Good Friday Vespers, April 18, 2025.

 Bethany Lutheran Church

Good Friday Service, 7 PM Central

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

Springdale, Arkansas

The hymn tunes are linked to the name of the hymn. 

The words are linked to the the hymn number,

using the TLH hymnal blog.

 

Hymn # 172:1-5         O Sacred Head             
The Order of Vespers                                             p. 41

The Psalmody                   Psalm 22                    p. 128

Psalm 22  KJV

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?

2 O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.

3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

4 Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.

5 They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.

6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,

8 He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.

9 But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.

10 I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly.

11 Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.

12 Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.

13 They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.

14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.

15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.

16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.

17 I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.

18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

19 But be not thou far from me, O Lord: O my strength, haste thee to help me.

20 Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.

21 Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.

22 I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.

23 Ye that fear the Lord, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.

24 For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.

25 My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.

26 The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.

27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.

28 For the kingdom is the Lord's: and he is the governor among the nations.

29 All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.

30 A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.

31 They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.       

The Lections                         

Sermon Hymn #143:1-5   O Dearest Jesus 

    

The Crucial Issue

The Prayers

The Lord’s Prayer

The Collect for Grace                                           p. 45

Hymn #153         Stricken Smitten 

Prayers and Announcements

• Dr. Lito Cruz, Dr. Kermit Way, Bible John, Sarah Buck, Pastor and Mrs. Jim Shrader.
• Those who are dealing with medical issues, loss, and emotional stress.
• Our country, duly elected leaders, and military.

The Crucial Issue

     So easily we speak about things being crucial, just as they are the best, worst, and how they describe always with favorite four-letter words. Someone referred to Jesus' Name, and I said, "We do not use His Name that way." And that stopped immediately.

     People are not more emphatic when they use the divine name. They are actually more tiresome and pathetic. I can claim that the people who do this can be straightened out with just a few words.

     Words are required for thinking, and thinking is impossible without words. People can communicate without spoken words but we do favor words. We give those words to babies and babies struggle to get them out at first. One of my fondest memories is play-acting our daughters' words because they knew, remembered, and responded but could not form the words. 

     The key word for Good Friday is the Cross. That is so bizarre, because the cross was the worst form ever for torture and death - and it was Roman. Jews did not use the cross, which was hideously painful and lengthy in its work. In contrast, St. Stephen was stoned to death. Just as Jesus belonged to Rome, so He was forced to be punished by Rome with the support of Judaism and their support of the great but fading empire, younger than Israel.

     As we can see so clearly in Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53, the Old Testament gives us clear examples of something which could not have been known at that time. Even our modern kids overlook this fact when they skip over these passages - and many more - that paint the cross for us as that pivotal change in the world - the Christian Faith and Jesus as the risen Savior.

          He suffered and died, atoning for our sins. I was vexed as a child thinking about this. How could Good Friday be good? I could not get a good answer from adults. Reading Luther has helped me immensely because he simply explained the Word of God as it is. Everyone had great respect for him in the Reformation (he is the Reformer, parallel with Melanchthon and Chemnitz). Very few esteem them now, which is especially true among the so-called Lutherans.

     The Two Natures of Jesus Christ is essential to know and learn. The Son of God was and is God but also took on our humanity forever. Liz Eaton, Matt Harrison, and Mark Schroeder cannot parse this because they utterly reject Justification by Faith. They will not even say the words "Justified by Faith" because they have swapped Unitarianism for Trinitarian (no matter how much the squeal about it). Most telling - they refuse to debate because they cannot.

     This comes down to one all-encompassing fact - we are in need of forgiveness all our lives or even if it is the last moment of our lives. The pivot is faith in Jesus because He died for us. He takes away our sin and gives us peace, forgiveness, and the fruits of growing on the True Vine (John 15).

     The only way He can forgive our sins is His divine work of paying for those sins by Himself. No one else can do that. Pastors can teach forgiveness but faith is in the grasp of the individual, not as a work but as access to God's grace - Romans 5:1-2. We wait for the dentist - access. We get our groceries out the door of the grocery store - access. We wait for hours to meet or hear a famous person - access. That tiny ordinary Word is so simple in meaning that the Apostle Paul used his Word from 2000 years ago so we can grasp it without a thousand word essay. 

Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Glende And Ski - The Legend Continues in WELS

Katy Perry and Lauren Sanchez are NOT astronauts: FAA rules say the Blue Origin crew don't qualify because the ship was entirely controlled from the ground.

 

Why Does Everyone Hate Katy Perry So Much?

Kevin Fallon

Archbishop Liz Eaton Leads the Way in Furious Incompetence

A harsh and furious storm broke the Central Lutheran Church cross immediately after ELCA hornswoggled the assembly into gay-lesbian ordination, 2009.

I was in the LCA bus, aiming at the New Lutheran Church, when I heard this discussion. One pastor was talking about how bad the merger was going to be with 5.3 million dazed, confused, and deserting people. The other pastor kept asserting, "Yes, I know, but we have to adhere to the process!"

They adhered so well that congregations began deserting in droves before ELCA officially started, January 1, 1988. The bus pastors were on the mark. Most of the official demands came from clergy - for better funds for their retirement. They had to wait a few years to have female (sic) clergy and bishops (now more than 50%).

The LCMS and WELS were soon working closely with ELCA, very uncomfortable that a stowaway (moi) was exposing the "conservatives" to the evil of merger. The LCMS/WELS leaders (ahem) were glad to work together at Fuller Seminary, at Thrivent, and at anything else they wanted to share.

The mainline apostate Lutherans are no different from the rest of the National Council of Marxist Churches (formerly known as the NCC). The traditional Lutherans have become capons with no message, because they engorged themselves with more money, more benefits, more food. 

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Second Sermon - "These two things, sin and death, therefore remain with us to the end that we might cultivate and exercise our faith, in order that it may become more perfect in our heart from day to day and finally break forth, and all that we are, body and soul, become more Christlike. For when the heart clings to the Word, feelings and reasoning must fail. Then in the course of time the will also clings to the Word, and with the will everything else, our desire and love, till we surrender ourselves entirely to the Gospel, are renewed and leave the old sin behind."

 

Maundy Thursday - Jesus washes the disciples' feet.

Luther's Sermons - Mark 16:1-8.
Easter Sunday. Second Sermon

16. These two things, sin and death, therefore remain with us to the end that we might cultivate and exercise our faith, in order that it may become more perfect in our heart from day to day and finally break forth, and all that we are, body and soul, become more Christlike. For when the heart clings to the Word, feelings and reasoning must fail. Then in the course of time the will also clings to the Word, and with the will everything else, our desire and love, till we surrender ourselves entirely to the Gospel, are renewed and leave the old sin behind. Then there comes a different light, different feelings, different seeing, different hearing, acting and speaking, and also a different outflow of good works. Now, our scholastics and papists have taught an external piety; they would command the eyes not to see, and the ears not to hear, and would put piety into our hearts from the outside. Ah, how far this is from the truth! But it comes in this way: When the heart and conscience cling to the Word in faith, they overflow in works, so that, when the heart is holy, all the members become holy, and good works follow naturally.

17. This is signified by the sabbath that was to be hallowed and on which the Lord lay quietly in the grave. It signifies that we should rest from all our works, should not stir, nay, should not allow any sin to stir within us, but we should firmly believe that death, hell, sin and the devil are destroyed by the death of Christ, and we are righteous, pious, holy and therefore contented, experiencing no longer any sin. Then all the members are calm and quiet, being convinced that sin and death are vanquished and prostrated. But this cannot be brought about, as I have said, until this impotent, wretched body and the old Adam are destroyed. Therefore it is indeed necessary that we are required to keep this sabbath. For as Christ lies in the grave on the sabbath, never feels nor moves, so it must be with us, as we have heard: Our feelings and actions must cease. And I say again that this cannot be accomplished before the old Adam is annihilated.

Nevertheless we still experience sin and death within us, wrestle with them and fight against them. You may tie a hog ever so well, but you cannot prevent it from grunting (until it is strangled and killed Ed. 1531). Thus it is with the sins in our flesh. As they are not yet entirely conquered and killed, they are still active, but when death comes, they must also die, and then we are perfect Christians and pure, but not before. This is the reason why we must die, namely, that we may be entirely freed from sin and death.

These words on the fruits of the resurrection of Christ may suffice for the present, and with them we will close. Let us pray God for grace that we may understand them and learn to know Christ aright.