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
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
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.
