Good Wood

Scriptures: Mark 15:16-23, Luke 23:32-34, John 19:28-37

Video Link: https://youtu.be/aLIuV-PCblo

Structure:

• Introduction
• Thorns
• Myrrh
• Cross
• Hyssop
• Spear
• Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Easter is almost upon us. Easter is the time when we remember Jesus’ death on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday. It seems strange to call the day Jesus died ‘good’, but it is right.

The Friday of Jesus’ death is good in the sense that it is a holy day. It is good for humanity, for it is through Jesus’ death that our sin is dealt with on the cross and we can be reconciled with God.

Today we continue our Testimony of Trees series by considering the trees of Good Friday. I couldn’t resist calling this sermon Good Wood.

Thorns:

Let us begin then with a reading from Mark 15. To set the scene, Jesus has just been condemned to death by Pilate. From Mark 15, verse 16 we read…   

¹⁶ The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. ¹⁷ They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. ¹⁸ And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” ¹⁹ Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. ²⁰ And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

We don’t know for certain what variety of tree the soldiers used to make a crown of thorns for Jesus. One of the leading contenders (according to tradition) is the garden plant Euphorbia Milii.

Euphorbia Milii can grow up to 1.8 meters tall, although sometimes it grows along the ground. It has beautiful flowers and spines up to 3 cm long. The sap of the Euphorbia Milii is moderately poisonous and can cause irritation on contact with eyes or skin, which would have added to Jesus’ suffering.

The Euphorbia Milii plant is good wood though. The World Health Organisation has recommended using extracts from Euphorbia Milii to control snail populations in African countries. This prevents the spread of a water borne parasite carried by the snails.

The charge against Jesus was insurrection. Jesus was accused of being the King of the Jews, which he is, only Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world. The soldiers made a crown of thorns for Jesus to wear as a way of mocking him. The crown of thorns was a parody of the laurel wreath Caesar wore.

Anger wears many different faces. Sometimes the face of physical violence. Sometimes the face of silent resentment. Sometimes the face of foul language and contempt. Other times the hidden face of deep sadness. Sarcasm and mockery is another face worn by anger. 

The soldiers mocked Jesus, spat on him and beat him. These are classic signs of anger. Jesus did nothing to deserve the brunt of the soldiers’ abuse, but he absorbed it anyway. What we notice here is the way Jesus responded to the soldiers’ anger, with meekness.

These days meekness carries the unfortunate connotation of being weak or timid. This is wrong. The meekness of Jesus combines strength with gentleness. To be meek is to bring one’s strength and power under control.

An elephant or a horse or an ox, that is obedient to its master, is meek. Not weak, but powerful and controlled.

At any point during his ordeal Jesus could have called down fire on those who were mocking and beating him, but he did not do this. Jesus took the soldiers’ abuse without retaliating. Christ did this in obedience to God the Father. That is meekness.

Does this mean we too should simply take it when others abuse us? Well, not necessarily. Jesus had three main strategies for dealing with abusive people. Often Jesus engaged the person in conversation using words and reason. There were other times though when he simply walked away. Jesus’ third strategy was to stand his ground and turn the other cheek.  

Jesus’ situation on Good Friday was special. God was asking Jesus to go to the cross to die. If Jesus hit back against the soldiers, he would be disobeying God and undermining the very purpose for which he came. Jesus chose to trust and obey God, even though that meant turning the other cheek and suffering rough treatment.

Let me be clear, if you are in an abusive relationship, then I don’t believe God would want you to stay and take it. Make a plan, get some support and get out. When the early church suffered persecution, the advice of the apostles was to flee; get away from it. In fact, the gospel spread to new places as Christians fled persecution. 

Myrrh:        

We continue Mark’s account of Jesus’ suffering, from verse 22: They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). ²³ Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 

Myrrh is the oil or resin that comes from the Myrrh tree (scientific name: Commiphora Myrrha). The Myrrh tree is good wood. At the time of Jesus, myrrh had a variety of uses including as a perfume, as incense and for medicinal purposes. Myrrh oil was used on the skin as an antiseptic and an anti-inflammatory.

Myrrh is harvested by cutting the trunk of the myrrh tree. Cutting the tree causes it to bleed out the myrrh sap. Before being crucified, Jesus was scourged. He was whipped until his back was cut open. As the Scripture says: By his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)

When myrrh is mixed with wine it has a narcotic effect. It acts as a pain killer.

In Roman times there was a group of women from Jerusalem who offered myrrh mixed with wine to those who were being crucified. They did this as an act of mercy to ease the suffering of the condemned. It was probably this group of women who offered Jesus the pain killer. But Jesus refused.

Does this mean we too should never take pain killers or anesthetic? No, it does not mean that. Good Friday was different. Jesus faced a number of temptations while on the cross and needed to have the presence of mind to resist those temptations. The myrrh mixed with wine would diminish Jesus’ mental fortitude and make him more vulnerable to temptation, which is why he refused it. 

