This is part of the worship series,
"A Table in the Wilderness”
Introduction
Letter of Invitation | Lent 1 | Lent 2 | Lent 3 | Lent 4
Lent 5 | Palm Sunday | Good Friday | Easter Sunday | Communion Liturgy
Prayer Path: A Journey in the Wilderness
Good Friday
Biblical figure: Jesus on the cross
God’s wilderness provision: wine vinegar
Scripture: Mark 15
Call to Worship
As a deer longs for flowing streams,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and behold
the face of God?
My tears have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me continually,
“Where is your God?”
These things I remember,
as I pour out my soul:
how I went with the throng
and led them in procession to the house of God,
with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving,
a multitude keeping festival.
Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise him,
my help and my God.
My soul is cast down within me;
therefore I remember you
from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,
from Mount Mizar.
Deep calls to deep
at the thunder of your torrents;
all your waves and your billows
have gone over me.
By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.
I say to God, my rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I walk about mournfully
because the enemy oppresses me?”
As with a deadly wound in my body,
my adversaries taunt me,
while they say to me continually,
“Where is your God?”
Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise him,
my help and my God.
—Psalm 42
Children’s Scripture Summary
[for three readers]
| Narrator: | At noon, darkness covered the whole land. It lasted three hours. At three o’clock in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, |
| Jesus: | “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” |
| Narrator: | This means “My God, my God, why have you deserted me?” Some of those standing nearby heard Jesus cry out. They said, |
| Speaker: | “Listen! He’s calling for Elijah.” |
| Narrator: | Someone ran and filled a sponge with wine vinegar. He put it on a stick. He offered it to Jesus to drink. |
| Speaker: | “[Now] leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down.” |
| Narrator: | With a loud cry, Jesus took his last breath. The temple curtain was torn in two from top to bottom. A Roman commander was standing there in front of Jesus. He saw how Jesus died. Then he said, |
| Speaker: | “This man was surely the Son of God! —Mark 15:33–39, NIRV |
Sermon
“A Table in the Wilderness for Our Savior”
Sermon Notes
It isn’t a table of sustenance that Jesus is being offered, but a sponge dipped in vinegar with a drug mixed in to dull the senses. Some might have seen this as a gracious act, but others saw it as a way to extend Jesus’ suffering to see if he would be miraculously saved. But despite Jesus’ thirst (John 19:28) he did not drink (Matthew 27:34). Neither was he rescued. Nothing could be as bleak as this darkest time, this most profound loneliness. But still, somehow, God’s glory broke through and the Roman guard understood: “This man was surely the Son of God!” What light do we see in the wilderness?
—RW
Music Suggestions
“Christ Jesus Knew a Wilderness” Huber
“Were You There” arr. Leavitt, SATB
“Beneath the Cross of Jesus” Clephane
Prayer Station
See station 7 in "Journey in the Wilderness" for a prayer station connected to this Sunday's service.
Revised Common Lectionary
Year B: Lent—Liturgy of the Passion
