Prop - Lit Candle
It is such a poignant day today, and one where we might want to keep vigil between the hours of 12noon and 3pm. It is such a significant day where we mark the death of Jesus and call it Good.
I genuinely hope you have been able to find time in the week to follow the Holy Week story. But just in case let me give you the premise for this year’s contemplation and reflection:
When we focus on where the blame lies we make it all about us.
When we focus on love we make it all about Jesus.
As Peter writes:
For you know what was paid to set you free from the worthless manner of life handed down by your ancestors. It was not something that can destroyed such as silver or gold; it was the costly sacrifice of Christ, who was like a lamb without defect or flaw...through him you believe in God, who raised him from death and gave him glory; and so your faith and hope are fixed on God.
That sacrifice was given in love. Behind all that happens, the suffering and the tragic, the cruelty and the abuse, lies a deep love. For only love could have kept Jesus present through it all. Even in the temptations of the wilderness the devil tells us that he knows the angels would come if Jesus but called them. Only love could give him the dignity to stay the course, that even as he died love poured out in forgiveness.
So as we travel through these stories, the texts should speak for themselves. However I encourage you to use your imagination and to have the courage to be present. See how much you are loved. And though your love for Christ would not see him crucified, know his love for you is greater than death.
The readings run from John 18:1 - 19:42 so keep Bibles handy.
If you haven’t lit your candle yet - please do so and put it somewhere safe, ideally where you can see it or be aware of it.
Let us pray
Holy God, We come humble because we know we don’t deserve the love you pour out upon us.
We come in trepidation because we know that this event, significant though it is, breaks our heart.
Like Peter we want to run weeping.
Like Judas we throw our hands up in despair and plead forgiveness.
And yet though we know we are not innocent, we come in gratitude to thank you for your great love, your great mercy, your infinite patience and your willingness to fight for us.
Lord Jesus, we invite you to be our Lord and Teacher this day. That as we witness your arrest, your trial, your crucifixion, your death, we would take all that we have learnt of you and ourselves especially in these past days, and look beyond the words and immerse ourselves in the story.
Holy Spirit, give us the courage to be truly present. Give us the wisdom to see the truth and to embrace it. And bless us as we too keep watch with the disciples.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayers. Amen.
Reading 1: John 18:1-14 The Arrest of Jesus
Reading 2: John 18:15-27 The Denials of Peter
Reading 3: John 18: 28-38 Jesus Before Pilate
Reflective Pause
How many of you love watching a crime drama, solving a good who dunnit on tv or in a book, just to be surprised at the ending? I grew up on Perry Mason and the like and part of me wanted to be a lawyer. Turns out I’m too nice and too lazy an academic! We often read these as if thinking the events just came together by chance. But throughout the texts we have studied this week and indeed through Lent there has been much in the way of planning.
When Judas returns his thirty coins and asks to have no part in what happened, we know for sure how developed the plan of the religious authorities were. Nothing happened by chance. Even the timing was carefully orchestrated so that Pilate would be afraid of an uprising and do as he was told - manipulated by clever people and mob rule.
Jesus knew his hour was approaching and then come. The signs were all there and he was close to God his Father, and therefore able to interpret what is happening. For Jesus this path that he was on was necessary. There was no other way. We might want there to be another way. We might be hurting so bad like Peter that we want to run away. We might be like Judas and want no part in this no more. But we must stay the course, even if we withdraw to the sidelines. And we come with the benefit of knowing what happens next. Yet like I couldn’t become a lawyer overnight, like a baby doesn’t just arrive by stork, like love isn’t a bed of roses, we have to face the truth that Jesus doesn’t just walk away from this.
We have a precious invitation to watch, and to know that all that happens next is because we are so loved, that God gave his one and only Son that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.
See your candle light flicker, take a breath, and prepare yourself for what happens next as the stage is set for the final act...
Reading 4: John 18:38b-19:16 Jesus sentenced to death
Reading 5: John 19:16b-19:30 Jesus dies
I invite you to blow out your candle and to watch the smoke as it drifts, and just to pause as you remember. In the silence feel the emptiness, the grief of those who loved him so, the shock of the disciples and the fear and delight from those who watched.
A prayerful reflection by Rev Roddy Hamilton
When the alleluias fall silent
and the story comes to a stop
and the words fade out mid-sentence
and even the stones keep quiet
and those who still find there is something to say
shout for the wrong side
then you know
the Lord of Life
has finished the parable
with one final sentence
'It is finished'
and the tragedy bows its final bow in the world
and is entombed
all that remains
is the fear
that we may never find our voices again
and we will forget
how to speak of love
now the word
has been silenced
and the story
run out of endings
Allow the seed of hope to grow because Jesus said this was not the end. That it was necessary but not the end. Even in our grief where all seems dark - the light of God still burns. We know there is more to follow and on Sunday morning I invite you to light the candle again and for a moment in the calm, rejoice.
Reading: John 19:31-42
Let us close in prayer and this service is the one service I close without a blessing, as Christ is laid in the tomb.
Closing Prayer
Lord, as you are laid to rest and we go on with our lives, we pray that we would leave this time of worship filled with grace. That we would look upon your people with gentleness, that we would be compassionate with the hurting, responding to the cries of the innocent unjustly punished. But more that anything that we would know how much we are loved, and in that knowledge be confident to live our lives with faith, courage and hope, even in the darkest of times.
May we be reverent and thoughtful and continue in prayer, keeping watch til the stone is rolled and we rejoice once more. In your name we pray. Amen.
Keep watch for Sunday comes.
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