Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley
to where there was a garden,
into which he and his disciples entered.
Judas his betrayer also knew the place,
because Jesus had often met there with his disciples.
So Judas got a band of soldiers and guards
from the chief priests and the Pharisees
and went there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.
Jesus, knowing everything that was going to happen to him,
went out and said to them, “Whom are you looking for?”
They answered him, “Jesus the Nazorean.”
He said to them, “I AM.”
Judas his betrayer was also with them.
When he said to them, “I AM, “
they turned away and fell to the ground.
So he again asked them,
“Whom are you looking for?”
They said, “Jesus the Nazorean.”
Jesus answered,
“I told you that I AM.
So if you are looking for me, let these men go.”
This was to fulfill what he had said,
“I have not lost any of those you gave me.”
Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it,
struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear.
The slave’s name was Malchus.
Jesus said to Peter,
“Put your sword into its scabbard.
Shall I not drink the cup that the Father gave me?”
So the band of soldiers, the tribune, and the Jewish guards seized Jesus,
bound him, and brought him to Annas first.
He was the father-in-law of Caiaphas,
who was high priest that year.
It was Caiaphas who had counseled the Jews
that it was better that one man should die rather than the people.
Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus.
Now the other disciple was known to the high priest,
and he entered the courtyard of the high priest with Jesus.
But Peter stood at the gate outside.
So the other disciple, the acquaintance of the high priest,
went out and spoke to the gatekeeper and brought Peter in.
Then the maid who was the gatekeeper said to Peter,
“You are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?”
He said, “I am not.”
Now the slaves and the guards were standing around a charcoal fire
that they had made, because it was cold,
and were warming themselves.
Peter was also standing there keeping warm.
The high priest questioned Jesus
about his disciples and about his doctrine.
Jesus answered him,
“I have spoken publicly to the world.
I have always taught in a synagogue
or in the temple area where all the Jews gather,
and in secret I have said nothing. Why ask me?
Ask those who heard me what I said to them.
They know what I said.”
When he had said this,
one of the temple guards standing there struck Jesus and said,
“Is this the way you answer the high priest?”
Jesus answered him,
“If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong;
but if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?”
Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.
Now Simon Peter was standing there keeping warm.
And they said to him,
“You are not one of his disciples, are you?”
He denied it and said,
“I am not.”
One of the slaves of the high priest,
a relative of the one whose ear Peter had cut off, said,
“Didn’t I see you in the garden with him?”
Again Peter denied it.
And immediately the cock crowed.
Then they brought Jesus from Caiaphas to the praetorium.
It was morning.
And they themselves did not enter the praetorium,
in order not to be defiled so that they could eat the Passover.
So Pilate came out to them and said,
“What charge do you bring against this man?”
They answered and said to him,
“If he were not a criminal,
we would not have handed him over to you.”
At this, Pilate said to them,
“Take him yourselves, and judge him according to your law.”
The Jews answered him,
“We do not have the right to execute anyone, “
in order that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled
that he said indicating the kind of death he would die.
So Pilate went back into the praetorium
and summoned Jesus and said to him,
“Are you the King of the Jews?”
Jesus answered,
“Do you say this on your own
or have others told you about me?”
Pilate answered,
“I am not a Jew, am I?
Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me.
What have you done?”
Jesus answered,
“My kingdom does not belong to this world.
If my kingdom did belong to this world,
my attendants would be fighting
to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.
But as it is, my kingdom is not here.”
So Pilate said to him,
“Then you are a king?”
Jesus answered,
“You say I am a king.
For this I was born and for this I came into the world,
to testify to the truth.
Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”
When he had said this,
he again went out to the Jews and said to them,
“I find no guilt in him.
But you have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at Passover.
Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”
They cried out again,
“Not this one but Barabbas!”
Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged.
And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head,
and clothed him in a purple cloak,
and they came to him and said,
“Hail, King of the Jews!”
And they struck him repeatedly.
Once more Pilate went out and said to them,
“Look, I am bringing him out to you,
so that you may know that I find no guilt in him.”
So Jesus came out,
wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cloak.
