that wasn’t the plan – it was the will of His Father that Christ would endure every 
indignity and plumb the depths of human injustice as He drank every last drop from the cup of God’s wrath. What makes this more incredible was that at any time Christ could have called legions of angels to His side and His Father would’ve answered immediately. He didn’t do that. Instead He accepted the task given to Him by His Father and walked every pain-filled step of a path no human who ever lived could walk and in so doing achieved what was humanly impossible – the redemption of all mankind from the eternal consequences of their sins and so make sport of all the powers of the world.
When Christ said “It is finished” he was stating the task He had been given by His Father was done and there nothing more to do. With that accomplished He gave up his spirit and died.
Though – as we all know – that’s not the end of the story…
….to be continued.
ANO / Lutheran Watch 