Your sins are Jesus' suffering and death. The commandments teach us plainly and simply to love God above all things. We don't. The commandments teach us plainly and simply to love others as ourselves. We don't. The commandments decree that the punishment for breaking them is the awful wrath of God. But there, on that cross, that suffering, that death, that's yours. But now it's His. Your sins. They're His.
Therefore Jesus' sentence is your “not guilty.” Christ who is innocent takes the place of a guilty man, Barabbas. You. Me. Christ is given the sentence of a guilty man. He is condemned. But His condemnation, the judgment and verdict of “death” is your “not guilty” from God. Because He has taken your place.
Jesus' nakedness is your covering. Those soldiers took those garments of Jesus. Sinful men received the clothing of Christ. On the cross, naked and covered in shame, Jesus, by His death as the Lamb of God, provides for you a robe of righteousness. A covering of perfection and holiness so that when you stand before the Father, you stand there dressed not in the filthy rags of a sinner but in the spotless and untorn robe of your Savior.
Jesus' leaving His mother behind is your adoption into His family. As St. John was commended into Mary's care, so you are given into the care of your mother, the church. By grace, you have been adopted by your heavenly Father, under the care of your spiritual mother, the church. Christ, who leaves behind His mother and is forsaken by the Father on the cross, suffers these things that you might no longer be an orphan because of sin but once again in the family of God, the Christian church.
Jesus' thirsting is your being refreshed. The one whose parched lips touch a sponge filled with vinegar in order to fulfill the Scriptures is the One who gives you the Holy Spirit, to well up in you as a fountain of living water, a fountain that means you'll never thirst but always have Christ's unfailing and refreshing forgiveness.
And finally, Jesus' death is your life. His “It is finished” is your promise that there is nothing you need to try to do to get right with God. It's done. His giving up His spirit at the moment of His choosing means that this is not some random act of violence; our Lord fulfilled the Father's will and died for you. And the blood and water flowing out of His side are your life. The life given in the water of the font and the life given in the blood of the cup. All that Jesus has suffered, all that Jesus has undergone, all that is BAD for Jesus—is GOOD for you. Happy GOOD Friday. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
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