Good Friday
A Tenebrae Gathering of Worship
2 April 2021 @ 4:03pm
In Person at Wilde Chapel (Registration HERE)
& Virtual via Zoom (Link HERE)
Call & Response for Good Friday
Tenebrae means "darkness" or "shadows", and for centuries, Christians have held tenebrae gatherings to explore the mysteries of Holy Week. Lights are gradually extinguished in the sanctuary and shadows slowly gather -- a powerful symbol of both the world's brokenness and the dreadful night before Easter's beautiful dawn.*
If you are joining us for our GOOD FRIDAY GATHERING via ZOOM, we encourage you to have seven sources of light - candles, lamps, flashlights, etc. - nearby your screen, and after each reader has finished with their passage, extinguish one of your home light sources until we close the gathering together in shadows and silence.
This early evening we are invited to survey the "foolish wisdom" of the cross as we lament the death of the Christ. We are invited to survey the passion of Jesus to rescue God's children from the Virus - Powers, Sin & Death.
We are invited to survey through stories, symbols, scripture and songs.
And now…
may the Spirit speak to us about how God demonstrated steadfast LOVE for us:
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Leader: Regular Print | PEOPLE: BOLD Print
Call to Worship
Leader: This day we walk with Jesus to Golgotha.
PEOPLE: We remember the pain that he suffered. We remember the triumph of his death
-that didn’t look much like triumph to anyone.
And today we remember what it really means to say we are “taking up our cross” and “following Jesus.”
Jesus we come – to walk the road with you – to follow you to the cross. We prepare ourselves now to follow your footprints in the dust. To survey how you died. To survey how we die. To survey how you lived. To survey how we should live.
Song #1 - When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
When I Survey The Wondrous Cross
Verse 1
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride
Verse 2
Forbid it Lord that I should boast
Save in the death of Christ my God
All the vain things that charm me most
I sacrifice them to His blood
Verse 3
See from His head His hands His feet
Sorrow and love flow mingled down
Did ever such love and sorrow meet
Or thorns compose so rich a crown
Verse 4
(ADDITIONAL VERSE)
His dying crimson like a robe
Spreads o'er His body on the tree
Then I am dead to all the globe
And all the globe is dead to me
Verse 5
Were the whole realm of nature mine
That were a present (an offering) far too small
Love so amazing so divine
Demands my soul my life my all
CCLI Song # 27893
Isaac Watts | Lowell Mason
Washing The Disciples’ Feet
The Message
John 13:1-17
Just before the Passover Feast, Jesus knew that the time had come to leave this world to go to the Father. Having loved his dear companions, he continued to love them right to the end. It was suppertime. The Devil by now had Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, firmly in his grip, all set for the betrayal.
Jesus knew that the Father had put him in complete charge of everything, that he came from God and was on his way back to God. So he got up from the supper table, set aside his robe, and put on an apron. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples, drying them with his apron. When he got I to Simon Peter, Peter said, "Master, you wash my feet?"
Jesus answered, "You don't understand now what I'm doing, but it will be clear enough to you later."
Peter persisted, "You're not going to wash my feet – ever!" Jesus said, "If I don't wash you, you can't be part of what I'm doing. "
"Master!" said Peter. "Not only my feet, then. Wash my hands! Wash my head! "
Jesus said, "If you've had a bath in the morning, you only need your feet washed now and you're clean from head to toe. My concern, you understand, is holiness, not hygiene. So now you're clean. But not every one of you." (He knew who was betraying him. That's why he said, "Not every one of you. ") After he had finished washing their feet, he took his robe, put it back on, and went back to his place at the table.
Then he said, "Do you understand what I have done to you? You address me as 'Teacher' and 'Master,' and rightly so. That is what I am. So if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other's feet. I've laid down a pattern for you. . What I've done, you do. I'm only pointing out the obvious.
A servant is not ranked above his master; an employee doesn't give orders to
the employer. If you understand what I'm telling you, act like it – and live a blessed life.
Song #2 - How Deep the Father’s Love
How Deep The Father's Love For Us
Verse 1
How deep the Father's love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure
How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory
Verse 2
Behold the Man upon a cross
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished
Verse 3
I will not boast in anything
No gifts no pow’r no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection
Why should I gain from His reward
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom
CCLI Song # 1558110
Stuart Townend
The Bread and the Cup
The Message
Matthew 26:20-30
During the meal, Jesus said, “I have something hard but important to say to you: One of you is going to hand me over to the conspirators.”
They were stunned, and then began to ask, one after another, “It isn’t me, is it, Master?”
Jesus answered, “The one who hands me over is someone I eat with daily, one who passes me food at the table. In one sense the Son of Man is entering into a way of treachery well-marked by the Scriptures. In another sense that man who turns him in, turns traitor to the Son of Man – better never to have been born than do this!”
Then Judas, already turned traitor, said, “It isn’t me, is it, Rabbi?”
Jesus said, “Yes, it is you.”
