Good Friday 2025

What follows is the text of our Good Friday service. A playlist with the songs used can be found below.

Welcome

The table is laid out as it was at the end of our Tenebrae service last night. Ten objects telling the story from the beginning of the plot to kill Jesus to Peter's denial in the courtyard. Ten extinguished candles, because with every reading, the light grew dimmer. Only one candle remains, because the light shines in the darkness and the darkness will not overcome it.

Last night led us towards the shadow of the cross, and this morning we step fully into that shadow. The light will not be extinguished, though it may appear to have gone.

[Cross is placed, candle is moved]

The main part of the service will be based on the Seven Words from the Cross, which will we hear alongside reflections, silence and music.

Reading | Mark 15:1-25

Song | When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

First word | Luke 23:33-34

When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” 

The first word is the word of forgiveness, This word comes so quickly that it almost feels as though Jesus prays for forgiveness for those who crucify him even as they drive the nails in.

Forgiveness was instinctive for Jesus, but that doesn't mean it was easy. Perhaps that's why Jesus called on his father to forgive, rather than forgiving himself. It does however mean that forgiveness was a part of who Jesus was, an attitude not just an action. Perhaps it must be the same for us.

Today we focus on the cross, but it does not stand alone. Jesus spoke much about forgiveness in his ministry, and so here we see him living the life he taught, even to the point of death.

Perhaps Jesus' best known teaching on forgiveness comes in the Lord's Prayer, when he calls us to pray "forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us". This reminds us that forgiveness goes both ways. Sometimes, like Jesus, we must forgive. Sometimes, like those who crucified him, we must be forgiven. 

It is not easy either way, but if it wasn't worth it, Jesus wouldn't have put it at the centre of our prayer life. And he wouldn't have used what little strength he had to proclaim forgiveness from the cross.

[Silence]

Second word | Luke 23:39-43

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

The second word is the word of salvation. Some years ago my sister was in a touring theatre production which included a sketch in which the second criminal arrives in paradise, the first to taste salvation. The angels on the gates of heaven, who were expecting to greet a prince or an emperor, aren't sure what to do with him at first, and it takes a good talking to from Gabriel to set them right, but when they finally understand the truth they see how wonderful it is.

It sounds so wrong and yet it seems so right that the first to be saved by the death of Jesus should be a criminal, because the truth is that paradise is not for good people. It is for God's people. And all the criminal had to do to become one of God's people was ask. It may not be easy, but it is that simple.

When the criminal arrives in heaven, he is amazed not only by the beauty of the place, but also by the fact that he doesn't want to steal anything. And when the angels finally realise that he is in the right place, they take the cap and chain he wears and give him new ones, better ones. Because isn't that what salvation is? A fresh start, a chance to become the best version of ourselves. And the best thing is that we can begin that now, even before paradise. All we have to do is ask.

That is the promise to all of us, contained in this word to a dying criminal. In a world in which promises are so easily broken, they may seem to have little power, but Christian faith hinges on the promise of salvation, and a promise like that is worth holding on to.

[Silence]

Third word | John 19:26-27

When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

The third word is the word of relationship. I think this word is actually about two different kinds of relationship. As Jesus looked down from the cross and saw the disciple and Mary standing there, he knew they would need each other, and he wanted to know they would be okay when he was gone. And so it is about the relationship between the disciple and Mary, but it is also about the relationship between each of them and Jesus.

As we sit at the foot of the cross, we too need each other. When there are difficult times ahead, we need people to give us a hug, or make us a cup of tea, or let us cry on their shoulder. And when times are good, we need people to laugh with us, or enjoy a meal with us, or watch rubbish telly with us. Our relationships are important.

And as God looks down on his children, he still wants to know we are okay. There are many ways in which he cares for us, but sometimes he knows only the human touch will do. That's why he has brought us together with our friends and with our family and with our work colleagues. It's why he has brought us together as a church. And it's why he has brought us together here this morning.

And because God works in our relationships, it is often through them that we best understand and experience God. We recognise God's love for us because we hear it in a kind word or see it in a thoughtful act or feel it in a warm hug. We live our relationship with God through our relationships with people, and so they are not just important, they are holy.

[Silence]

Fourth word | Matthew 27:46

About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”)

The fourth word is the word of abandonment. Abandonment seems to go against everything we want to believe of God, and yet here Jesus cries out in the agony of separation. And that can be our own experience too. We are told that "not anything in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God", and yet we often feel so terribly distant. The truth is that we are not abandoned, only a little lost, but that doesn't make the pain any less.

That's why this word speaks so powerfully. It tells us that Jesus understands our despair because he has experienced it for himself. He shared our pain so that when we turn to him with full and broken hearts he can still share our pain. So that when we are lost we can cry out, knowing we cry to a God who not only searches for us, but understands why we so desperately need to be found.

But this word is about more than abandonment. "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" is the first line from Psalm 22. Jesus knew the Scriptures well enough to debate them with scholars at the age of twelve, so we can be sure it isn't a coincidence, which means it has to be worth considering more closely.

