Good Friday
1 March 2008
THEME AND SUGGESTED SERMON TITLE: MYSTERY AND
MERCY IN SUFFERING
LECTIONARY TEXTS
Psalm 22; John 18: 1-19; 42
Psalm 22
1My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from
helping me, from the words of my groaning? 2O my God, I cry by
day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest. 3Yet you are
holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. 4In you our ancestors trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them. 5To you they cried, and were
saved; in you they trusted, and were not put to shame.
6But I am a worm, and not human; scorned by others, and despised by
the people. 7All who see me mock at me; they make mouths at me,
they shake their heads; 8“Commit your cause to the LORD; let
God deliver— let the Holy One rescue the one in whom she
delights!”
9Yet it was you who took me from the womb; you kept me safe on my
mother’s breast. 10On you I was cast from my birth, and
since my mother bore me you have been my God. 11Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near and there is no one to help. 12Many bulls encircle
me, strong bulls of Bashan surround me; 13they open wide their mouths at
me, like a ravening and roaring lion.
14I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my
heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; 15my mouth is dried up
like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust
of death. 16For dogs are all around me; a company of evildoers
encircles me. My hands and feet have shriveled; 17I can count all my
bones. They stare and gloat over me; 18they divide my clothes among
themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.
19But you, O LORD, do not be far away! O my Help, come quickly
to my aid! 20Deliver my soul from the sword, my life from the
power of the dog! 21Save me from the mouth of the lion! From the
horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me.
22I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters; in the midst
of the congregation I will praise you:
23You who fear the LORD, praise God! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify
God; stand in awe, all you offspring of Israel!
24For YAHWEH did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted
and did not hide that Holy Countenance from me, but heard when I cried
out. 25From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows
I will pay before those who fear God.
26The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek shall praise
the LORD. May your hearts live forever! 27All the ends of the
earth shall remember and turn to the LORD; and all the families of the
nations shall worship. 28For dominion belongs to the LORD, who
rules over the nations. 29To YAHWEH, indeed, shall all who sleep
in the earth bow down; before the Holy One shall bow all who go down to
the dust, and I shall live for God.
30Posterity will serve this One; future generations will be told
about the One who saves, 31and proclaim God’s deliverance to a
people yet unborn, saying that God has done it.
John 18:1 - 19:42
After Jesus had spoken these words, Jesus went out with his
disciples across the Kidron valley to a place where there was a garden,
which he and his disciples entered. 2Now Judas, who betrayed him, also
knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples. 3So
Judas brought a detachment of soldiers together with police from the
chief priests and the Pharisees, and they came there with lanterns and
torches and weapons. 4Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him,
came forward and asked them, ‘For whom are you looking?’
5They answered, ‘Jesus of Nazareth.’* Jesus replied,
‘I am he.’* Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.
6When Jesus* said to them, ‘I am he’,* they stepped back and
fell to the ground. 7Again he asked them, ‘For whom are you
looking?’ And they said, ‘Jesus of Nazareth.’* 8Jesus
answered, ‘I told you that I am he.* So if you are looking for me,
let these men go.’ 9This was to fulfill the word that he had
spoken, ‘I did not lose a single one of those whom you gave
me.’ 10Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high
priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear. The slave’s name
was Malchus. 11Jesus said to Peter, ‘Put your sword back into its
sheath. Am I not to drink the cup that God has given me?’
12 So the soldiers, their officer, and the Jewish police arrested
Jesus and bound him. 13First they took him to Annas, who was the
father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. 14Caiaphas was the
one who had advised the Jews that it was better to have one person die
for the people.
15 Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Since that
disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the
courtyard of the high priest, 16but Peter was standing outside at the
gate. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out,
spoke to the woman who guarded the gate, and brought Peter in. 17The
woman said to Peter, ‘You are not also one of this man’s
disciples, are you?’ He said, ‘I am not.’ 18Now the
slaves and the police had made a charcoal fire because it was cold, and
they were standing round it and warming themselves. Peter also was
standing with them and warming himself.