During the meal, Jesus took and blessed the bread, broke it, and gave it to his disciples:
“Take, eat. This is my body”
Taking the cup and thanking God, he gave it to them:
“Drink this, all of you. This is my blood, God’s new covenant poured out for many people for the forgiveness of sins. I’ll not be drinking wine from this cup again until that new day when I’ll drink with you in the kingdom of my Father.”
They sang a hymn and then went directly to Mount Olives.
Mark 14:27-31 -
Jesus told them, “You’re all going to feel that your world is falling apart and that it’s my fault. There’s a Scripture that says,
“I will strike the Shepard; the sheep will be scattered.”
But after I am raised up, I will go ahead of you, leading the way to Galilee.”
Peter blurted out, “Even if everyone else is ashamed of you when things fall to pieces, I won’t be.”
Jesus said, “Don’t be so sure. Today this very night in fact, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”
He blustered in protest, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you.”
All the others said the same thing.
Song #3 - Beautiful Scandalous Night
Verse 1
Go on up to the mountain of mercy
To the crimson perpetual tide
Kneel down on the shore
Be thirsty no more
Go under and be purified
Verse 2
Follow Christ to the holy mountain
Sinner sorry and wrecked by the fall
Cleanse your heart and your soul
In the fountain that flows
For you and for me and for all
Chorus
At the wonderful tragic mysterious tree
On that beautiful scandalous night
You and me were atoned by His blood
And forever washed white
On that beautiful scandalous night
Verse 3
On the hillside you will be delivered
At the foot of the cross justified
And your spirit restored
By the river that pours
From our blessed Savior's side
Interlude
Ah You carried the sin of mankind
On Your back
And the sky went black
Ending
On that beautiful scandalous night
(Beautiful scandalous)
Miraculous night
CCLI Song # 1131836
Derald Daugherty | Steve Hindalong
Gethsemane
The Message
Mark 14:32-50
They came to an area called Gethsemane. Jesus told his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." He took Peter, James, and John with him. He plunged into a sinkhole of dreadful agony. He told them, "I feel bad enough right now to die. Stay here and keep vigil with me."
Going a little ahead, he fell to the ground and prayed for a way out: "Papa, Father, you can – can't you? – get me out of this. Take this cup away from me. But please, not what I want – what do you want?"
He came back and found them sound asleep. He said to Peter, "Simon, you went to sleep on me ? Can't you stick it out with me a single hour? Stay alert, be in prayer, so you don't enter the danger zone without even knowing it. Don't be naive. Part of you is eager, ready for anything in God; but another part is as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire."
He then went back and prayed the same prayer. Returning, he again found them sound asleep. They simply couldn't keep their eyes open, and they didn't have a plausible excuse.
He came back a third time and said, " Are you going to sleep all night? No –you've slept long enough. Time's up. The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up. Let's get going. My betrayer has arrived."
No sooner were the words out of his mouth when Judas, the one out of the Twelve, showed up, and with him a gang of thugs, sent by the high priests, religion scholars, and leaders, brandishing swords and clubs. The betrayer had worked out a signal with them: "The one I kiss, that's the one – seize him. Make sure he doesn't get away." He went straight to Jesus and said, "Rabbi!" and kissed him. The others then grabbed him and roughed him up. One of the men standing there unsheathed his sword, swung, and came down on the Chief Priest's servant, lopping off the man's ear.
Jesus said to them, "What is this, coming after me with swords and clubs as if I were a dangerous criminal? Day after day I've been sitting in the Temple teaching, and you never so much as lifted a hand against me. What you in fact have done is confirm the prophetic writings." All the disciples cut and ran.
Song #4 - Nothing But the Blood
Verse 1
What can wash away my sin
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
What can make me whole again
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
Chorus
O precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow
No other fount I know
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
Verse 2
For my pardon this I see
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
For my cleansing this my plea
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
Verse 3
Nothing can for sin atone
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
Naught of good that I have done
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
Verse 4
This is all my hope and peace
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
This is all my righteousness
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
CCLI Song # 21332
Robert Lowry
A Rooster Crowed
The Message
Luke 22:54-62 -
Arresting Jesus, they marched him off and took him into the house of the Chief Priest. Peter followed, but at a safe distance.
In the middle of the courtyard some people had started a fire and were sitting around it, trying to keep warm. One of the serving maids sitting at the fire noticed him, then took a second look and said, "This man was with him!"
He denied it, "Woman, I don't even know him."
A short time later, someone else noticed him and said, "You're one of them."
But Peter denied it: "Man, I am not."
About an hour later, someone else spoke up, really adamant: "He's got to have been with him! He's got 'Galilean' written all over him."
Peter said, "Man, I don't know what you're talking about." At that very moment, the last word hardly off his lips, a rooster crowed. Just then, the Master turned and looked at Peter. Peter remembered what the Master had said to him: "Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." He went out and cried and cried and cried.
