We have two Good Friday services each year, the first one is a Good Friday Vigil from 12 noon to 3 pm (in the Sanctuary and online) on Good Friday, April 18. It’s the communal reading of the four Gospels’ accounts of the passion. I always feel that our words spoken aloud in the relative quiet of the vigil somehow “reconsecrate the Sanctuary for Easter.”
We also have a Good Friday Evening Service at 7 pm (in the Sanctuary and online) on Good Friday, April 18. This is traditionally a service when we hear the reflections of our members, and the depth and the poignancy of their sharing is always moving.
For a number of years, we followed the traditional texts of Jesus’ Seven Last Words. Last year, we tried a wider range of texts to reflect on more of the story, inclusive of more of the passion narrative. We’re going to try that “wider cast net” again this year.
Below are the texts. Let me know if you want to claim one to prepare a 3 or 4 minute reflection for the Good Friday evening service. And if you have any questions, please ask.
Matthew 26: 36-41: Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane
Mark 14: 43-50: Jesus, Betrayed by Judas, Is Arrested
Luke 22: 66-71: Jesus Is Condemned by the Sanhedrin
Matthew 26: 69-75: Jesus Is Denied by Peter
Mark 15: 1-5, 15: Jesus Is Judged by Pilate
John 19: 6, 15-17: Jesus Bears the Cross
Luke 23: 33-38: Jesus Is Crucified
Luke: 23: 44-46: Jesus Dies on the Cross (Silence – no reflection)
Matthew 27: 57-60: Jesus Is Placed in a Tomb
