Sermon Text: Galatians 3:10-13
Date: April 18, 2025
Event: Good Friday, Year C
Galatians 3:10-13 (EHV)
In fact, those who rely on the works of the law are under a curse. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the law.” 11Clearly no one is declared righteous before God by the law, because “The righteous will live by faith.” 12The law does not say “by faith.” Instead it says, “The one who does these things will live by them.”
13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. As it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.”
Jesus’ Curse Is Our Redemption
Tonight’s service is difficult. It is challenging to try to find a balanced tone within ourselves. We are here to observe something tremendously sad—yet from which all of our hope and joy flow. So, how do we hold both the sadness of Jesus’ death and the comfort that this death paid for our sins? How do we balance the sadness that Jesus suffered hell on the cross and the blessing that he did so for us, so we will never face it? We can try to finesse it, but the reality is there is no “correct” tone for tonight. Sadness and joy sit beside each other tonight as the Son of God gives up his life.
But the best way to honor what is happening here is to understand it, appreciate it, and even proclaim it. In many ways, the apostle Paul is doing that in our Second Reading for this evening. He sets Jesus’ curse alongside our redemption and allows both to exist. He invites his readers to sit with that tension; so shall we.
Understanding the context in which Paul is writing will help us understand his points. His letter to the Galatian Christians is probably one of (if not the) earliest of his letters recorded in the Scriptures. He’s writing to address a severe problem plaguing the churches in this region of modern-day Turkey.
These are the early days for the fledgling Christian church, maybe as few as 15-20 years after Jesus completed his work. The gospel is beginning to go out into the world as Jesus said it would. But, something else is accompanying it, something that is always a danger alongside God’s true teaching, which Jesus warned about: distorting error.
This early error was especially dire. People were coming to these brand-new Christian churches and wrapping their false teachings in a cloak of truth. It would essentially go something like this: “Yes, Jesus’ work for you is necessary. It is so important! But in order to benefit from that work, you need to keep the law God gave to Moses.” This group became almost obsessed with God’s command to circumcise males in the believer’s family, so they were often referred to as “the circumcision group.”
You can spot the problem with this teaching immediately, especially if you were here last night for our Maundy Thursday service. Last night, we drew comparisons between the old and new covenants. The old covenant referred to God's two-way agreement with Israel that he would bless them IF they kept his laws. And we know how that went… not well.
If we are unable to keep the law, what does tying Jesus’ forgiveness to obedience to that law do? It undermines the entire gospel. It sets up a false, misleading dream that God gave his law so that we could redeem ourselves from our sins and rescue ourselves from the punishment we deserve. The problem is that the law must be obeyed perfectly if it is going to be a blessing for us. And we haven’t done that. Our failure to be perfect is the reason we are here tonight; it’s also the reason Jesus is here.
Paul minces no words when addressing this false teaching that places obedience as a prerequisite for forgiveness. Do you think that you will be blessed by being circumcised or keeping any of the other laws that God commanded through Moses? Well, those who rely on the works of the law are under a curse. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the law.” About a year or two before Paul wrote this letter to the Galatians, James wrote in his New Testament letter, “Whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles in one point has become guilty of breaking all of it” (James 2:10). Nothing but flawless obedience to the law brings blessing. Hence, anyone relying on obedience to the law to earn good things from God accomplishes the opposite; that person is under a curse rather than blessed.
This helps to explain what was happening that dark, first Good Friday afternoon. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. As it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.” Jesus is taking the curse of the law into and on himself. This is such a sad scene, not because of Judas’ betrayal, the Sanhedrin’s unbelief, Pilate’s spinelessness, or even the cruelty of those who enjoyed looking at this suffering. No, this is such a sad scene because the only one who never deserved to be cursed by God is cursed by the law he had perfectly kept.
And why is this happening? We heard it in Isaiah earlier in our service, “It was the LORD’s will to crush him and allow him to suffer” (Isaiah 53:10). Notably, Isaiah is clear that this was the all-capital-letters LORD’s will to crush him. This is not the action of God’s anger or justice. The emphasis in this action to crush the Messiah and allow him to suffer comes from God’s love, mercy, and compassion. How? Because the LORD who willed this is the one nailed to that cross. There is no mistake here, no wrongful condemnation, no hiccup in God’s plan—this is and always was the plan. Elsewhere, Paul describes this scene this way: God made him, who did not know sin, to become sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him (1 Corinthians 5:21).
My brothers and sisters, what is this wondrous love? How can we even put this into words? It’s difficult, which is probably why even God uses so much variety in describing this rescue mission that is happening before us. That word that Paul uses, redeem, has this glorious picture of buying someone or something to put in back in its rightful place. This redemption is a ransom. The price is the blood—the very life—of the Son of God. Priceless, yet freely given.
We may leave here tonight feeling predominantly sad at what Jesus had to pay to rescue us. We may leave here tonight feeling predominantly grateful for our Savior's saving love and action. But let none of us leave here tonight feeling guilty over what our sins cost Jesus. Is it gruesome and horrific? Yes. Is it spiritual suffering the likes of which we cannot even process and will never see ourselves? Yes. But remember that you did not force Jesus’ hand. He didn’t have to do this; he chose to do this. So great is his love for you that he sought to rescue you from the depths of your sins, from the blackness of hell’s pit, to restore you and me as his brothers and sisters, children of our heavenly Father, the way we were originally created at the beginning. Toward the end of our service tonight, the choir will use the hymn writer’s words to summarize this well: See, from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow, and love flow mingled down. Did e’er such love and sorrow meet or thorns compose so rich a crown? (Christian Worship #407, s. 3).
May our pride or boasting, our despair or terror, disappear at the cross. May we see Jesus as the solution to our eternal problem, who did so willingly and lovingly. May we find in his love the strength and motivation to love others as we’ve been loved. May thankfulness motivate our obedience to him, not earning something from God but rejoicing in what we have already received. You live by faith, that God-given trust that Jesus has rescued you from sin. May that faith carry you through this dark night until the dawning of that glorious, victorious day that is just over the horizon. Amen.
