Welcome: –
Our worship today is centred around 10 scenes detailed in John 18 & 19. Each of these scenes is represented by a lighted candle. We will visit each of these scenes by firstly reading the relevant verses, then a short comment on these verses, then by the reading a short poem relevant to the passage, and, finally, listening to or singing some of a hymn relevant to the passage. After the singing of each hymn, a candle will be extinguished. The service concludes when the last candle, the Christ candle, is extinguished. At that time, the Congregation is asked to file quietly out of the Church. To minimise movement and to facilitate the flow of the service, people are to remain seated throughout worship.
Call to Worship: –
God so loved the World that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3: 16)
Christ suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God. (1 Peter 3: 18)
God did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for all of us. (Romans 8: 32)
No-one has greater love than this, that they lay down their life for their friends. (John 15: 13)
Opening Prayer:
Lord, we come today remembering, remembering your coming to your people. We remember how they welcomed you, hailing you as King and Saviour. And we remember how, a week later, they shouted “Crucify him!” Lord, we too have short memories. We too have forgotten already the confession of faith that we made. And, so, we come. We come as did Jesus and the Disciples. We come to have our memories refreshed and our hearts moved. So we pray that your Holy Spirit will come to us, that you will grace us with your presence and inspire us by your love, that as we do this in remembrance of you that you will strengthen us to walk the road with you, to die to self and to rise again with you, so that your will can be done in us and that you can be glorified once again. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.
Scene One
The Arrest of Jesus John 18: 12
(https://www.istockphoto.com/en/photo/the-arresting-of-jesus-in-gethsemane-garden-lithography-gm)
Bible Reading:
John 18: – In the Garden of Gethsemane
1 Jesus left with his Disciples and went across Kidron Brook. There was a garden in that place, and Jesus and his Disciples went in. 2 Judas, the traitor, knew where it was, because many times Jesus had met there with his Disciples.
3 So Judas went to the garden, taking with him a group of Roman soldiers, and some Temple guards sent by the Chief Priests and the Pharisees; they were armed and carried lanterns and torches. 4 Jesus knew everything that was going to happen to him, so he stepped forward and asked them,
“Who is it you are looking for?”
5 “Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered.
“I am he,” he said.
Judas, the traitor, was standing there with them. 6 When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they moved back and fell to the ground. 7 Again Jesus asked them,
“Who is it you are looking for?”
“Jesus of Nazareth,” they said.
8 “I have already told you that I am he,” Jesus said. “If, then, you are looking for me, let these others go. 9 [He said this so that what he had said might come true: “Father, I have not lost even one of those you gave me.” (John 17: 12) ]
10 Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the High Priest’s slave, cutting off his right ear. The name of the slave was Malchus. 11 Jesus said to Peter,
“Put your sword back in its place! Do you think that I will not drink the cup of suffering which my Father has given me?”
12 Then the Roman soldiers with their commanding officer and the Jewish guards arrested Jesus and tied him up.
(Today’s English Version)
Comment:
Jesus had left the Upper Room with the express intention of going forth to meet the henchmen of the Prince of Evil, for He had already resisted the temptation to pray “Father, save me from this hour”, knowing that if that prayer had been granted, there would have been no glorification of His Father, and Humankind would never have known the wonder of His redeeming love.
So, when He crosses Kidron Brook to a garden, which was a favourite resort for Himself and His Disciples, what is happening is that the Second Adam is deliberately entering upon the final conflict with the Prince of Evil, reversing the situation in the Garden of Eden where the Serpent took the initiative upon the First Adam. (Randolph Tasker in John An Introduction and Commentary p194)
Poem:
“Oh, Garden of Gethsemane,
Where all was quiet and still
When Jesus prayed in agony,
“Oh Father take this cup from me,
But I should do your will!”
Watched by His faithful little band,
Who, trembling, stood quite near,
But did not know or understand
That God was still in full command
Of all that happened here.”
(from “The Agony and Ecstasy” by Les Ireland)
You are invited to listen to or join in singing the Hymn: “Go to dark Gethsemane” MHB194
verse 1 of 1
Go to dark Gethsemane,
You that feel the Tempter’s power;
Your Redeemer’s conflict see;
Watch with him one bitter hour;
Turn not from his griefs away,
Learn of Jesus Christ to pray.
