Good morning.
Today is Friday,
April 2nd,
2021.
It is Good Friday in the Christian calendar.
Oh Lord,
Let my soul rise up to meet you as the day rises to meet the sun.
Glory to God,
The three in one,
Creator,
Redeemer,
And sustainer,
As it was in the beginning,
Is now,
And will be forever.
Amen.
Come,
Let us bow down and worship.
Let us kneel before the Lord,
Our maker.
Remind yourself that you are in God's presence.
Notice how God may be speaking to you today.
Let yourself dwell on a word or a phrase that catches your attention or moves your heart,
And let your heart respond to God in prayer.
Please repeat these words.
Open my ears,
Lord,
That I may hear your voice.
Our reading is from John chapter 19.
So they took Jesus carrying his own cross to what is called the place of the skull in Hebrew,
Golgotha.
There they crucified him,
Along with two others,
One on either side of Jesus.
Pilate wrote a notice and had it put on the cross.
It read,
Jesus of Nazareth,
The King of the Jews.
The notice in Hebrew,
Greek,
And Latin was read by many people because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city.
The chief priest said to Pilate,
Don't write the King of the Jews,
But this one said I am the King of the Jews.
Pilate replied,
I have written what I have written.
After the soldiers had crucified Jesus,
They took his clothing and divided it into four pieces,
One piece for each soldier.
They also took the seamless robe.
The soldiers said to one another,
Let's not tear it.
We can throw dice to see who will get it.
This happened in order to fulfill the scripture.
They divided my garments among them and for my clothing they cast lots.
And this is what they did.
Standing close to Jesus were his mother,
His mother's sister,
Mary,
The wife of Clopas,
And Mary of Magdala.
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom Jesus loved standing there,
He said to his mother,
Here is your son.
Then he said to the disciple,
Here is your mother.
From that moment the disciple took her into his household.
After this,
Jesus knew that now all was completed and to fulfill scripture perfectly he said,
I am thirsty.
There was a jar of cheap wine nearby.
So they put a sponge soaked in the wine on a hyssop stick and raised it to his lips.
Jesus took the wine and said,
It is finished.
Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Friday by Ann Weems.
The sky peels back to purple and thunder slaps the thighs of heaven and all the tears of those who grieve fly up to the clouds and are released and drench the earth.
The ones who see and hear know that all is lost.
The only one named savior died upon a cross.
The ones who believed and loved huddled together stunned all night long.
The angels weep.
As we sit in the silence of this Good Friday,
We remember the prayer from Ash Wednesday.
Almighty God,
You have created us out of the dust of the earth.
Grant that this dust might be to us a sign of our mortality and penitence so that we may remember that only by your gracious gift are we given life through Jesus Christ our savior.
May the almighty and merciful God who desires not the death of a sinner,
But that we turn from wickedness and live,
Accept our repentance,
Forgive our sins and restore us by the Holy Spirit to newness of life.
Amen.
Until we meet again,
My friends,
Go in peace.
