Holy Week Devotionals: Good Friday

By Associate Pastor of Youth and Missions/Outreach Lindsey Odom

Read John 18:1-19:42

Read this Poem: In Dark Times

by Meister Eckhart

In dark times, even in death,

we do well to remember

that for God nothing

is ever lost or gone,

not even in death,

since God holds

everything that is,

even death itself,

in the eternal Now

of abundant love

and endless blessing

REFLECTION ACTIVITY: Today is a dark day.

Good Friday is the day we remember Jesus’ crucifixion. The hours of noon to 3 p.m. are particularly significant as these commemorate the time Jesus hung on the cross.

Imagine what it was like for the disciples on that Friday when Jesus died. What feelings and emotions do you think that they were experiencing? What thoughts were flooding through their minds? What was going on in their heart and soul?

What insights into Good Friday could be lost if we are solely focused on “the before” of Palm Sunday and “the after” of Resurrection Sunday?

• Take some time to reflect on what threatens you or what makes you scared/ fearful, what causes you to long for “the before.” Now, take a few moments to reflect on your hopes and potential blessings that are to come.

Prayer: Holy God, We admit that we struggle with this day. We struggle with Good Friday for three reasons. First, no one likes to see another suffer. On this day we are face to face with the cross, And your suffering is hard for us to bear.

Second, the pain of this day reminds us of the pain of past and present days, And our own pain is hard for us to bear.

Third, we are reminded of the suffering we cast onto others, which means we have to confront the pain we have caused you. So forgive us for skirting around the edges of this day. Forgive us for averting our eyes. And avoiding the sinking feeling in our chests. Forgive us for distracting ourselves from the hurt,

And forgive us for the ways in which we add to the suffering of this world. We do not like to be here— A place of grief and despair, At the foot of the cross, Face to face with state-sanctioned violence. And yet, here is where we are.

So forgive us, and then use us for your good.

Gratefully we pray. Amen.