19 Then the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and
about his teaching. 20Jesus answered, ‘I have spoken openly to the
world; I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all
the Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. 21 Why do you ask
me? Ask those who heard what I said to them; they know what I
said.’ 22When he had said this, one of the police standing nearby
struck Jesus on the face, saying, ‘Is that how you answer the high
priest?’ 23Jesus answered, ‘If I have spoken wrongly,
testify to the wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike
me?’ 24Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.
25 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They asked him,
‘You are not also one of his disciples, are you?’ He denied
it and said, ‘I am not.’ 26One of the slaves of the high
priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked,
‘Did I not see you in the garden with him?’ 27Again Peter
denied it, and at that moment the cock crowed.
28 Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate’s
headquarters. It was early in the morning. They themselves did not
enter the headquarters, so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able
to eat the Passover. 29So Pilate went out to them and said, ‘What
accusation do you bring against this man?’ 30They answered,
‘If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him
over to you.’ 31Pilate said to them, ‘Take him yourselves
and judge him according to your law.’ The Jews replied, ‘We
are not permitted to put anyone to death.’ 32(This was to fulfill
what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to
die.)
33 Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and
asked him, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ 34Jesus answered,
‘Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about
me?’ 35Pilate replied, ‘I am not a Jew, am I? Your own
nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you
done?’ 36Jesus answered, ‘My realm is not from this world.
If my realm were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep
me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my realm is not
from here.’ 37Pilate asked him, ‘So you are a king?’
Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this I was born,
and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone
who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’ 38Pilate asked him,
‘What is truth?’
After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them,
‘I find no case against him. 39But you have a custom that I
release someone for you at the Passover. Do you want me to release for
you the King of the Jews?’ 40They shouted in reply, ‘Not
this man, but Barabbas!’ Now Barabbas was a bandit.
19Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2And the soldiers wove
a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a
purple robe. 3They kept coming up to him, saying, ‘Hail, King of
the Jews!’ and striking him on the face. 4Pilate went out again
and said to them, ‘Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you
know that I find no case against him.’ 5So Jesus came out, wearing
the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them,
‘Here is the man!’ 6When the chief priests and the police
saw him, they shouted, ‘Crucify him! Crucify him!’ Pilate
said to them, ‘Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case
against him.’ 7The Jews answered him, ‘We have a law, and
according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the
Son of God.’
8 Now when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever. 9He
entered his headquarters again and asked Jesus, ‘Where are you
from?’ But Jesus gave him no answer. 10Pilate therefore said to
him, ‘Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I have
power to release you, and power to crucify you?’ 11Jesus answered
him, ‘You would have no power over me unless it had been given you
from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a
greater sin.’ 12From then on Pilate tried to release him, but the
Jews cried out, ‘If you release this man, you are no friend of the
emperor. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the
emperor.’
13 When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat on
the judge’s bench at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in
Hebrew Gabbatha. 14Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover;
and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, ‘Here is your
King!’ 15They cried out, ‘Away with him! Away with him!
Crucify him!’ Pilate asked them, ‘Shall I crucify your
King?’ The chief priests answered, ‘We have no king but the
emperor.’ 16Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.
So they took Jesus; 17and carrying the cross by himself, he went out
to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called
Golgotha. 18There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on
either side, with Jesus between them. 19Pilate also had an inscription
written and put on the cross. It read, ‘Jesus of Nazareth, the
King of the Jews.’ 20Many of the Jews read this inscription,
because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it
was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. 21Then the chief priests
of the Jews said to Pilate, ‘Do not write, “The King of the
Jews”, but, “This man said, I am King of the
Jews.”’ 22Pilate answered, ‘What I have written I have
written.’ 23When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his
clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They
also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from
the top. 24So they said to one another, ‘Let us not tear it, but
cast lots for it to see who will get it.’ This was to fulfill what
the scripture says, ‘They divided my clothes among themselves, and
for my clothing they cast lots.’ 25And that is what the soldiers
did.
Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his
mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
26When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing
beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your
son.’ 27Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your
mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own
home.
28 After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in
order to fulfill the scripture), ‘I am thirsty.’ 29A jar
full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the
wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. 30When Jesus had
received the wine, he said, ‘It is finished.’ Then he bowed
his head and gave up his spirit.
