Good Friday Tenebrae - March 21, 2008
Vicar Christopher Gillespie
Immanuel Lutheran Church of Frankentrost
Saginaw, Michigan
Good Friday (March 21, 2008)
2008-03-21 Good Friday MP3 format
In darkness He hung upon a cross, hewn from a tree… All fullness of the Father’s wrath dwelt upon Him. The penalty for our mortal sin… its weight is on His shoulders. The load tears at his pierced hands. His chest compressed by the burden. There is nowhere to lay his head. His wordless stare says, “Oh people of God, what have you done? Yet, Father forgive them.”
He bears not a crown of glory but thorns upon His head. JESUS OF NAZARETH, KING OF THE JEWS. The heavenly kingdom gives Him no earthly comfort. The twisted barbs pierce Him. He bleeds, the anointed one. Son of God and Son of Man, yet few stand near. No angels minister to Him now. Even His own Father forsakes Him.
The Lamb of God, pure and holy, goes uncomplaining forth. He goes most willingly. He does what the Father commands. Not His will but His Father’s will must be done.
Blasphemed and beaten, he thirsts. But the cup he drinks is not gall nor vinegar nor wine. The cup of wrath poisons His flesh, destroying the mortal remains.
Oh! How my sins wound Him! How my transgressions inflict on Him mortal pain and anguish. He stands in my place. He pays my penalty. He dies my death for me! Oh! What grace beyond measure! Oh what favor you have bestowed upon me!
How can I thank Him for His mercy upon this pitiless frame? How can I thank Him for His Passion? Only by the gracious favor of His life-instilling breath may I live in love to Him. Only by His all-availing sacrifice may I be thine forever.
From His speared side flows blood and water. The flood pours upon creation, not from lake or stream but from His very body. It brings new life. With this water flows the Spirit of the Son and the Father bringing the world’s redemption. And streaming with the water is His blood. Blood for nourishment of your soul. Food for wanderers. The feast for beggars. The meal for wearied souls.
Someday, Oh Lord, I too will die. I may die a peaceful death or at the hands of my enemies, like you. I may suffer for the your truth spoken by my lips. Yet, even as I faint away, your weakness upholds me. In your death I know the life to come.
Comfort me with your Passion. Focus my eyes upon your cross. Upon it dwells the Lamb who dies for me… the source of all gifts divine. Your lips feed me with the words of truth and love. Great blessings of life eternal you give to all believers.
Even as you lay entombed, you win the victory. Buried within that garden is the curse begun in the first Garden. It is finished! Oh! Virgin’s son, What thou hast won is far beyond all telling: Lamb of God, detested and dead, has felled hell and the devil forever!
And now I may dwell in the heavenly joys. The temple curtain is torn in two. God and Man are reconciled. Your blood my royal robe shall be, my joy beyond all measure! And there, in garments richly won, As your own bride shall we be brought… To stand in joy beside You.
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
