Good Friday

Light 4 Candles (or 1)

In the spirit of Tenebrae, light 4 candles at the beginning of this service. At the conclusion of each section, extinguish one candle. This increasing darkness symbolizes the approaching darkness of Jesus' death and of hopelessness in the world without God.

If you only have one candle, light it at the beginning and extinguish it after the final section.

Light your own candle(s) now.

The Arrest of Jesus and Peter's Denial

John 18:1-27

Throughout the story of Christ’s Passion, the participants say and do things which have meanings and results they did not intend. The story has irony in that things are not as they appear to be. Caiaphas counsels that it is expedient that one man, Jesus, die to save the people. It is better that Jesus be sacrificed rather than have the Romans kill the people in reaction to a possible uprising. Ironically, Jesus reaches the same conclusion as Caiaphas: it is better that he die to save the people. Of course, they have different motives. Caiaphas acts to maintain his power. Jesus acts to give his love.

Another irony is Jesus’ arrest in the garden. Jesus asks the soldiers whom they seek. They seek Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus responds, “I am he.” That phrase, “I am he,” calls to mind God’s response to Moses at the burning bush. “What is [your] name?” God answers, “I am who I am” (Exodus 3:14). Both Jesus and God identify themselves with the same answer, “I am.” The soldiers seek what they think is a troublemaker, but who they find is God. Is it God whom they have been seeking all along?

Jesus Before Pilate

John 18:28 –19:12

At the interrogation of Jesus, Pilate asks, “What is truth?”. Then he walks away without waiting for an answer. The irony is that the Truth is standing in front of him, and he doesn’t see it. Kind of like not seeing the forest for the trees. Jesus had said that he was the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Pilate certainly doesn’t see Jesus as the Truth. Truth for Pilate was probably whatever worked, whatever helped him achieve what we wanted. For Pilate, if “truth” was whatever was effective in maintaining power and control, then lies could be just as effective, if not more so, in accomplishing his aims. The truth didn’t matter to him.

Truth for Jesus was not a bunch of sentences or a proposition. It was not something to be cynically manipulated. Truth was living a life of love, sacrifice, empathy, compassion and joy. Truth was the way one lived in relationship to God and people. Truth was incarnational. One embodied Truth.

When Jesus says that his kingdom is not of this world, he means that it is about living lives in truth and as truth. His kingdom does not have the values of Pilate. Instead it is being truthful to the purpose for which God created us, to love God and neighbor. Those who get this hear Jesus’ voice.

Jesus is Crucified

John 19:13-37

One of the problems with the accounts of the trial and crucifixion of Jesus, particularly in John’s Gospel, is the treatment of the Jews. Throughout history it has been so easy to blame it all on the Jews and think that we are innocent. That is the benefit of scapegoating. “They are the problem, not us.” We can dump all our faults, our sins, and society’s evil on an outside group. Those in power never scapegoat themselves. Probably no group scapegoats itself. It is always somebody else. It is the immigrants, women, blacks, millennials, Chinese, Republicans, gays, Democrats, Romans, Jews, transgender persons, straights, whites, men, capitalists, socialists, or any combination thereof.

The irony in the crucifixion is that Jesus was willing to be a scapegoat so that no one else would be scapegoated anymore. Jesus died so that scapegoating would end, and people could live as one. Instead his life and death have become a reason to scapegoat those unlike us. People scapegoat in the name of Jesus.

When the Gospel of John repeatedly refers to the “Jews,” it is best to read it as “authorities.” Rather than scapegoat the death of Jesus on Jews, it would be better for us to focus on our complicity in harm done to what Jesus died to save – the world, the poor, the hungry, the lonely, the outsider, those like us, and those unlike us. What is so killing to Jesus is not the nails and the spear but having so much love to give and so few to receive it.

The Burial

John 19:38-42

In John’s Gospel it is Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus who take the dead body of Jesus and bury it. We know Nicodemus from his nighttime conversation with Jesus about being born again. Joseph was a member of the council who did not consent to the killing of Jesus. Joseph was looking for the kingdom of God. It has been said that there is no such thing as secret discipleship. Either the discipleship will destroy the secrecy, or the secrecy will destroy the discipleship. Joseph and NIcodemus are no longer in secret; their discipleship has destroyed its secrecy. People know who they really follow by what they have done. On this night what they had kept in the darkness was brought to the light. Mark refers to it as courage. Their love of Jesus, their discipleship is now known. You can’t keep the light under a bushel. Joseph had found the kingdom of God for which he was looking,

Extinguish the Christ Candle

At the conclusion of the story, extinguish the final candle to represent the crucifixion of Christ.

Blow out your candle, and remain in a moment of silence to ponder the impact of Christ's death and await the coming Resurrection.

Special Music – Were You There

Were You There--arr. Andrew Willis