Good Friday
March 31, 2024 - Noon & 6:00pm
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Welcome
Song
(6:00) “When You Prayed Beneath the Trees” - St. Luke’s Chorale
(Noon) "How Long, O God" - #698
Isaiah 53:4-5
Leader: See, my servant shall prosper; he shall be exalted and lifted up.
Cong: Just as there were many who were astonished at him—so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of mortals— so he shall startle many nations;
Leader: kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which had not been told them they shall see, and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate.
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Cong: Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
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Leader: For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
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Cong: He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces.
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Leader: He was despised, and we held him of no account. Surely Jesus has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. 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.
Song
(6:00) “How Long, O God” - #698
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Seven Last Words
“Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” – The First Word
John 18:28-40
After Jesus was arrested they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate’s headquarters. It was early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters, so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover. So Pilate went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” They answered, “If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.” The Jews replied, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death.” (This was to fulfill what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.)
hen Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate asked him, “What is truth?”
fter he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no case against him. But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover. Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” They shouted in reply, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a bandit.
John 19:1-25
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. They kept coming up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and striking him on the face. Pilate went out again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him.” So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” When the chief priests and the police saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him.” The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.”
ow when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever. He entered his headquarters again and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. Pilate therefore said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?” Jesus answered him, “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” From then on Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are no friend of the emperor. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the emperor.”
When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat on the judge’s bench at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew Gabbatha. Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, “Here is your King!” They cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but the emperor.” Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.
So they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha.
Luke 23:34
When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”
Song
“Ah, Holy Jesus” - #349 vs 1, 2
“Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” – The Second Word
Luke 23: 39-43
One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Song
“Kyrie” - #158
“Woman, behold, your son….Behold, your mother.” – The Third Word
John 19: 19-27
Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”
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. 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.”
And that is what the soldiers did.
Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.
Song
(6:00)David and Malia Huntsman
(Noon) "Come Here Weary" - Jeff Rohlwing
“I am thirsty.” – The Fourth Word
John 19: 28-29
After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said, “I am thirsty.” A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth.
Song
“It Is Well”
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” - The Fifth Word
Mark 15: 33-34
At noon darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Psalm 22
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer; by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are the Holy One, enthroned on the praises of Israel. Our ancestors put their trust in you, they trusted, and you rescued them. They cried out to you and were delivered; they trusted in you and were not put to shame. But as for me, I am a worm and not human, scorned by all and despised by the people. All who see me laugh me to scorn; they curl their lips; they shake their heads. “Trust in the Lord; let the Lord deliver; let God rescue him if God so delights in him.” Yet you are the one who drew me forth from the womb, and kept me safe on my mother’s breast. I have been entrusted to you ever since I was born; you were my God when I was still in my mother’s womb. Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is no one to help. Many young bulls encircle me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me. They open wide their jaws at me, like a slashing and roaring lion. I am poured out like water; all my bones are out of joint; my heart within my breast is melting wax. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; and you have laid me in the dust of death. Packs of dogs close me in, a band of evildoers circles round me; they pierce my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones while they stare at me and gloat. They divide my garments among them; for my clothing, they cast lots. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Song
(6:00) “They Carried My Lord Away” - St. Luke’s Chorale
(Noon) “They Crucified My Lord” - #350 vs 1-3
“It is finished.” – The Sixth Word
John 19:30
Jesus said, “It is finished.”
Song
(6:00) “They Crucified My Lord” - #350
(Noon) “They Crucified My Lord” - #350 vs 4, 5
“Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” – The Seventh Word
Luke 23: 44-49
It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. While the sun’s light failed the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Having said this, he breathed his last. When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, “Certainly this man was innocent.” And when all the crowds who had gathered there for this spectacle saw what had taken place, they returned home, beating their breasts. But all his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
Song
“Were You There” - #353 vs. 1-3, 5
The Burial
John 19:31-42
Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. The soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out.
After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. 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. And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there and rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away.
Sound of the stone rolling into place
Candle Extinguished
Silence