And he said to them, “Behold, the man!”
When the chief priests and the guards saw him they cried out,
“Crucify him, crucify him!”
Pilate said to them,
“Take him yourselves and crucify him.
I find no guilt in him.”
The Jews answered,
“We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die,
because he made himself the Son of God.”
Now when Pilate heard this statement,
he became even more afraid,
and went back into the praetorium and said to Jesus,
“Where are you from?”
Jesus did not answer him.
So Pilate said to him,
“Do you not speak to me?
Do you not know that I have power to release you
and I have power to crucify you?”
Jesus answered him,
“You would have no power over me
if it had not been given to you from above.
For this reason the one who handed me over to you
has the greater sin.”
Consequently, Pilate tried to release him; but the Jews cried out,
“If you release him, you are not a Friend of Caesar.
Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”
When Pilate heard these words he brought Jesus out
and seated him on the judge’s bench
in the place called Stone Pavement, in Hebrew, Gabbatha.
It was preparation day for Passover, and it was about noon.
And he said to the Jews,
“Behold, your king!”
They cried out,
“Take him away, take him away! Crucify him!”
Pilate said to them,
“Shall I crucify your king?”
The chief priests answered,
“We have no king but Caesar.”
Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.
So they took Jesus, and, carrying the cross himself,
he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull,
in Hebrew, Golgotha.
There they crucified him, and with him two others,
one on either side, with Jesus in the middle.
Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross.
It read,
“Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews.”
Now many of the Jews read this inscription,
because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city;
and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.
So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate,
“Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’
but that he said, ‘I am the King of the Jews’.”
Pilate answered,
“What I have written, I have written.”
When the soldiers had crucified Jesus,
they took his clothes and divided them into four shares,
a share for each soldier.
They also took his tunic, but the tunic was seamless,
woven in one piece from the top down.
So they said to one another,
“Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it will be, “
in order that the passage of Scripture might be fulfilled that says:
They divided my garments among them,
and for my vesture they cast lots.
This is what the soldiers did.
Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother
and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas,
and Mary of Magdala.
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved
he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.”
Then he said to the disciple,
“Behold, your mother.”
And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.
After this, aware that everything was now finished,
in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
Jesus said, “I thirst.”
There was a vessel filled with common wine.
So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop
and put it up to his mouth.
When Jesus had taken the wine, he said,
“It is finished.”
And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.
Here all kneel and pause for a short time.
Now since it was preparation day,
in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath,
for the sabbath day of that week was a solemn one,
the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken
and that they be taken down.
So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first
and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus.
But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead,
they did not break his legs,
but one soldier thrust his lance into his side,
and immediately blood and water flowed out.
An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true;
he knows that he is speaking the truth,
so that you also may come to believe.
For this happened so that the Scripture passage might be fulfilled:
Not a bone of it will be broken.
And again another passage says:
They will look upon him whom they have pierced.
After this, Joseph of Arimathea,
secretly a disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews,
asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus.
And Pilate permitted it.
So he came and took his body.
Nicodemus, the one who had first come to him at night,
also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes
weighing about one hundred pounds.
They took the body of Jesus
and bound it with burial cloths along with the spices,
according to the Jewish burial custom.
Now in the place where he had been crucified there was a garden,
and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been buried.
So they laid Jesus there because of the Jewish preparation day;
for the tomb was close by.
Jesus, our Lord and our God, you gave your cheek to those who struck you and for our sake you endured much mockery. Grant that following the example of your sufferings, we may be courageous in bearing our own, and learn from you, for you are meek and lowly in heart; you now reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen
Amen!
A very dear Friend of these Bless-ed Branches posted this short Portuguese film last Easter. It brought me to tears.
My beloved friend disappeared suddenly. But I know whatever he is, our Father Who loves us so much He gave His only begotten Son so we might live eternally with Him has him in the palm of His hand.
I am sharing his Good Friday contribution with all who feel the magnitude of Christ’s sacrifice.
This remarkable, somber yet hopeful work is the one which I’ll listen to today.
Berlioz’s Grande Messe des Morts
The pathos overwhelms me on the saddest day of the Christian calendar. The serene ending of this magnificent performance fill me with peace, knowing joy will follow. The perfect voices allow me to imagine being in the presence of the Most Holy.
For spiritual contemplation on Good Friday, I am sharing with all my brothers and sisters in Christ.
His blessings I pray for each of you.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6cFwAcKxAvQ
Thank you dear Betsy.
All I posted stir that contemplation, dear Patriot. I thought last Easter I was feeling the emotions as strongly as never before. And it was true…then. This year it is more painful. But Easter morning I am praying will provide us with renewed, fortified hope which we must, must always keep alive. Especially do I pray this for so many who have lost it…🙏🏻🕊
There are times through life when the only thing that makes sense is “Jesus Loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so”. That right there, is the basis for peace that passes all understanding, and has never changed from the Cross until now.
Sometimes, even many times, Oldretiredguy, that’s all we can manage. And we know we are heard 🙏🏻
Amen.
Amen.
Blessings to you, Betsy, for posting that link. That opus 5, the Requiem Mass, is what made this unbelieving teenager some 60 years ago, realize that there was indeed a Lord of Hosts, and that He inspired some of his feeble creatures to speak in music that reflected His glory.
Oh Yinzer…I am overjoyed that you know it. The first time I heard it not three years ago I couldn’t breathe. I don’t know with my passion for classical music my whole life how I had never heard it. But I was overwhelmed ( I can think of no other word) with this performance with Saraste. Listening, rather than being distracted with the video (although the cathedral took my breath away also) was a spiritually changing experience for me. Perfection, all of it, and I thought apposite for this day of tremendous sorrow.
Thank you again. I have Beecham’s 1950s mono recording, Munch/Boston SO on RCA, and Ormandy/Philadelphia’s stereo on Columbia, all on vinyl. Shaw and Atlanta released a fine digital recording maybe 20 years ago. But this Saraste is far and away the best I’ve heard yet … and the setting!!
I have to thank my late (and agnostic) father for introducing me to the great romantic era choral compositions – the Verdi, Berlioz and Brahms requiems, Berlioz’ “L’Enfance du Christ”, and others. Convinced that ol’ dad was not really agnostic, but a quiet believer – a necessity of survival in the university world of the 1960s was to keep your faith to yourself.
This may be of interest to you: https://www.talkclassical.com/threads/berliozs-requiem-on-cd.69038/
I know all the great choral works you mention so so well. That you would consider this Requiem performance (I hate to use such an ordinary word as a descriptive…there has to be another which is more fitting for Saraste’s deliverance of it, and the artists who sang and played) the best you’ve heard over Shaw’s and Ormandy’s tells me everything. Surely somewhere within your father there was a divine, spiritual part of him. I can’t believe anyone with a love for this music would not have one.
I sincerely thank you for the link and am very interested. Will read right now.
How fascinating. My British electrical engineering father in law couldn’t read a note, but my goodness!! He could play! He set the sound systems up in Liverpool and Ely Cathedrals. I’ve been in both. To make sure all was as it should be he then played their organs, after permission of course. What a wonderful link, Yinzer! Such a thrill to read this!
This is heartbreakingly the saddest day of the Christian calendar, Betsy.
Blessings to those who know He has truly risen!🙏
Still, each year–a very reflective, somber day. ✝️
Oh yes , Lorrie. I’ve been feeling it all day long, sis.
Thank you Betsy, I am a classical music fan and don’t believe I have ever listened to this. Thank you and have a Holy, Happy Easter!
This is a compilation of clips from the very excellent “Jesus of Nazareth”.
Hands-down the best video about the life, death, and resurrection.
Its English from 1977. Really excellent cast. Quite loyal to the Gospel.
I remember it playing as a mini-series on TV several years in a row. They would NEVER run it now!
I’m looking at my copy — run time 382 minutes, director Franco Zeffirelli.
I got my copy on Ebay.
I should have considered this would be Zeffirelli’s work, Tammy. And I more than grateful that you took the time to pass on where I can get it. Thank you so much!
Idem
The movie is still on youtube, or used to be. Oh didn’t think of ebay! Thx for the idea. I love it, always will.
I can’t remember the last time I was able to watch deMilles’ “The Ten Commandments”. That very title triggered the “entertainment” demons to remove it from our enjoyment.
Thank you!
🏴🏴🏴❤️
You’re welcome, dear Dekester 💕 I wish for you and your family a joyous Easter to come.
✅️Agree with Dekester and immediately shared your posted 📫 picture 📸 of Christ Jesus and the associated John 3:16 to family and friends. 👌👍.
👉Blessings to you dear Betsy jones and all on this post 📫 sharing such blessings 🙌 and worship of God’s dear Son, Jesus Christ the Lamb of God 👈🙏
Bless, my friend, and I return those blessings to you. The impact on me was instant and powerful and much needed. I hope it will be the same for those with whom you’ve shared, dear sir 🙏🏻🕊
Thank you. I will share this.
You are so welcome, minnesoter.
Thank you Betsy. I had not seen that video before today. My tears flow. This is a sacred and somber day of remembrance.
Mine, too, Eagle. The first time I saw it they came rushing and wouldn’t stop. A blessing that of all the things our Father has shown to us He has not allowed us to feel or to know the agony of the suffering of His Son as it was experienced.
Our poor minds can imagine, but never grasp it.
Amen.
Thank you Betsy.
Just back from our Good Friday ceremonies.
“Father into your hands I commend my spirit”
God bless you all and have a joyous Easter.
You are welcome, Patrick, my friend. There will be unalloyed joy on Easter morning. And I wish you and your family a most Bless-ed one, too 🙏🏻🕊
✝️
🙏🏻
❤️
🙏🏻
No words needed, dear, dear sir. Not at all…Blessed be your hearth and home, you, and those you love this Easter 🙏🏻💕
The same to you & yours, Betsy.
😘 😌
First and foremost, the video is absolutely amazing and accurate. He did suffer so greatly.
But this is so hard for me to watch…The stir of emotions is overwhelming. The cruelty. The hate and the torture of an innocent for his beliefs is so overwhelming. He died to save us all and today we see that same cruelty manifesting itself in a civilized world.
I have always had a hard time looking at or having the cross in my presence because I feel as if it were like a mother carrying around the gun that killed her child in the streets. I love my God dearly & I adore & love his son Jesus… but to see this horror delt to an innocent is beyond the pale for human existence.
I always remember this day with Jesus at the Last Supper because this where he called specifically in the Bible for us to remember him… Thank you Jesus for all you endured from mankind…to save mankind. There is no greater LOVE.
sunnydaysall, I struggle, too. What we saw in that brief clip was like a knife in my heart. I wanted to look away but wouldn’t, couldn’t. And today the faces of like hatred are shocking to me, because I cannot understand it. We see not disgust but raw, volatile hatred. I don’t see how it can go on, abetted as it is by malevolent pot stirrers who rejoice in the results of their evil work, which we see every single day.
What Christ endured for our sins, for the love of us is unimaginable. I wanted to shout at the screaming, blood baying tormenters, “What are you doing??”
The same as I do today.
It gets harder as we sink to depths I never ever thought we’d experience in the America I grew up in and took for granted it would always be.
And this includes being targeted for our love of the Son of man, the same Christ Who sacrificed himself for all of us…
Especially those so eaten up with the hatred which has to make their lives so miserable…if they only knew.
Repentance, Redemption, and Salvation. Free gifts to anyone who asks, made possible by the piteous, selfless love of the Lamb.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Yours are beautiful words. Goosebumps.
Very beautiful scenes from one of the IMO the greatest movie of Jesus’ life of all time. “Jesus of Nazareth“. 1977 Director Franco Zeffirelli . Robert Powell was / is for me the best portrayal of Jesus. Olivia Hussey, as his sweetest Mother. All other actors were of excellence. Thank you. Bless all and your loved ones. Happy Easter. He Is Risen !
Blessings, wolvybat. And a joyous Easter to you. There is much to be grateful for.
He is risen indeed 🙏🏻🕊
Amen wolvereena. lol
What does the cross of Jesus mean; it’s more than words we say, so much more than that emblem on your chain. But it means I’m free
Retired Magistrate here: The cross of JESUS means that JESUS was separated from GOD for the first time in eternity so that I would not have to be separated from GOD for eternity. JESUS: my LORD and SAVIOR.
🙏🏻👍 Absolute truth
A favorite by SM Lockridge: It’s Friday, but Sunday’s Coming.
Thank you for this.
‘O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?’
Thank you Hoo vol… this is profound.
Awesome, thank you !
Good Friday – the most dreadful and wonderful day on the Christian calendar. It made Easter possible.
To All: Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum.
Leading to Resurrection Sunday and the single most important event in the history of man.
Et cum spiritu tuo.
Et semper tecum
Thank you for this! ☺️
Seven Cries in the Dark
Join Bel Air Church in California for their Good Friday reflection on Jesus’ final words.Seven Cries in the Dark
Not a day for sacrilege.
…and the cock crowed…pax vobis.Amen
Thank you, Menagerie, for posting this sacred account of Jesus’ horrific time.
I’ve heard the story many times – yet it never gets easier.
Rather, it’s harder to read as we become more aware that the Lord Jesus went through this for us – individually, personally.
>>
Frederick William Pitt, (1859-1943) pastor in London, wrote many poems and hymns.
The beautiful words of this song, “The Maker of the Universe,” give pause for reflection.
Not only did Creator God provide Himself for the “sacrifice,” but He created all things for His trial, torture, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension.
He took care of everything … to save us.
We praise you, dear Lord.
May the Lord God draw near and hold you close today …
The Maker of the Universe:
1
The Maker of the universe
As Man, for man was made a curse.
The claims of law which He had made,
Unto the uttermost He paid.
2
His holy fingers made the bough
Which grew the thorns that crowned His brow.
The nails that pierced His hands were mined
In secret places He designed.
3
He made the forest whence there sprung
The tree on which His body hung.
He died upon a cross of wood,
Yet made the hill on which it stood.
4
The sky that darkened o’er His head
By Him above the earth was spread.
The sun that hid from Him its face
By His decree was poised in space.
5
The spear which spilled His precious blood
Was tempered in the fires of God.
The grave in which His form was laid,
Was hewn in rocks His hands had made.
6
The throne on which He now appears
Was His from everlasting years.
But a new glory crowns His brow.
And every knee to Him shall bow.
This! As I become more aware of the world around me it adds a depth to the scripture. Shame that it has taken this long.
I am also slow. but, He waited for me!
Profound words . AMEN !
Just a thought …
(Jesus answered) “ … Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” (37)
Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” (38) John 18 (ESV)
It moves my heart when I read Pilate’s searching words.
Pilate asked Jesus one of the most important questions in life.
But it’s not recorded here if he discovered the answer, as Jesus declared in John 14:6.
Pilate took his own life.
Thank You Jesus!
The Death of King Conor Mac Nessa. Great poem on such a somber day
The thought that Christ took on all of our sins, suffered on the cross, and died to save us……..brings me to my knees.
Thank you Jesus.
Thank you for posting this.
I’m a sinner. A grateful one. Jesus is the way.
A prodigal daughter am I.
“It is finished.”
That which was prophesied and promised was done.
And so shall the rest be also 🙏🏻
Once upon a time now long past…
How far we have fallen. But where Jesus is – there is hope.
IDEM .
Ain’t no grave
gonna hold my body down…
Never forget that the LORD Jesus Christ stated very clearly WHO was and is responsible for the murder of the LORD Jesus Christ!
John 19:10-11
King James Version
10 Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?
11 Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.
Made with Love by my grandfather in the 1950’s
It is 3′ x 2 1/2′. Wood carved by hand and Jesus’s figure made with plaster of Paris.
How exquisite❣️❣️❣️
What a treasure.
Passion —even beyond talent
A Heavenly and Earthly treasure for your family. God Bless.
As we approach the culmination of Mary’s 7 Dolors….forget not this is the head of the beautiful baby she cuddled…
And his father and mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through you own soul also), so that the thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” (Luke 2:33-36)
In the words of this prophecy, she is hearing that her Son will cause controversy and will be opposed, but also that she will suffer for it. Simeon also does not provide any specific details of what all of this suffering will entail, which may have caused temptation for her to worry and fear what is to come.
https://www.corpuschristiphx.org/blog?month=202102&id=2027514633&cat=931661708
Thank You, Aggiegirl ... that’s an especially profound passage, as is your interpretation.
Every Mother’s lot is to also suffer every pain that befalls her child.
A Mother’s inability or unwillingness to feel & experience her child’s pains is indication of separation from the Holy Spirit.
It’s just an opinion I can feel the Truth of, from personal experience and from observing others.
I was separated from The Spirit at the beginning of this life (by atrocities committed ‘in the name of god’, aka Spiritual rape). Hindsight shows me I’ve had to experience first the Cosmically Joyful Nature of ChildBirth itself (in “suffer the little children come unto me”, ‘suffer’ means *allow*; in following the instruction and allowing childbirth fully, there is unfathomable & otherworldly Joy; women are “fearfully & wondrously made” like that; it’s a singular, innate, & inherent Blessing of privilege conveyed by no other means) and subsequently, to experience my own children being deeply harmed to the point of being called Home, and then miraculously resurrected/restored; I could not have consciously known the power of Divine Love and Mercy – for any of them &/or for myself – otherwise.
Hindsight clarifies what occurred inside me, in my Heart, my mind, and my entire being at my core, spontaneously during those times, and a precious few others – by none of my own choosing or doing – and proves to me that the Godless usurpers’ deliberate efforts to separate me from The Holy Spirit were ultimately unsuccessful. God showed up in me, and I was never afraid; sad, yes, and feeling untethered certainly, but somehow unconditionally feeling Love and willing to let God’s Will Be Done… and never /not for an instant afraid.
“Sunday’s coming” ~Hoo vol
“I am also slow. but, He waited for me!” ~linwik
are only 2 of many of today’s sharings here that bring me to tears and to my knees again in Gratitude for His Love and Mercy – and constant, unfailing, unrelenting presence and influence – in my own life and in the lives of my beloveds.
“… When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved
he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.”
Then he said to the disciple,
“Behold, your mother.”
And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.
…”
Jesus answers a Mother’s True need ( here in his own final moments of earthly embodiment), when it comes in & fills her, when it shows through her eyes and on her face from within. I believe some Mothers need to feel regret in order to feel their child’s pain; nothing hurts like regret, most especially when it’s too little too late. As Joseph Campbell wrote
“Regrets are illuminations come too late.”
Though I’m not without painful regret, I’m deeply Grateful I’ve been allowed, on balance, a greater weight of Joy than regret as a Mother in this life.
I chose Mary Magdalen for my Confirmation name – I had childish, irrational reasons at the time, and though the adults around me tried everything to make me change my mind and choose someone else (anyone else!), including first to shame me away from that name before implementing several other harsh coercive measures… I flatly refused to attend the ceremony otherwise; there was much wailing & gnashing of teeth preceding… and I was unafraid of the Humans who would punish me for not complying.
Hindsight again shows me that it was also Divine Guidance that inspired me to choose, and unshakably hold onto, the besmirched name of one so intimately connected to The Holy Grail for myself.
I realized deeper awareness (of lies I was told to usurp me from connection to Holy Spirit) and much-needed congruence when I was Guided to read one of my Spiritual breadcrumbs, a book titled The Woman With The Alabaster Jar.
{ https://www.betterworldbooks.com/product/detail/the-woman-with-the-alabaster-jar-mary-magdalen-and-the-holy-grail-9781879181038? } ((Disclaimer – may be controversial & cause cognitive dissonance, I found it Spiritually nourishing; there is a lot more written about this author’s research-project-findings-&-conclusions book, including reviews from people who decry it, on amazon – which, to be clear, I avoid promoting whenever I can))
I wish everyone a profoundly Thoughtful, Heart-felt, and deeply Joyful Easter Season… as it is for me.
I’m Truly Grateful for everyone here – always clarifying mirrors; one way or another.
I’m something of a backslid Catholic.
The scene in this movie of the scourging, carrying the Cross, and the Crucifixion never fails to reach down into my soul.
There is an obscure prophecy in Zechariah 3 that can only be understood through the events of this day.
Now listen, High Priest Joshua, you and your associates who sit in front of you—because these men are a sign. Look! I am going to bring my servant, the Branch. Look carefully at the stone that I placed in front of Joshua! On one stone with seven facets I will engrave an inscription, declares the Lord of Armies, and I will remove the guilt of this land in a single day.
When Zechariah prophesies that the guilt of the land will be removed in a single day, it helps to know that for him, the day ended at sunset, and so a new single day also began then. We switch days at midnight, so we are accustomed to separate Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Consider instead the 24 hours beginning in the upper room and ending with the burial. Matthew, Mark and Luke each spend the better part of two chapters on this day. John’s gospel covers this day with 7 chapters, about one third of his book. Throughout those chapters he emphasizes the love that Jesus has for us—“No one has greater love than this: that one lays down his life for his friends.” Jesus in these chapters also emphasizes how his obedience to death on the cross glorifies both him and his Father. Paul picks up on this in Philippians 2, that because Jesus was obedient even to death on the cross, “God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” There is another irony, if you will. After he created the heavens and the earth and saw that it was very good, he rested, and used that as the basis for the Sabbath Day. On Good Friday, after he finished his work of removing the guilt of the earth, he rested in the tomb on the Sabbath Day.
To the extent that this day is about me, there is nothing to boast about. On the other hand, because it is about him, we can sing “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain” for the rest of eternity.
Amen 🙏 brother 🙏 🙌
Every Good Friday I have these thoughts.
On this day, a scant 2,000+ years ago, men killed the un-killable and cursed the un-cursable. They tortured and put to death the very essence of innocence. Many of those who did it knew full well who He was, and thus were repeating the true original sin, the sin of Archangel Lucifer who had the crazy idea that HE should be God.
On Good Friday I wonder how the very universe did not rip apart on that day.
In a way, it did. The old laws, established at the dawn of man, were shattered (or, if you will, fulfilled). The old relationship (covenant) between God and his creation was shattered utterly. Jesus, son of God, died under conditions which in the “old” universe would have condemned him to Hell, The utter paradox of this required that the universal laws be rewritten. I suspect that the powers of evil either didn’t know or didn’t believe this to be possible – the all too common mistake of assuming what God cannot do that we still make daily.
But what they meant for evil, God used for good. As always.
You can probably tell from this writing that I am a “student” of C.S. Lewis, he wrote about such things much more eloquently than I. I hope he approves.
So, remember today that, as an old hymn said, “He could have sent 10,000 angels to destroy the world, and set Him free”. God had already tipped over the chessboard once, it is still in His playbook. Instead, His love and mercy was such that to save us I believe that He chose to instead rewrite the basic operating system of His universe so that the resurrected Jesus could be our redeemer and advocate. It was an act of forgiveness so profound and unimaginable as to change everything, everywhere, for all time. Our sins which keep us from God are washed away at the low, low price of simply asking for it.
What they meant for evil, God used for good. As always.
Jeff (The Lone Racoon)
Bless you, Jeff.
Today I came across this excerpt from C. S. Lewis’ writings.
Accurately profound …
“On the one hand Death is the triumph of Satan, the punishment of the Fall, and the last enemy. Christ shed tears at the grave of Lazarus and sweated blood in Gethsemane: the Life of Lives that was in Him detested this penal obscenity not less than we do, but more.
On the other hand, only he who loses his life will save it. We are baptized into the death of Christ, and it is the remedy for the Fall. Death is, in fact, what some modern people call “ambivalent.” It is Satan’s great weapon and also God’s great weapon: it is holy and unholy; our supreme disgrace and our only hope; the thing Christ came to conquer and the means by which He conquered.”
~C.S. Lewis, Miracles
Thank you for posting this, Sundance.
To TCTH Nation…
Happy Good Friday.
May God Bless WE THE PEOPLE NOW AND FOREVER MORE.
“As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one…” — Romans 3:10
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” — Romans 3:23
“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” — Isaiah 53:5
THANK YOU! Praise be unto You, O LORD…
Holy Week in NYC, 1956.
May we get to see that someday again.
Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom. ✝️
Amen.
God blessed us by incarnating then sacrificing His only begotten Son.
In faithful and perfect obedience to His Father, Jesus died an excruciating death to take the Sins of the World onto Himself.
“excruciate” (v.) – “to torture, torment, inflict very severe pain on,” as if by crucifying, 1560s, from Latin excruciatus, past participle of excruciare “to torture, torment, rack, plague;” figuratively “to afflict, harass, vex, torment,” from ex “out, out from; thoroughly” (see ex-) + cruciare “cause pain or anguish to,” literally “crucify,” from crux (genitive crucis) “a cross” (see crux).
Key point about what we commemorate on Good Friday:
Christ‘s supreme achievement on the cross is that He placated the wrath of God, which would burn against us were we not covered by the sacrifice of Christ. Christ expiated and propitiated our sins that are an affront to God.
Together, expiation and propitiation constitute an act of placation. Christ did His work on the cross to placate the wrath of God.
When we talk about salvation biblically, we have to be careful to state that from which we ultimately are saved. The Apostle Paul does just that for us in 1 Thessalonians 1:10 , where he says Jesus “delivers us from the wrath to come.”
Ultimately, Jesus died to save us from the wrath of God. We simply cannot understand the teaching and the preaching of Jesus of Nazareth apart from this, for He constantly warned people that the whole world someday would come under divine judgment.
Here are three of Jesus’ warnings concerning the judgment:
Matt. 5:22
Matt. 12:36
Matt. 12:41
Jesus‘ theology was a crisis theology. The Greek word crisis means “judgment.” And the crisis of which Jesus preached was the crisis of an impending judgment of the world, at which point God is going to pour out His wrath against the unredeemed, the ungodly, and the impenitent. The only hope of escape from that outpouring of wrath was/is to be covered by the atonement of Christ.
Remember the unimaginable enormity of what Jesus took upon Himself on that cruel cross on Golgotha.
Ref. https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/two-important-words-good-friday-expiation-and-propitiation
Father Mike Schmitz is a Roman Catholic priest but his Good Friday message here is certainly true for all Christians, regardless of denomination.
The Meaning of the Cross
Thank you, God. Amen.
That scene from The Passion of the Christ gets me every time..
Thank you Menagerie, once again you’ve “fed” me..
God bless you.
One final contribution for Good Friday.
This is beautiful, and I am so glad I stumbled upon it 🙏🏻🕊
https://onepeterfive.com/the-prayer-of-jesus-in-the-garden/
O God of earth and altar,
bow down and hear our cry,
our earthly rulers falter,
our people drift and die;
the walls of gold entomb us,
the swords of scorn divide,
take not thy thunder from us,
but take away our pride.
2 From all that terror teaches,
from lies of tongue and pen,
from all the easy speeches
that comfort cruel men,
from sale and profanation
of honour and the sword,
from sleep and from damnation,
deliver us, good Lord!
3 Tie in a living tether
the prince and priest and thrall,
bind all our lives together,
smite us and save us all;
in ire and exultation
aflame with faith, and free,
lift up a living nation,
a single sword to thee.
Seemed fitting for the times we find ourselves in.
Lord have mercy on us
Thank you for providing these scriptural pieces. My little church was kind of destroyed by Covid, and I’m currently unchurched. It doesn’t bother me much except on days of liturgical significance, and then I miss it. Being able to open CTH and do the readings really helps. Good Friday is especially important.
Same, Baron. My church fell away long before covid. And has fallen even further away from God since. It grieves me more than I can put into words.
Thank you for posting this.
The Biden administration is proclaiming March 31st as an official Transgender day of visibility. Even though it is the most holy day, Easter Sunday! https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2024/03/29/a-proclamation-on-transgender-day-of-visibility-2024/