Song #5 - Lead Me to the Cross
Lead Me To The Cross
Verse 1
Saviour I come quiet my soul
Remember redemption's hill
Where Your blood was spilled
For my ransom
Pre-Chorus
Ev’rything I once held dear
I count it all as loss
Chorus
Lead me to the cross
Where Your love poured out
Bring me to my knees
Lord I lay me down
Rid me of myself
I belong to You
Oh lead me lead me to the cross
Verse 2
You were as I tempted and tried human
The word became flesh
Bore my sin in death
Now You're risen
Bridge
To Your heart
To Your heart
Lead me to Your heart
Lead me to Your heart
CCLI Song # 4785828
Brooke Ligertwood
The King of the Jews
The Message
John 18:28-38a - Jennifer Ceide or Aram
They led Jesus then from Caiaphas to the Roman governor's palace. It was early morning. They themselves didn't enter the palace because they didn't want to be disqualified from eating the Passover. So Pilate came out to them and spoke. "What charge do you bring against this man?"
They said, "If he hadn't been doing something evil, do you think we'd be here bothering you?"
Pilate said, "You take him. Judge him by your law. "
The Jews said, "We're not allowed to kill anyone. " (This would confirm Jesus' word indicating the way he would die.)
Pilate went back into the palace and called for Jesus. He said, "Are you the 'King of the Jews'?"
Jesus answered, "Are you saying this on your own, or did others tell you this about me?"
Pilate said, "Do I look like a Jew? Your people and your high priests turned you over to me. What did you do?"
"My kingdom," said Jesus, "doesn't consist of what you see around you. If it did, my followers would fight so that I wouldn't be handed over to the Jews. But I'm not that kind of king, not the world's kind of king."
Then Pilate said, "So, are you a king or not?"
Jesus answered, "You tell me. Because I am King, I was born and entered the world so that I could witness to the truth. Everyone who cares for truth, who has any feeling for the truth, recognizes my voice."
Pilate said, “What is truth?”
Standing Before Pilate
The Message
Mark 15:6-20 - Aram
It was a custom at the Feast to release a prisoner, anyone the people asked for. There was a prisoner called Barabbas, locked up with the insurrectionists who had committed murder during the uprising against Rome. As the crowd came up and began to present its petition for him to release a prisoner, Pilate anticipated them: “Do you want me to release the King of the Jews to you?” Pilate knew by this time that it was through sheer spite that the high priests had turned Jesus over to him.
But the high priests by then had worked up the crowd to ask for the release of Barabbas.
COMMUNITY READING
Leader: Pilate came back, “So what should I do with this man you call King of the Jews?”
PEOPLE: They yelled, “Nail him to a cross! Crucify him!”
Leader: Pilate objected, “But for what crime?”
But they yelled all the louder,
PEOPLE: “Nail him to a cross! Crucify him!”
Pilate gave the crowd what it wanted, set Barabbas free and turned Jesus over for whipping and crucifixion.
The soldiers took Jesus into the palace and called together the entire brigade. They dressed him up in purple and put a crown plaited from a thornbush on his head. Then they began their mockery: "Bravo, King of the Jews!" They banged on his head with a club, spit on him, and knelt down in mock worship. After they had had their fun, they took off the purple cape and put his own clothes back on him. Then they marched out to nail him to the cross.
The Crucifixion
The Message
John 19:17-30 - Ayer Family
Carrying his cross, Jesus went out to the place called Skull Hill (the name in Hebrew is Golgotha), where they crucified him, and with him two others, one on each side, Jesus in the middle. Pilate wrote a sign and had it placed on the cross. It read:
JESUS THE NAZARENE
THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Many of the Jews read the sign because the place where Jesus was crucified was right next to the city: It was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. The Jewish high priests objected. "Don't write," they said to Pilate, " 'The King of the Jews.' Make it, 'This man said, "I am the King of the Jews.""'
Pilate said, "What I've written, I've written."
When they crucified him, the Roman soldiers took his clothes and divided them up four ways, to each soldier a fourth. But his robe was seamless, a single piece of weaving, so they said to each other, "Let's not tear it up. Let's throw dice to see who gets it." This confirmed the Scripture that said, "They divided up my clothes among them and threw dice for my coat." (The soldiers validated the Scriptures!)
While the soldiers were looking after themselves, Jesus' mother, his aunt, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene stood at the foot of the cross. Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing near her. He said to his mother, "Woman, here is your son." Then to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that moment the disciple accepted her as his own mother.
Jesus, seeing that everything had been completed so that the Scripture record might also be complete, then said, "I'm thirsty."
A jug of sour wine was standing by. Someone put a sponge soaked with the wine on a javelin and lifted it to his mouth. After he took the wine, Jesus said,
"It's done . . . complete."
Bowing his head, he offered up his spirit.
Final Candle - Benediction:
Leader: Jesus said, "My God, why have you forsaken me?..It is finished..Father, Into your hands I commit my spirit..." (blows candle out)
PEOPLE: ...
Blow out candle
We depart and we wait in s...h...a...d...o...w...&...s..i..l..e..n..c..e...
{The congregation is dismissed after the final candle is extinguished.
Please leave the Wilde Chapel our Zoom meeting in silence.}