The psalm is often understood to prophesy Jesus' death as it quite accurately describes crucifixion, despite the practice being unknown in Israel at the time that it was written. This reminds us that the cross was not a mistake but part of God's plan, and so it calls us beyond despair to hope. And in the closing verses of the psalm, we move beyond hope to something even greater. But I will leave that to you to discover that for yourselves.

[Silence]

Music | O Come and Mourn With Me - Jars of Clay

Fifth word | John 19:28

Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”

The fifth word is the word of distress. If the last word tells us that Jesus understands our spiritual pain, this word reminds us that he also understands our physical pain. He entered into the fullness of our embodied experience because he cares about every part of us. Every niggle, every ache, every worry.

And because he cares, he wants us to take those things to him in prayer. He already knows when we are troubled or hurting, but he wants us to tell him. There can be release in the telling, and it may open us to his healing power.

That doesn't mean we can only pray when we are in distress, but it does mean that when we are in distress we should pray.

As Jesus thirsts, I am reminded of his encounter with the woman at the well, to whom he promised living water, saying "Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

Jesus promises that he will not only give, but give abundantly. That he will not only satisfy us for a little time, but for all time. That he will not only give us our daily bread, but also the water of eternal life. And it is because we know these things that we can come to him in our distress, knowing we will find relief in him.

[Silence]

Sixth word | John 19:28

When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

The sixth word is the word of triumph. We are drawing near to Jesus' last breath and so it is not surprising that this is the shortest of the seven sayings, but there's a lot to be said about these three words.

It seems significant that Jesus did not say "I am finished" but "It is finished", because it was not him but his work that was ended. There are many different ways of understanding what happened at the cross, but whether Jesus took our punishment or paid our ransom or demonstrated his love by facing the consequence of a life making good trouble, something was accomplished.

And if we really get into the nitty gritty of the grammar, we see that the verb is in the perfect tense, which is used to describe an action which happened in the past but which affects the present, because Jesus knew that these three words would have meaning for all time, that they would affect every present in which they were heard or read. We are caught in the ripples of the cross, and those ripples do not get weaker, only bigger.

I see that in two of my favourite images of the cross. The first is taken from a tapestry at Turvey Abbey, and pictures a cruciform Christ at the centre of a burst of colour. The second is a carving similar to one in my childhood church, and features a Christ shaped hole in the centre of the cross. I will let you reflect for yourself on how those images speak to you.

I began this morning by suggesting that we must step into the shadow of Good Friday, but it seems right that we should also acknowledge the glory and the triumph of the cross, because it is the victory that gives the suffering meaning. And it is because of the victory that we can say that Good Friday truly is good.

[Silence]

Seventh word | Luke 23:44-46

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 seventh word is the word of reunion. Jesus' words here recall those of Psalm 31:5, in which the psalmist says "into thy hands I commend my spirit; thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God". The rest of that psalm speaks of praise and faithfulness, and ends with a call to "be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord". It's easy to read this final word as the point at which Jesus gives up, but it's not. It's a positive action, an affirmation of faith and relationship, bound up with salvation and promise.

This is known as the word of reunion, because here Jesus draws back to God after the cry of abandonment. It recognises that his sense of being forsaken was only temporary, as our experience of being lost is only temporary, because in the end nothing can separate us from the love of God.

Perhaps the most famous story of reunion in the Bible is that of the prodigal son, which assures us that whatever we do, and however far we stray, God will always be waiting to embrace us. It may be going a little too far to see this as Jesus' own prodigal son moment, but I do think it is significant that he calls God "Father" in this word of reunion. It reminds us that coming back to God is always a homecoming.

This reunion is also a renewal, as Jesus commits his life again to God. Commitment can sound like such a final thing, like a promise we can't make until we know we won't mess it up, and so we can hold off from making it. Or else it can sound like a promise we make once and for all, and so we make it then take it for granted. But the truth is that we will struggle and we will stumble, and we will need to recommit ourselves again and again.

So now, as we sit in the shadow of the cross, maybe this is the time for reunion and renewal.

[Silence]

Music | The Wonder of the Cross - Vicky Beeching

Reading | Mark 15:38-47

Blessing | Still by Jan Richardson 

Song | Here is Love (vv1-2)

Communion

The disciples must surely have eaten on the day of crucifixion. I wonder what that meal was like, the first since they ate with Jesus and he gave them broken bread and poured out wine, telling them they were his broken body and poured out blood.

I wonder what these elements mean for us on this of all days, as we eat the bread and drink the wine at the foot of the cross, the seven last words still ringing in our ears.

I imagine it would have been a quiet meal for the disciples, each wrapped in their own thoughts, and so I suggest we share in the same way. 

I will offer the bread and then the wine with some simple words. I invite you to take from the tray and then take it to offer to the next person. It is our usual practice to eat the bread straightaway and hold onto the cup, but this morning I invite you to eat and drink in your own time. There are gluten free crackers and the wine is nonalcoholic. Anyone who wishes to share in this meal is invited to do so.

Take it, this is his body.

[Bread is shared]

Take it, this is his blood.

[Wine is shared]

Song | Here is Love (vv3-4)

Blessing | Therefore Will I Hope by Jan Richardson 

Dismissal