Sermon for Friday, April 3, 2026 || Good Friday || Isaiah 52:13–53:12; John 18:1–19:42

This year I decided to preach this short homily before the reading of the Passion Gospel because I would like to offer you something to reflect on while you listen. I invite you to listen for the virtues that Jesus displays during this heartwrenching story, and I invite you to reflect on what virtues you live by without which you would not be able to recognize yourself. Don’t worry if you didn’t take that in just then; I’ll repeat the invitation at the end.

As I read the Passion Gospel, I see the virtues of Jesus’ life on full display. I see his commitment to friendship when he bargains for his friends to be let go. I see his commitment to nonviolence when he tells Peter to put his sword away. I see Jesus’ desire for truth during his trial. I see his desire to open others’ minds to new ways of thinking in his conversation with Pontius Pilate. I see Jesus’ utter compulsion towards lifegiving relationships when he binds together his mother and the disciple whom he loves. I see his perseverance in holding onto his mission of solidarity with the oppressed as he draws his last breath on the cross.

And I see his beautiful and immeasurable love throughout the story, not least in the scene when the soldiers strike him. It seems that Pontius Pilate directs his soldiers to whip Jesus as a way to mollify Jesus’ accusers without actually killing him. But the soldiers take the punishment a step further. They not only whip Jesus; they mock him too. They shove a grotesque crown on his head. They dress him up in a royal color. Each one ridicules him with a derisive hail and then slaps Jesus in the face. Jesus’ silence during this part of the Passion is agonizing. His silence recalls the famous passage from the prophet Isaiah that we read earlier:

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth. (53:7)

In my mind’s eye, I see Jesus, the nonviolent savior, loving those who strike him – not because he has warm and tender feelings for them, but because his life is love and he will not let them take that away with their abuse. That’s the thing about Jesus’ challenging call to love our enemies. This love is not an emotion. This love is not the feeling of affection. This love is a state of being. It is an acknowledgment that when we choose to live a life of love, we cannot choose whom to love and whom not to love.

Jesus goes to the cross for the oppressed and for the oppressor. Jesus goes to the cross for whipped and the whipper, the struck and the striker. For both the victim and the perpetrator are caught up in the cycle of violence that only courageous and nonviolent love can overcome. This indefatigable love is the primary virtue that defines Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Without this love, we would not recognize Jesus.

And that brings me back to the question for you to ponder as you listen to the Passion Gospel. As we hear about the many virtues Jesus displays in this story, I wonder what virtue defines your life? Do you prize in yourself your integrity, your kindness, your curiosity, generosity, hospitality, gentleness, peacefulness, your sense of justice, your faith or hope or love? What virtue do you live by without which you would not be able to recognize yourself? In what ways are the suicidal machinery of the world challenging how you live out that virtue? And how does God help you maintain that virtue at the forefront of your sense of self? 

We will center ourselves with a brief hymn as we prepare to participate in the Passion Gospel. Be present with Christ during this reading and allow Christ to be present in this moment with you.

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Photo by Ismael Paramo on Unsplash.