This Good Friday Doxa Church hosted Revelation Church and All of Life Church for a tenebrae service. In between songs reflecting the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, we commissioned 7 readings from members of our congregations centered on the 7 sayings of Jesus from the cross. We paired those readings with similarly inspired imagery from artist Scott Erickson.
Sovereign God
Who allowed the world to bear upon your Son
Your son,
The innocent lamb
Prepared for slaughter
Led to the hill to die
On a cross,
For us.
Faltering
Broken
Suffering People,
And then Our King, Jesus
Suffering
Breaking
For us.
Jesus
Most loving
Full of compassion
On those who betrayed,
and will come to betray
again
and again
And again.
Betrayers
Not them, but all of us
Joining in killing Jesus
Each pounding the nails
Driving deep into his flesh.
Sin, through our words
Deeper
Sin, through our actions
Deeper
Sin, through our thoughts
Deeper
Sin in our deeds left undone
Deeper still.
And the penalty for sin?
Death.
And yet, A rescuer
Our only Hope
Jesus, our atonement
In our place
For our sins
Our guilt
Held up
by our nails.
In the midst of agony
Pronouncement of guilt
For we are guilty.
And yet a request
Forgive them
Forgive us
Because they do not know nor us
And yet
Ignorance excuses not the guilty
For debts must be paid
Convict us of our ignorance
Open our eyes to see
Let us not roam as blind sheep
Unaware of
What we are doing
What we have done
The Good Shepherd
Knew
He came for us
Was betrayed by us
Hung on the cross for us
And Died
for us
His request for our forgiveness
For we are guilty
His surrender
His kindness
His love
His compassion
His life
His death
All of it
For us.
“Father, Forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing.”
Wounded by the pain of its Creator.
A hill, raising up the King of the Universe,
Not for worship, but for scorn.
A people, blind to their Rescuer,
Mistaking their God for their enemy.
A cross, carried by the King of the Jews,
Whose sentence was unearned.
A Savior, giving his life in love,
But suffering our rightful punishment.
Criminals, condemned justly,
At the right and left of the Most High.
A sinful man, who saw the Messiah
And acknowledged his transgressions.
A question, asked by a sinner,
A plea to the Lord for impossible redemption.
A Redeemer, whose forgiveness is endless
And whose burden is light.
A new life, extended to all the unworthy,
Bestowed by the Son of God.
An answer to his plea, spoken by the Prince of Peace,
‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
What words are there for the pain
How to go on, oh how to keep going,
When the bitter taste of death stings
My friend is dying, his mother is crying and I can do nothing but watch.
Oh God, my God how to go on
Consumed in heartache, broken in sorrow
Things I'm unable to say
Every word that He speaks I cling to.
Can these be His last?
How long can this last?
And then a whisper, a cry from my savior
"Woman, here is your son"
I look to the mother crumpled in sorrow
Feeling the weight of my grief
Feeling the weight of her grief.
How to go on, oh how to keep going
When the bitter taste of death stings
How to live up to the son she is losing.
How to do anything but watch
The words come again:
"Here is your mother"
The man I call friend is in agony
Hanging in shame He sees my mourning
He sees the despair of His mother
What do you say, to your mother that's watching
What do you say as your brother dies
Is this the end or just the beginning
Was all that He told us just lies?
Is there hope in this moment or simply grief
Do we look to the future or just weep
As the Son of God bleeds and dies
As the waves crash and the rocks crumble
As the sky turns dark
And the curtains come down
Where is there peace?
. The words ring out in my mind
"Woman…" He says to her
The weight of trust of a man who is dying
The weight of my agony
The weight of despair
A brief light of direction in a sea that is crashing
Woman, here is your son
I cannot see the future
I cannot hope right now.
I cannot look at my savior, my friend.
I cannot look at His mother.
My mother.
We cling to each other, desperate for warmth
Desperate for something to soothe
Desperate for peace
And desperate for answers
All I can see is the gloom
Is the sky going grey,
or is that just my mind
Are the clouds growing near
or am I falling behind
The chaos and pain I cannot describe
I am the disciple whom He loves.
I am the disciple whom He loves.
I am the disciple whom He loves
I will cling to His words and I will do as He asks
I will not succumb to this grief.
Woman, He said. here is your son.
And to me, here is your mother.
It was a beautiful morning. The sun was warm on my face and birds sang to each other between the buildings that line the streets of the city. I love the spring, the new life God effortlessly coaxes out from under the dull days of winter. This morning was like that. - I think. It’s hard to remember.
My eyes are burning, swollen with sweat and blood, a brine of suffering, over my eyelids and onto my lips. The pressure of the wooden beam on my back soothes the marks left by the Roman whip…as long as I hold still.
My head is throbbing. With every beat of my heart the blood pushes against the inside of my skull. It bangs against my chest demanding to escape.
My lungs are beginning to protest. They quiver with a forceful determination as they advocate for my life, first quietly, but then louder and louder, shouting at me to breathe.
Breathe!
Now my back speaks to me. It drags along the splintered log it was resting against as I give my weight to the spike through my feet, pulling apart the oozing wounds and quickly undoing a moment’s work of healing.
That fire gives way as the deep ache in my feet and my wrists make their way to the front of my mind. I am grateful for the rush of air into my lungs on which I can let go a gasp as it slowly sputters out into the spring afternoon.
