Good Friday Noon Message
April 2, 2021
Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
A Reading from Luke chapter 23…
It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.
Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, Surely this was a righteous man.”
When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. (Luke 23:44-49)
Leader: The Word of the Lord…
People: Thanks be to God
Jesus died in the dark. In the middle of day, when the sun was supposed to shine…from noon to three, a deep darkness shrouded the whole land. The sun wouldn’t shine.
Just as, In the beginning,” when the earth was a dark, formless, chaotic mass, before God said, Let there be light,” as Jesus hung on the cross, the earth was plunged, once again, into chaotic darkness. Which is strange, because Jesus came to be a light in the darkness. At Christmas, we read…
▪ The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” (Isaiah 9:2)
Yet, that Friday, it seemed darkness had overcome the light, overwhelmed the light, snuffed out the light. The light of the world – the innocent, sinless, Lamb of God, who came to take away the sins of the world – was crucified by evil men.
They’d conspired. They’d told lies. They’d taken advantage of the weakness and greed of one of Jesus ’own trusted inner circle. And, now, the miracle worker and so called, “King of the Jews,” was defeated. Darkness won, or so it appeared.
We often, rightly, associate darkness with evil. Evil deeds are done under the cover of darkness. But the darkness on Good Friday was NOT the darkness of evil. Though dark deeds were done, this darkness was something else.
What was this darkness? This was the darkness of the Father’s grief, watching his beloved son suffer and die. This was the darkness piercing the heart of God, as the Holy Trinity experienced the separation and death of the Son. This was creation reacting to the evil done to its creator. The sun, itself, refused to shine on this dark day. Let us Pray…
Lord God, Jesus cried out to you on the cross, Why have you forsaken me?” You seemed so far from his cry and from his distress. Those who stood at the foot of the cross wondered where you were, as they saw Jesus mocked and shamed and killed. Where were you then? Lord God, we, too, ask where you are when there is trouble and suffering and death, and we cry out to you for help. Be near to us and save us so that we may praise you for your deliverance. Lord God, we wait, on Friday, for the resurrection of Sunday. And sometimes our lives seem a succession of Fridays and we cannot see what is Good.” Teach us to call your name as Jesus did. Make us to trust in you like little children. In Jesusname, Amen.
A closing liturgy…
One: All you who pass this way
Many: Look and see, the shadow of sin
One: All you who pass this way
Many: Look and see the weight of the world
One: All you who pass this way
Many: Look and see, the suffering of our Savior.
One: All you who pass this way
Many: Look and see, the sorrow of Jesus Christ
One: Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. Amen
We resume our remembrance of Good Friday tonight at 7pm in person on the back lawn, and online.
Go in peace, into the darkness…
Liturgy credit: Erica L. Schemper
Message Credit: Pastor Vance Rains