If you are in pain and the doctor prescribes medication to manage the pain, then take the medication as prescribed. There is no shame or guilt in that.

Pain is incredibly draining. Pain killers enable your body to direct its energy to healing. Plus, they usually make you less grumpy and easier to live with.

By the same token, if you wrestle with addiction to drugs or alcohol, then Jesus’ refusal to take the wine laced with myrrh is an inspiration to stay strong and not give in to temptation. Jesus knows your struggle and stands in solidarity with you.

Cross:  

From Luke 23, verse 32 we continue the account of Jesus’ suffering…     

³² Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. ³³ When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. ³⁴ Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”    

No one knows what kind of tree was used to crucify Jesus. It could have been any kind of tree growing nearby, the Roman soldiers weren’t fussy. Whatever was strong enough to hold up the dead weight of a body.

There might have been more than one kind of tree involved. Historians tell us the condemned were forced to carry the horizontal cross beam to the execution site. Once there, the cross beam was slotted into a groove in the vertical part of the cross. It’s possible the cross beam was a different kind of wood to the upright pole.

The Catholic writer Eileen Duggan (who wrote mostly during the first half of the 20^th Century) has a poem called Irony. It goes like this…

Not hawk, not leopard is ironic. Believe me it needs mind to see the mortal wit of using kind on kind. Some poor fellow for a pittance made the cross-bar sure to hold another carpenter on it for the poor.

Eileen Duggan was observing the layers of cruel irony involved in Jesus’ death. A carpenter killed by wood, that is ironic.

None of the gospel writers describe the gory details of Jesus’ crucifixion.

Luke simply says, they crucified him there. The first century readers of the gospels did not need the technicalities of crucifixion explained to them. Most people would have witnessed crucifixion first hand and wished they could forget.

People were nailed to crosses, usually through their hands but sometimes also through their feet. The nails were not what killed the victim. The nails added to the pain while also preventing friends and family from rescuing the victim when no one was looking.

Crucifixion was usually a slow way to die. In some cases it could take days, although it was quicker than that for Jesus. The condemned were naked, so they suffered from exposure to the elements and dehydration.

Most crosses were low to the ground, leaving the person vulnerable to attack by wild animals. And, given the scourging that normally preceded crucifixion, I expect some died from sepsis. Most though would suffocate. Eventually it becomes impossible to breathe in that position.         

The Roman authorities crucified Jesus between two criminals and so the Scripture was fulfilled that Jesus was numbered among the transgressors. [1]

By accepting this kind of death Jesus was identifying with sinful humanity.

Even though Jesus is without sin, he does not stand aloof from us. Jesus stands in solidarity with humanity, especially those who suffer.

Jesus did not have much to say from the cross, which makes what he did say all the more potent: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”   

Forgiveness is about release, releasing others and releasing ourselves.

It’s about letting go of hurt and anger, guilt and shame. Choosing not to get even. Forgiveness is perhaps the greatest proof of love.

In 1936, just before the Spanish civil war, Ernest Hemingway wrote a short story called The Capital of the World. It’s about a Spanish father who longs to restore his relationship with his estranged son.

The father puts an advert in the local newspaper: Paco, meet me at Hotel Montana at noon, Tuesday. All is forgiven. When the father arrives, he finds 800 Pacos have responded to his ad, all looking for forgiveness.

Hemingway’s story speaks of the deep longing in every heart to have our guilt removed and our sins forgiven.    

When Jesus said, Father, forgive them, I believe he wasn’t just referring to the Roman soldiers who were crucifying him. He was speaking about all of us. Jesus’ words were like God’s advertisement to each one of us, all is forgiven. 

Some people think God was punishing Jesus on the cross for our sins. The problem with this idea is that it makes God seem smaller, more cruel, less just.  

It is more accurate to think of Jesus taking our sins upon himself, on the cross, in order to destroy sin and death. So, when Jesus was nailed to the cross, our sin (past, present and future) was nailed there with him. When Jesus died, our sin died with him.

This is hard for us to understand because, in this life, we still wrestle with sin. But in the life to come sin will have no power over us because of what Jesus did on the cross.

If we think of sin like a live grenade, about to explode, Jesus is the one who throws himself on the grenade. Jesus absorbs our sin to shield us from the blast. The person who throws themselves on the grenade is not being punished. They are sacrificing themselves that others may live.

Ultimately there is a mystery to what Jesus did on the cross. We cannot fully comprehend it. We only know that in order to receive the Father’s forgiveness, we must respond in faith and obedience to God’s offer of reconciliation in Christ.

As an instrument of torture, the cross is brutal. But as an instrument of forgiveness, the cross is good wood. Thorns, myrrh and the cross. What’s next?

A stalk of hyssop. From John 19, verse 28 we read…

Hyssop:

²⁸ Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” ²⁹ A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. ³⁰ When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

There’s nothing like blood loss to make you thirsty. Part of the torture of the cross was the feeling of unquenchable thirst.

