GOOD FRIDAY, Messiah.

This might easily be the most unusual Good Friday you and I have experienced. I hope next year will be more “normal” but right now, who knows what normal is going to be. We live in “unusual” times

Speaking of unusual, the Church has always insisted that what God did on Good Friday was something that had never been done before or since. That’s about as “unusual” as anything can be. God used Jesus’ suffering and death on the Cross to do a very good thing. That is why Christians call this day “good” rather than bad or terrible Friday. Jesus proved that God would rather die than to stop loving his children. Jesus himself said that no one can love more than to die for another. Jesus – God – died for us on Good Friday. Even God cannot love more than that!

Good Friday worship is not about feeling sorry for Jesus. Neither is it about feeling guilty for the death of Christ. I feel that this is what many think Good Friday is about. Yes, what happened to Jesus on Good Friday was terrible. Yes, I fall short of the glory of God and need to be saved from my Sin. But, if I limit Good Friday to what I think or feel, then I make Good Friday about myself and not about Jesus. What is so important to remember that this day is about Jesus and how he went to the cross because he wanted to. No force on earth (or heaven or hell for that matter) could have kept Jesus on that cross if Jesus wanted to come down. “He saved others, let him save himself, if he is the Son of God” the crowd mocked. He could have saved himself. Instead, he chose to remain on the cross to save “others”. Thank you, Jesus, for saving us!

So, today is a time to Worship Jesus. Just because we cannot Worship tonight in the usual way does not mean we cannot give thanks and praise to God. This Worship tonight, for lack of a better name to call it, is the Home Version of Stations of the Cross.

Usually, when we do the Stations of the Cross, we would walk from one station to another to see the crucifixion story and to experience the Via Dolorosa of Jesus as he carried his cross from Pilate to his burial in the Tomb. If you want to walk about your house and/or yard and create stations while following the service, I encourage you to do that. If you have a Smart Phone you could follow the service and walk around your home. If you are not able or comfortable doing that, my hope is you can still “walk” with Jesus from one station to another using the pictures, scripture, music and prayers of the service while sitting at your computer. If you open the Word attachment of this service rather than use the emailed version, the stations are on separate pages so it might feel like you are moving from one station to another as you turn the pages.

If you own some kind of cross jewelry, I ask you to wear it. If you have a cross in your home, I ask you to have it with you as you Worship. Take time to let the pictures speak to you.

I invite you now to Worship God tonight

In the name of the Father And of the Son, And of the Holy Spirit. AMEN!

Stations of the Cross

First Station: Luke 23:13-25 13 Pilate then called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people, 14 and said to them, "You brought me this man as one who was perverting the people; and here I have examined him in your presence and have not found this man guilty of any of your charges against him. 15 Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us. Indeed, he has done nothing to deserve death. 16 I will therefore have him flogged and release him."* 18 Then they all shouted out together, "Away with this fellow! Release Barabbas for us!" 19 (This was a man who had been put in prison for an insurrection that had taken place in the city, and for murder.) 20 Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again; 21 but they kept shouting, "Crucify, crucify him!" 22 A third time he said to them, "Why, what evil has he done? I have found in him no ground for the sentence of death; I will therefore have him flogged and then release him." 23 But they kept urgently demanding with loud shouts that he should be crucified; and their voices prevailed. 24 So Pilate gave his verdict that their demand should be granted. 25 He released the man they asked for, the one who had been put in prison for insurrection and murder, and he handed Jesus over as they wished.

In the Gospel of John, Pilate asks Jesus, “What is truth?” When Pilate comes to understand it, he says that Jesus does not deserve to die… then turns Jesus over to be crucified. Pray for justice and truth before you move to the next station.

Second Station: John 19:16-17a 16 Then Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus; 17 and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmVrP-G3rAw Hymn 336 “Lamb of God” by Twila Paris

Third Station: Isaiah 53:4-5

Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.

Please pray out loud:

Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we thank you for your goodness for us and all that you have made. We praise you for your creation, for keeping us and all things in your care and for all the blessings of life. Above all, we bless you for your immeasurable love in redeeming the world by our Lord Jesus Christ. Fill us with such an awareness of your mercies that with thankful hearts we praise you, not only with our lips but in our lives, giving ourselves to you in service to others. In Jesus holy name we pray. AMEN.

Fourth Station: Luke 23:26 26 As they led him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country, and they laid the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5Akz6J8Rw0 God so loved the world by St. John’s Choir

Fifth Station: Luke 23:27-31

27 A great number of the people followed him, and among them were women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him. 28 But Jesus turned to them and said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the days are surely coming when they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.' 30 Then they will begin to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us'; and to the hills, 'Cover us.' 31 For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?"

Please pray out loud

Our Father, who art in heaven. Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come; Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our Sin as we forgive those who Sin against us. Lead us not into temptation. Deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory Forever and ever. AMEN.

Sixth Station: John 19:23-24 23 When 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. 24 So 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."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30Xgpw1f-fw “Beneath the Cross of Jesus”

Seventh Station: Mark 15:22-25 22 Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). 23 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take. 25 It was nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified him.

Please speak out loud:

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. AMEN.

Eighth Station: John 19:30-37 30 When 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. 32 Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, 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.) 36 These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, "None of his bones shall be broken." 37 And again another passage of scripture says, "They will look on the one whom they have pierced."

Before moving to the next station, think about why was it important that even in death Jesus was fulfilling scripture?

Ninth Station: Mark 15:42-46

42 When evening had come, and since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Then Pilate wondered if he were already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he had been dead for some time. 45 When he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the body to Joseph. 46 Then Joseph bought a linen cloth, and taking down the body, wrapped it in the linen cloth, and laid it in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock. He then rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgkVTtT-0xg “O Sacred head Now Wounded”

Tenth Station: John 19:41-42 41 Now 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. 42 And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

As you listen to this final song, pray for those who are suffering this night from any cause, but especially the coronavirus. And let the music give you a few minutes of peace.

You have been died for. Thanks be to God! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT7_IZPHHb0 Moonlight Sonata