Good Friday

“By now it was noon.  The whole earth became dark, the darkness lasting three hours—a total blackout.  The Temple curtain split right down the middle.  Jesus called out loudly, ‘Father, I place my life in your hands!’  Then he breathed his last.”

(Luke 23:44-46 from The Message)

My senior year at Duke Divinity School, I had the opportunity to participate in the leadership of the Holy Week services at Duke Chapel.  As our final act of worship on Maundy Thursday, we stripped the altar of all ornaments, candles, and vestments.  As the process began, I found my eyes welling with tears.  As the process continued, I wept openly.  Just as Jesus was stripped and humiliated by the soldiers, we stripped the altar of all the signs of his life to symbolize His purposeful redemptive suffering and death for us.  We extinguished the candles and removed them from the sanctuary.  We removed the offerings.  We removed the Bible.  We removed the communion vessels.  We removed the paraments.  Finally, a black shroud was placed over the cross.  There was no benediction or postlude.  We left the sanctuary in silence.

I was haunted all day Friday by the image of the black shroud covering the cross.  It was a struggle to function on that “Good” Friday as I reflected on Jesus’ suffering and death.  I thought about those first followers of Jesus and what this day must have been like for them.  

Unlike those first followers, we know that this is not the end of the story.  It is tempting to skip over the darkness of Good Friday in order to move to the light, but we need this day to stop and to remember.  In the words of the Afro-American spiritual, “Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there when they crucified my Lord?   Oh!  Sometimes it causes me to tremble tremble tremble . . . Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” (UMH 288)

PRAYER: Gracious loving God, we know that Good Friday is necessary in order to have Easter.  We know that we have to go into the depths of brokenness in order to receive the abundant gift of Resurrection life.  But it is hard and we need your help.  Even as the shroud hangs over the cross, be with us and give us strength, comfort, and courage.  Through Christ we pray, Amen.

Written by Stacey Watkins-Griffith