Reflection & Practices
On the Friday before Easter Sunday, the Church commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus. As we contemplate the work that Jesus’ death does on the cross, let us also remember why he died, and at whose hands.
Jesus was thought to be the respective political, religious, or military savior that various Jewish groups yearned for while occupied by the Roman Empire. Nonetheless, Jesus was rejected and ultimately executed by these powerful establishments of his day — and even deserted by many of his followers and friends. Christ dies at the hands of Empire, aided by the fear, dehumanization, and top-down power structures that it breeds and reinforces. As Jesus gives up his power, thus choosing solidarity with the oppressed, disenfranchised, and vulnerable, we can see more clearly the Kingship of Christ: based on subversive, unconditional love and servanthood. Jesus’ Kingdom is about Life and hospitality for all, particularly the least among us.
And yet, Jesus’ death isn’t lost on us this week. It is easy to yearn for a political, religious, or economic messiah in our time of physical separation, when healthcare workers aren’t fully protected, families across the globe are struggling, black and brown communities are disproportionately impacted, and our most vulnerable fail to receive care (those in prison, those at “high-risk”, those reliant on the systems that have been majorly disrupted). And the list goes on.
In our own time of sorrow, anger, loneliness, and loss, Christ’s death on the cross hits deeply. This Good Friday, may we mourn and lament for the ways our world is broken, failing, corrupt. Let us confess that we (globally, nationally, personally) may be complicit — and look to the ways of God’s Kingdom for guidance. May we continue to pattern our discipleship after Jesus’ example: radical hospitality and unconditional love. Let us be re-membered as the Body of Christ, scattered as we are, as we take up our cross, are broken open, and come Sunday…find new life with Jesus.
Noon | Good Friday Music & Meditation +
This is a space for you on the Friday that is called Good because of Jesus’ deep love for us—a love stretched out for us on a cross.
Through Music, Scripture and Prayer we invite you to ponder and reflect upon the gift of life given to you through the death of Jesus.
This gathering will go live at noon but can be listened to at any point of the day, by yourself or with family on Facebook.
Good Friday Personal Meditation +
Alternatively, spend time with these Scriptures: Isaiah 53 | Psalm 22 | John 19: 16-30.
Pray:
Lord Christ, at times we are like strangers on the earth, taken aback by all the violence, the harsh oppositions. We remember the violence of the cross. And we remember your forgiveness, your command to love not only neighbors, but enemies. We remember that it is the peacemakers that will be blessed. Like a gentle breeze, you breathe upon us the Spirit of peace. Transfigure the deserts of our doubts, and so prepare us to be bearers of reconciliation wherever you place us, until the day when a hope of peace dawns in our world. Amen.
— Brother Roger of the Taizé Community, (adapted for Good Friday)
Meditate on the lyrics of "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross", by Isaac Watts:
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast
Save in the death of Christ, my God.
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.
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?
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small.
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that I, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord’s resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit. Amen. ✝
— Phyllis Tickle, The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime, p. 345
A picture of the steps leading from the high priest Caiphus’ house, from the Fall pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Jesus is said to have walked over these steps after his arrest and again on the way to his trial before Pilate.
May this blessing (and the shroud that we usually pass) follow you from the cross, to the tomb, to the resurrected life in your homes this weekend.
Song of the Winding Sheet
For Good Friday
blessed is the One
who laid
himself down,
blessed is the One
emptied for us,
blessed is the One
wearing the shroud.
Holy the waiting,
holy the grieving,
holy the shadows
and gathering night
Holy the darkness,
holy the hours,
holy the hope
turning toward light.
We never
would have wished it
to come to this,
yet we call
these moments holy
as we hold you.
Holy the tending,
holy the winding,
holy the leaving,
as in the living.
Holy the silence,
holy the stillness,
holy the turning
and returning to earth.
Blessed is the One
who came
in the name,
— Jan Richardson p. 143-4, Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons.