Good Friday Service 2012

Last night the Petersburg Christian Ministerial Association held its annual Community Good Friday service at the Lutheran Church. This year we read the Good Friday account from the gospel of Mark (chapter 15). It was divided among six pastors who read the passage and gave a brief thought based on it.

I was asked to be the pianist for the congregational singing and also provided a vocal solo, “Embrace the Cross.” The opening song was the hymn “Were You There.” The closing songs, “I Come to the Cross” and “O Mighty Cross,” were co-led with Pastor Tony of the Lighthouse Assemblies of God

The passage I read and talked about was Mark 15:33-41.

Here is the text of my devotional thought:

The crucifixion account in Mark forms one bookend of the gospel account. Jesus' baptism at the beginning is the other bookend. These bookends feature similarities in thematic material that introduce, at the baptism, and recap, at the crucifixion, key ideas about Jesus that Mark wants his audience to know.

First the baptism account in Mark 1:9-11...

[9] In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. [10] And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. [11] And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

And now the very end of Jesus' life in Mark 15:37-39...

[37] And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. [38] And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. [39] And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

There are three parallels found in these bookends:

1. First, at the baptism the heavens were torn open showing God, as Spirit, coming down to earth. At the death of Jesus the temple curtain was torn. The Jewish historian Josephus wrote that this curtain depicted a panorama of the heavens. The common belief too, at that time, was that God was in some ways confined to the temple. The baptism was a foreshadowing of God's grace and salvation being offered to everyone through Jesus. The crucifixion seals that offer. It shows that no religious forms or traditions of man can confine God's grace.

2. The second parallel is in regards to the words Spirit and breathed. Both derive from a common Greek word, pneo, meaning “to breathe.” At the baptism, Jesus received the Spirit. At his death, he breathed his last. This symbolizes Jesus as the source and giver of life. Without Jesus there is no life. Jesus willingly gave up his own life so that he could become a life-giver to all.

3. Finally the third parallel is the witness at each bookend event to Jesus as the divine Son of God. At the baptism, the Father himself testifies to Jesus' identity, “You are my beloved Son.” At Jesus' death, Mark does not find his witness among the Jews, but in a Gentile, and a most reviled one at that – the centurion supervising the crucifixion who said, “Truly this man was the Son of God.” This symbolizes once more that salvation from God is available to all humankind, to anyone who is willing to see the Christ.

Who and what do you see in the crucified Jesus?