GOOD FRIDAY
This most somber of all days is appropriately marked by fasting, abstinence, and penitence, leading us to focus on Jesus and the meaning of his Cross.
Some churches do not use musical instruments or bells on this day. The church is often darkened. The bare, stark appearance of the church serves as a reminder of the solemnity and the sorrow of the day.
The Lord of Life was rejected, mocked, scourged, and then put to death on the Cross. The faithful are reminded of the role which their own sin played in this suffering and agony, as Christ took all sin upon himself, in obedience to his Father’s will.
By the Cross we are redeemed, set free from bondage to sin and death. The Cross is a sign of God’s never-ending love for us. It is a sign of life, in the midst of death.
Introduction
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned every one to his own way,
And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, we beseech you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the Cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
PSALM 22
A Reading from Psalm 22.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me,
And are so far from my cry, and from the words of my complaint?
O my God, I cry in the daytime, but you do not hear;
In the night season also, but I find no rest.
But you remain holy,
Enthroned upon the praises of Israel.
Our fathers hoped in you;
They trusted in you, and you delivered them.
They called upon you, and were delivered;
They put their trust in you, and were not confounded.
But as for me, I am a worm, and no man,
Scorned by all, and the outcast of the people.
All those who see me laugh me to scorn;
They curl their lips, and shake their heads, saying,
“He trusted in God, that he would deliver him;
Let him deliver him, if he will have him.”
But you are he that took me out of my mother’s womb;
You were my hope, when I was yet upon my mother’s breasts.
I have been cast upon you ever since I was born;
You are my God, even from my mother’s womb.
O go not far from me, for trouble is near at hand,
And there is none to help me.
Many oxen have come around me;
Fat bulls of Bashan close me in on every side.
They gape at me with their mouths,
Like a ravening and a roaring lion.
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint;
My heart also in the midst of my body is like melting wax.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaves to my gums,
And you bring me into the dust of death.
For many dogs have come about me,
And the council of the wicked lays siege against me.
They pierced my hands and my feet; I can count all my bones;
They stand staring and looking upon me.
They part my garments among them,
And casts lots for my clothing.
But be not far from me, O Lord.
You are my succor; hasten to help me.
Deliver my soul from the sword,
My life from the power of the dog.
Save me from the lion’s mouth,
And my soul in misery from among the horns of wild oxen.
I will declare your Name to my brethren;
In the midst of the congregation I will praise you.
O praise the Lord, you that fear him;
Magnify him, all you seed of Jacob, and fear him, all you seed of Israel.
For he has not despised nor abhorred the low estate of the poor;
He has not hidden his face from him, but when he called unto him, he heard him.
My praise is of you in the great congregation;
My vows will I perform in the sight of those who fear him.
The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek after the Lord shall praise him; may your hearts live for ever.
All the ends of the world shall remember, and be turned unto the Lord,
And all the families of the nations shall worship before him.
For the kingdom is the Lord’s,
And he is the Governor among the peoples.
All those who sleep in the earth, how shall they worship him?
All those who go down into the dust, how shall they kneel before him?
But my life shall be preserved in his sight, and my children shall worship him;
They shall tell of the Lord to the generations to come;
And to a people yet unborn shall they declare his righteousness,
That he has brought it to pass.
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God.
LUKE 23:24-31 (ESV)
A Reading from Luke, Chapter 23, verses 24 to 31.
So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivered Jesus over to their will.
And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Meditation
Hymn – Were You there?
Sung by Annie & Renaud
Verse 1
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
O sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Verse 2
Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree?
Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree?
O sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble
Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree?
Verse 3
Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?
Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?
O sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble
Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?
Verse 4
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
O sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
CONCLUDING PRAYER
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, we pray you to set your passion, Cross, and death between your judgment and our souls, now and in the hour of our death. Give mercy and grace to the living; peace and rest to the dead; to your holy Church unity and concord; and to us sinners everlasting life and glory; for with the Father and the Holy Spirit you live and reign, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