31 Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the
bodies left on the cross during the Sabbath, especially because that
Sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the
legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. 32Then the
soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had
been crucified with him. 33But when they came to Jesus and saw that he
was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34Instead, one of the
soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came
out. 35(He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His
testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.) 36These things
occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, ‘None of his
bones shall be broken.’ 37And again another passage of scripture
says, ‘They will look on the one whom they have
pierced.’
38 After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of
Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate
to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so
he came and removed his body. 39Nicodemus, who had at first come to
Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes,
weighing about a hundred pounds. 40They took the body of Jesus and
wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial
custom of the Jews. 41Now there was a garden in the place where he was
crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had
ever been laid. 42And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation,
and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
A CALL TO WORSHIP
ONE
When death is all around us, and our vision of life begins to
perish
Lord have mercy upon us.
When suffering consumes our passion, and our hope of healing
fades into the shadows
Christ have mercy upon us.
When our securities have all been quenched,
and our tomorrows have turned into yesterdays
Lord have mercy upon us.
ALL
God of mystery and mercy
Grant us new life with you
as we seek you in the face of suffering during this time of grief.
Amen.
A CONTEMPORARY LESSON
Freedom Via the Cross from Cry Justiceby Alvert Luthuli
Reprinted in Torch in the Night: Worship Resources from South Africa
– Ann Hope, ed.
© Cincinnati, Ohio: Friendship Press (NCCCUSA), 1988, p.
38.
[These are the concluding paragraphs from Chief Albert
Luthuli’s statement after he was dismissed from his position as
chief by the South African government in November 1952. Chief
Luthuli, a deacon in the Congregational Church at Groutville, Natal and
a Nobel Peace Prize winner, was leader of the African national Congress
when it was banned in 1961.] He speaks of suffering with
Christ:
As for myself, with a full sense of responsibility and clear
conviction, I decided to remain in the struggle for extending…
rights and responsibilities to all sections of the South African
community. I have embraced the Non-Violent Passive Resistance technique
in fighting for freedom because I am convinced it is the only
non-revolutionary, legitimate and human way that could be used by people
denied, as we are, effective… means to further aspirations.
The wisdom or foolishness of this decision I place in the hands of the
Almighty.
What the future has in store for me I do not know. It might be
ridicule, imprisonment, concentration camp, flogging, banishment and
even death. I only pray to the Almighty to strengthen my resolve so that
none of these grim possibilities may deter me from striving….
It is inevitable that in working for Freedom some individuals and
some families must take the lead and suffer: the Road to Freedom is via
the Cross.
MUSIC
Hymns:
Alas! And Did my Savior Bleed
#s199 and 200 in the NCH
Ah! Holy Jesus
#218 in the NCH
O Sacred Head, Now Wounded
#226 in the NCH
Were You There?
#229 in the NCH
Choir:
When Jesus Wept, William Billings
Four-part round. NCH 192 or Pepper 1440536.
A CONFESSION
We confess, O God, that we seek your blessing and most often reject
your way of suffering.
Indeed, we confess that we even interpret blessing as a sign of your
will, and suffering as indication that we have strayed from your path.
Restore the economy of your realm in us.
Lead us in the paths of justice and rightness – and may any
suffering that follows teach us your ways.
We confess that we shrink from suffering to the neglect of the path
of justice. May the Mystery of Christ’s way compel us and the
Mercy of Christ’s love call us again to the
way of the cross. Amen.
MEDIA SUGGESTIONS
Scenes from the Passion of the Christ:
The Last Supper scene
The scene where Jesus meets Our Lady who has a flash back to helping him
as a child when he fell. Try this without the sound track and with
Cavatina (the sound track to the Deer Hunter film) playing in the
background.
A mix of the scene leading up to Jesus' death, Our Lady and St John
standing and watching, the piercing with the lance and the panoramic
views that Gibson has, ending with a tear from Heaven dropping.
Again, use this without the soundtrack and substitute Behold the Lamb of
God from Handel's Messiah.
PLEASE NOTE: Parts of this film could be inappropriately
graphic for use in worship; please edit judiciously.
Download Entire Lent 2008
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Worship Resource Document
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Group Study Document
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Devotion Booklet
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