Daily Devotion

18 April – Good Friday

Audio

Prepare

Today is the 18th of April. It is Good Friday.

We start with this collect:

Eternal God,
in the cross of Jesus
we see the cost of our sin
and the depth of your love:
in humble hope and fear
may we place at his feet
all that we have and all that we are,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Psalm Reading

We read Psalm 69, verses 1 to 5 and 19 to 21.

¹ Save me, O God,
    for the waters have come up to my neck.
² I sink in the miry depths,
    where there is no foothold.
I have come into the deep waters;
    the floods engulf me.
³ I am worn out calling for help;
    my throat is parched.
My eyes fail,
    looking for my God.

¹⁹ You know how I am scorned, disgraced and shamed;
    all my enemies are before you.
²⁰ Scorn has broken my heart
    and has left me helpless;
I looked for sympathy, but there was none,
    for comforters, but I found none.
²¹ They put gall in my food
    and gave me vinegar for my thirst.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as It was in the beginning, is
now, and shall be forever. Amen.

Scripture Reading

We read John 19:28-30

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Prayer/Reflection

The first Good Friday was drenched. It was a “fluid” moment. Sweat, tears and blood were everywhere.

Jesus muttered a 2-syllable phrase – I thirst. Amongst the 7 sayings of Jesus on the cross, only one expressed a very fundamental human need.

The One who said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink…” is now Himself, in need of water. 

Since the ordeal began, he has been dehydrating. Blood, sweat, saliva and urine. Dripping, flowing, spilling, evaporating.  Everything that could flow, flowed out of him. 

The sour wine, or vinegar, dripping from the hyssop branch, was eagerly received. It will be his last drink. Having received the sour wine, he said his last words: “It is finished.” He did not drink to survive. He drank for another purpose: to fulfill Scriptures. For that, it has to be vinegar, not water. 

I thirst. Even in a time of need, Jesus was most concerned with obedience to His Father.

Water was found on and from many eyes on that day. Standing near the cross were the three “Marys”. One was watching her son dying. Tears must have flowed from their eyes. Tiny balls of fluid of humanity, expressing a deep unspeakable sorrow.

Even after He has died, after He is finished – water continued to flow. Just to make sure he is dead, a soldier pierced his side. Water gushed out. Even that detail was to fulfill Scripture. “For not one of his bones will be broken.” And as the soldiers gaze at Jesus, it fulfilled “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.’ This will fulfil the prophecy in Zechariah 12:10.

His life has been one which was lived in obedience to a will beyond his own. His destination on the cross was destined. That was his life’s calling. A calling which was already sketched in ancient Scriptures. That His Father’s will may be fulfilled. That Scripture may be fulfilled. 

And that we too, may be fulfilled.

Will you take some time to worship and have a sense of wonder at what God has done through Christ on the cross? You can start by listening to this hymn:

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, Tremble, tremble
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree?
Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, Tremble, tremble
Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree?

Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?
Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, Tremble, tremble
Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?

Link to song

Prayer

In closing, on this public holiday:

Let us pray for the nations of the world and their leaders:
For our Prime Minister and President, for those who administer the law and all who serve in public office,
for all who strive for justice and reconciliation,
that by God’s help the world may live in peace and freedom.

Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayers

Let us pray for God’s ancient people, the Jews,
the first to hear his word:
for the removal of our blindness and bitterness of heart,
that God will grant them grace to be faithful to his covenant
and come to know the crucified Jesus as their Messiah

Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayers

We pray for ourselves, that on this day,
We will always remember what Christ has done for us on the cross,
And in gratitude and servitude,
glorify Him for the rest of our lives

Merciful Father,
accept these prayers
for the sake of your Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Collect

We end with the collect for today:

Almighty Father,
look with mercy on this your family
for which our Lord Jesus Christ was content to be betrayed
and given up into the hands of sinners
and to suffer death upon the cross;
who is alive and glorified with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen

Link to today’s Morning Office