I raise my eyes to see the world around me has aligned itself with the world inside me. The sun has hidden itself. Light has hidden itself. Life has hidden itself. It’s cold. I can’t hear the birds anymore.
For a moment I’m unaware of my body. The pain has numbed and my mind is clear.
I feel dirty.
Some strange new pain has implanted in my soul.
I feel sick.
They are looking at me. Everyone. All of them are staring at my naked body.
I feel ashamed.
More than anything I want to hide. From them, from You!
This is what they’ve done. Everything that they’ve done. All of it.
I can feel it. I can hear it. I can smell it. I am it.
My God!
My God!
Why have you forsaken me!
As he hung there, weeping, bleeding, breaking,
Son of God nailed to a tree for the taking
Of blame, mumbling in a stupor of pain
the soldiers mocked on the rock of the skull
Christ knew that nothing was vain, his pain would not come back null
As the soldiers gambled garments, scattered hither and thither
The God-man slowly sunk down, his life beginning to wither
He took a breath that rattled
His very bones did battle on themselves
Rebelling against the swelling that dwelled
In his wrists and his feet,
Warm blood was pooling beneath
And he struggled and stammered, prophecy not yet complete
A quick breath in, a release
The smell of sweat and of feces
Believe me, there was no simple ease in this treatise
"I thirst" the Christ whispered, declaring humanity, profanity, the prophecy maintained through insanity
An inmate's last rights, a sip from hissop to quench his thirst
A sponge would be raised, a mocking blessing and curse, to him
And drip drip drip wine droplets slipped from his lip
And dribbled down into the score marks that were left by the whip
Vinegar burned and it stung, making him gasp as he hung
And bringing clarity to thoughts that were beginning to numb.
He thought of wine and of friends, those faithful few he would send,
A vow that he would only drink with victory won in the end
A bloody inauguration
Christ stepping into his station
His kingdom come, his will was done, his blood would rescue a nation
The perfect God-Man struck down
Thorn twisted into a crown,
Declaring now and not yet
Divine and human he bowed down
And said
"I thirst"
With the Spirit the mighty three in One
Made a covenant together as the Plan
Ere before the worlds Began
The Greatest Father and Son moment the world has ever Seen
This is my beloved Son with Whom I am well Pleased
Then the Spirit descended like a Dove
This is Respect this is Love.
The Son of God The Son of Man
The Son who obeyed His Father’s perfect Plan
At Last when his final hour had Come
He said to his Father not Mine by Thy will be Done
For the Joy set before him He endure the Pain
He glorified the Father Despising the Shame
A Father to His Son He also Glorified
On that good day that Death began to Die
The Holy One who came to Save
A World of debt with His life he Paid
Sinners ruined by the Fall
A Prophetic Priestly King crushed the dragon’s Skull
A mighty man of Valor climbed up upon that Tree
To give life to the Dead and set the captives Free
The Toughest man who has ever Lived
Head of the family he took responsibility for Our sin.
A New World a New Creation as things begin Change
Through one man’s Death the many have Life this is the great Exchange
I saw Satan fall like Lightning from heaven
By Faith alone we now Conquer using the Word as our Weapon
With Infant Faith a new heart sprinkled clean in Baptism
Signed and Sealed a new Start and new Life begins
Through Water and Word and given a new Name
In Christ we are buried in Christ we are Raised.
With Bread and Wine we now Feast
We Celebrate the life the death the Victory
So raise your Cup and Break the Bread
And Do This as My memorial just as Jesus Said
The King of Kings who conquered Satan and Sin
He is most glorified when We are most satisfied in Him
This is your Purpose so don’t waste your Time
No Fear in our death no No guilt in this Life
Now we too Pray not my will but Thine be Done
On earth as it is Heaven and Let thy kingdom Come
The victory was Won but not at the end of the Story
Now to Him be Dominion Power and the Glory
Crying out in a loud Voice he said as he Gasped
He gave up his Spirit and He breathed his Last...
More than just Story though Unique I do Admit
Father Into your hands my spirit I commit
A price suited for our depravity.
That first taste is what sealed our fate-
Condemning ourselves to a life of shadows…
A life plagued by Death…
And all those tastes since?
They served to widen the rift between us and our Creator.
Death was our penalty.
Time and sin pulled us away from You.
Away from our Hope
Away from our Light.
All our attempts to cling to You
To Your words. .. to your laws proved futile
Our sins were too great. The payment too costly.
So Death was our penalty.
Again and again
We managed to find our way back to You.
Attempting worthiness.
Attempting Holiness.
Wandering, grasping, clenching
Our way through the darkness…
Only to fall away again.
And Death was our penalty.
But in the distance
There were whispers of a Promise.
Proclamations of a King- of a Savior.
Someone to free us from the cages we build for ourselves.
And Hope found its way through the shadows to our ears… our souls.
So we waited. We prayed.
And we trembled with Creation in anticipation of You.
Death was our penalty-
But then You came.
Savior, Redeemer
King of Kings, Prince of Peace
Word Made Flesh, Begotten Son
Perfect Lamb
You came to pay our penalty.
You came to draw us near.
To give us Life
Though you hung there.
Bloodied
Beaten
Slaughtered.
Though You hung there- pinned beneath the weight of my sins.
You hung there. On that cross.
And there is where you closed the rift we made with our arrogance
The impassable rift made with our sins.
And drawing us into the Holiest of Holies you washed us.
You Freed us.
Our penalty is paid
Our wandering, grasping, clenching is over.
It is finished.