The jar of wine vinegar was not the same as the myrrh laced wine that Jesus rejected earlier. Nor was it like vinegar as we know it today. One commentator describes the wine vinegar of Good Friday as the ancient equivalent of Gatorade or Powerade. It was a thirst-quenching drink used by soldiers and day labourers. [2]

Jesus says he is thirsty, because he was no doubt incredibly thirsty, but also because it fulfils Scripture. Probably Psalm 69 where the psalmist says he is parched (verse 3) and they gave him vinegar for his thirst (verse 21). But also, Psalm 22 where the psalmist says: My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth…     

From a practical point of view, Jesus’ mouth was dry and he needed to wet it before he could speak. It wasn’t feasible to pass Jesus a cup, so a sponge was soaked in the cheap wine, put on a stalk of hyssop and offered to Jesus.

Now strictly speaking hyssop is not a tree. It’s more of a garden herb or shrub but it is still good wood. Hyssop is a hardy drought tolerant plant with medicinal properties. It can be used to relieve ear ache, asthma and bloating. But that is not its main significance here at the cross.  

Hyssop was used in cleansing rituals, to restore those who were ceremonially unclean. Also, Moses instructed the Israelites to paint their door posts with the blood of the Passover lamb, using the branches of the hyssop plant. The blood of the lamb protected those in the house from the angel of death.  

The mention of the hyssop stalk at Jesus’ crucifixion suggests that Jesus is the Passover lamb whose blood cleanses us from sin and protects us from death.  

After Jesus had wet his mouth enough to speak, he cries out, ‘It is finished’. This is not the weak cry of resignation. This is a victory cry of accomplishment. Jesus has completed the work God gave him to do.  

Language experts tell us that the phrase about Jesus bowing his head has the same sense of resting his head, as if on a pillow. Jesus’ task is complete, now he can rest.

Notice how Jesus gives up his spirit. Death does not overpower Christ. Jesus is not afraid of death. Jesus in control here, offering his spirit back to God. We come from God. We return to God.

Thorns, myrrh, the cross and hyssop. All good wood of that first Good Friday. There’s one more piece of wood we need to consider. Can you guess what it is? From John 19, verse 31 we read…  

Spear:

³¹ Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. ³² The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. ³³ But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴ Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water… ³⁶ These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” ³⁷ and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”

Hidden in these verses is the Ash tree. When the soldiers came to break Jesus’ legs, they saw he was already dead and so they did not need to smash any of his bones to speed the process of dying. Instead, they pierced his side with a spear.

The Roman stabbing spear, known as the hasta, was usually made from the wood of the Ash tree, with a metal tip attached to the end of the shaft. Ash is a hard wood and therefore strong in battle.

There probably isn’t any theological significance in the Ash tree, but I mention the spear because it is good wood. The piercing of Jesus’ side is good for four reasons…

Firstly, it proves that Jesus is a real human being, with a physical body. He is not some phantom or apparition as the heresy of Docetism supposes.

Secondly, the piercing of Jesus’ side demonstrates that Jesus was properly dead. Knowing that Jesus was fully dead (and not just unconscious) is essential to believing in his resurrection.

Thirdly, blood and water represent life. The blood and water that flowed from Jesus’ side when he was pierced signify that Jesus’ death means life for us.

The piercing of Jesus’ side also fulfils Scripture, thus showing us yet again that all this happened according to God’s will.

Conclusion:

The thorns remind us that Jesus faced mockery with meekness.

The myrrh reminds us that Jesus handled temptation with a sober mind.

The cross reminds us that Jesus overcame hate with forgiveness

The hyssop reminds us that Jesus’ blood cleanses us from sin.   

The spear reminds us that Jesus’ suffering and death were real.

And the empty tomb reminds us that God raised Jesus from the dead.

Let us pray…

Thank you, Jesus, for throwing yourself on the grenade of our sin. May we not take your sacrifice for granted. Help us to walk humbly with you, in faith and obedience and the knowledge of your grace. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

1. What stands out for you in reading these Scriptures and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
2. Why do we call the day of Jesus’ death ‘Good Friday’?
3. Why did the soldiers put a crown of thorns on Jesus’ head? What three strategies did Jesus have for responding to abuse? When is the best time to use each strategy?
4. Why did Jesus refuse the wine laced with myrrh? When is it okay to use painkillers? 
5. Why did Jesus take our sin upon himself on the cross? What forgiveness do you long for? What is an appropriate response to forgiveness?
6. What is the significance of hyssop in the Bible? What does the use of hyssop at Jesus’ crucifixion suggest about the purpose of Jesus’ death?
7. Why is the piercing of Jesus’ side a good thing? What do we learn from this?    

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[1] Isaiah 53:12

[2] Refer Ben Witherington III, ‘The Gospel of Mark, page 399.