B, Good Friday 2nd
Hour Service
Jn. 19:13-25
The Rev.
O Lord to see you is the end and the beginning. You carry us and you go before us. You are the journey and the journey’s end. Amen.
We gather this afternoon to observe, contemplate and reflect on the last few hours of Jesus’ life. This afternoon we follow in the footsteps of millions of Christians who over the centuries on Good Friday have gathered to commemorate the death of our Lord.
This Good Friday service is a solemn commemoration of and participation in the great events of this day. Ultimately, this day is a commemoration of the salvation of the human race because of the death of Christ, who out of his love for us, died on the Cross. In suffering death, he destroyed death for us.
This week I researched the History of Good Friday
celebrations in the Church.
Interestingly, I found that the observance of the Friday before Easter
as a commemoration of Jesus’ crucifixion can be traced all the way back to
One of the premier Liturgists of the Church, Leonel Mitchell writes that,
“Prior to that time Easter had been a [single] celebration of the passion and resurrection…[so] the entire saving event of Christ’s dying and rising again …were celebrated as a single event as God’s victory in Christ over sin and death. It was not until the fourth century when the observance of Good Friday spread throughout the Christian East and then to the West that the two aspects were separated into Good Friday and Easter Celebrations. The Good Friday liturgy consists of three parts, the Liturgy of the Word, the Veneration of the Cross and Communion from the reserved sacrament.”[1]
You will notice that we will follow this historical pattern
this afternoon. The Liturgy of the Word
is a part of each of the three hours. At
this Second Hour service, the Word liturgy is followed by the Veneration of the
Cross. According to Mitchell, “This was
a ceremony brought home by Pilgrims from
Pilgrims brought home not only the ceremony, but also relics
or pieces of the “true Cross” as well.
In the fourth century, Emperor Constantine’s mother,
In just a few moments, a Cross will be brought into our service. In some ways the Veneration of the Cross occupies the same place in our service as the Offertory and the Great Thanksgiving—or Celebration of Holy Eucharist. Devotion before the Cross fulfills a kind of sacramental function on Good Friday. As the centerpiece coming in the middle of the second hour, it is the focus of this three hour service and provides an opportunity for us to demonstrate our faith and piety as we gaze upon and even approach the Cross as we remember Christ’s death.
In the Middle Ages the Veneration was called ‘Creeping to the Cross’ and people approached the Cross on their knees, making three genuflections and kissing the wood or kissing the feet of the figure of Christ.
We view the Cross with reverence. As the instrument of our salvation, we view
it in high esteem and high regard. But
it wasn’t until the fourth century the Cross became a positive symbol. Under
The image of Christ dying on the Cross is one of our most powerful icons. The Cross is our symbol, our reminder of Christ’s suffering and the atonement he made with God for us.
Today there are a variety of ways we might express our humility, express our reverence and our gratitude for Christ’s death. Some might come forward and kneel, some might touch the Cross; some might kiss the cross, some might genuflect and maybe even weep in front of it. Some might sip from the chalice of vinegar that will be placed at the base of the Cross. Others of us might prefer to kneel in the pew looking at the Cross, meditating and praying.
As we do any one of these things this afternoon, we
reverently remember the words we heard a moment ago from John’s Gospel: “Then
[Pilate] handed Jesus over to be crucified.
So they took Jesus; …and carrying the Cross by himself …he went out to
the Place of the Skull… which in Hebrew is called
Today in a small way we participate in the events of Good Friday. We remember Jesus’ death. We remember his suffering, the agony and humiliation he endured. In a small way we show our own gratitude and thanks for what he suffered on this day.
In the words of the Anthem we will say in just a moment:
We glory in your Cross, O Lord,
And praise and glorify your holy resurrection;
For by virtue of your cross
Joy has come to the whole world.
Amen.