GOOD FRIDAY On Good Friday the church mourns the humiliation and death of Jesus yet rejoices in the saving gift of his sacrificial death. The curtain of the temple is torn in two, indicating that because of Christ’s sacrifice, we are no longer separated from God. It is “good” not for Jesus but for us who through his blood are saved. At noon Redeemer observes the Seven Last Words of Christ on the cross and the ancient “Bidding Prayer” for the whole church and the world because of the cosmic nature and efficacy of Christ’s act. In the evening the story is read in the context of Tenebrae, that is, “darkness” or “shadows.” The church grows darker and darker. Worship ends with the Adoration of the Cross, both as a liturgical formula and in our individual reverence and contemplation.
THE ADORATION OF THE CROSS The adoration of the cross originated in the 6th or 7th century in the Jerusalem Church. As the cross is brought in, we behold and stand in awe of its power that is at once gruesome and lifegiving. As you leave the church tonight, you are invited to come forward to reverence the cross, kneeling before or around it in prayer, touching it, or, in the ancient tradition, kissing it.
GOOD FRIDAY CHORAL TENEBRAE – APRIL 15, 2022 The Order of Worship at 7 pm Standing PRAYER OF THE DAY Let us pray. Almighty God, look with loving mercy on your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, to be given over to the hands of sinners, and to suffer death on the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. | Amen Seated ANTHEM
O Sacred Head, Now Wounded John Warren, clarinet
Music by Hans Leo Hassler Harmonized by J. S. Bach Arranged by Robert Leaf
The choir sings.
O sacred head, now wounded, | With grief and shame weighed down, | Now scornfully surrounded | With thorns, thine only crown; | O sacred head, what glory, | What bliss till now was thine! | Yet, in this time of sorrow, | I joy to call thee mine. Attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux German translation by Paul Gerhardt English translation by James Waddell Alexander
OLD TESTAMENT READING
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
See, my servant shall prosper; he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high. 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; 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. Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 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. He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account. Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But 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. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By a perversion of justice he was taken away. Who could have imagined his future? For he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people. They made his grave with the wicked and his tomb with the rich, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain. When you make his life an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days; through him the will of the Lord shall prosper. Out of his anguish he shall see light; he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge. The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. HYMN The second stanza is sung by the choir alone.
Words by James Montgomery Music by Richard Redhead (GETHSEMANE)
THE PASSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN JESUS IS ARRESTED
John 18:1-18
Sally Pearson sings.
I wonder as I wander out under the sky that Jesus our Savior did come for to die for poor orn’ry people like you and like I, I wonder as I wander out under the sky. If Jesus had wanted for any wee thing, a star in the sky or a bird on the wing, or all of God’s angels in Heav’n for to sing, He surely could have had it, for He was the king.
JESUS IS DENIED Please remain seated to sing the first stanza with the choir.
The choir continues.
When I was sinking down beneath God's righteous frown, Christ laid aside his crown for my soul. To God and to the Lamb who is the great I AM, While millions join the theme I will sing. And when from death I'm free, I'll sing and joyful be.
John 18:19-27
And through eternity I'll sing on.
JESUS IS TRIED
John 18:28-38
Please remain seated to sing.
They made a crown of thorns… They nailed him to a tree… JESUS IS REJECTED AND MOCKED
John 18:38 - 19:16
The choir sings.
Calvary, Calvary, Surely he died on Calvary. Every time I think about Jesus, Surely he died on Calvary. Can't you hear the hammer ringing? Surely he died on Calvary.
JESUS DIES
John 19:16-30
The choir sings.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord, Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there when they laid him in the tomb…
JESUS IS BURIED
John 19:31-4 5
Pam Amy-Cupp and the choir sing.
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. Ford bit 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. Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far too small, Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.
The room is darkened. ADORATION OF THE CROSS Standing and sung three times as the light is returned.
A long silence is kept.
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THE LORD’S PRAYER
All depart in silence. Worshipers may reverence the cross before they depart.
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