Turn not from his griefs away,
Learn of Jesus Christ to pray.
James Montgomery
[The first candle is extinguished.]
Scene Two: –
“Again Peter said, ‘No, I am not.’ And a cock crowed.” John 18: 27
Bible Reading:
John 18: – Peter denies Jesus
15 Simon Peter and another Disciple followed Jesus. The other Disciple was well known to the High Priest, so he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the High Priest’s house, 16 while Peter stayed outside by the gate. Then the other Disciple went back out, spoke to the girl at the gate, and brought Peter inside.
17 The girl at the gate said to Peter,
“Aren’t you also one of the Disciples of that man?”
“No, I am not,” answered Peter.
18 It was cold, so the servants and guards had built a charcoal fire and were standing around it, warming themselves. So Peter went over and stood with them, warming himself. 25 Peter was still standing there keeping himself warm. So the others said to him,
“Aren’t you also one of the Disciples of that man?”
But Peter denied it. “No, I am not,” he said.
26 One of the High Priest’s slaves, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, spoke up.
“Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?” he asked.
27 Again Peter said “No” – and at once a rooster crowed.
(Today’s English Version)
Comment:
The reader is faced with two trials, one in which Jesus affirms His consistent testimony and is punished with a slap on the face by a guard, and another in which Peter rejects his real relationships and goes free. We can never know the whirl of emotions that tore at Peter’s soul that night. As Peter was vehemently denying that he knew Jesus, Jesus turned and looked at him. That look broke Peter’s heart.
(Walter Bruggemann Charles Cousar Beverley Gaventa and James Newsome in Texts for Preaching Year A p253 and Henry Halley in Halley’s Bible Handbook p448)
Poem
“Ah holy Jesus, how have you offended,
What crime so dreadful have you committed?
How are you guilty? Everyone condemns you,
No one defends you.”
(“Ah, holy Jesus” MHB177 AHB254 TiS337 verse 1)
(composed by Johann Heermann, translated by David Schubert)
You are invited to listen to or join in singing the Hymn: “Before the cock crew twice” TiS340 AHB256
This clip is for another hymn but is used here for the tune.
The words are printed below:
Verse 1 of 3
Before the cock crew twice,
This dreadful hour of trial,
The Apostle uttered thrice,
Wherein his dark denial.
Verse 2 of 3
And then the Saviour turned,
On Peter gazing,
A look divine, that yearned
With love amazing.
Verse 3 of 3
Swiftly to Peter’s face
The shame came leaping,
He had denied the grace.
He quickly went weeping.
Hallgrim Pjetursson
translated by Charles Pilcher (adapted)
[The second candle is extinguished.]
Scene Three: –
Jesus before the Tribunal of Annas John 18: 13
Bible Reading:
Jesus before Annas
John 18: – The High Priest questions Jesus
13 Those who arrested Jesus and were now guarding him took him first to Annas. He
was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year.
14 It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jewish authorities that it was better that one man should die for all the people. 19 The High Priest questioned Jesus about his Disciples and about his teaching.
20 Jesus answered,
“I have always spoken publicly to everyone; all my teaching was done in the synagogues and in the Temple, where all the people come together. I have never said anything in secret. 21 Why, then, do you question me? Question the people who heard me. Ask them what I told them – they know what I said.”
22 When Jesus said this, one of the guards there slapped him and said,
“How dare you talk like that to the High Priest!”
23 Jesus answered him,
“If I have said anything wrong, tell everyone here what it was. But if I am right in what I have said, why do you hit me?”
24 Then Annas sent him, still tied up, to Caiaphas the High Priest.
(Today’s English Version) (https://www.biblestudytools.com/gnt/john/18.html)
Comment:
Striking a captive was certainly against Jewish Law. This act shows how abusive and uninterested in any form of Jewish legality Annas is; his interest in this case is political, not legal. Jewish literature reports that many High Priests bullied those who opposed them. Thus, they would certainly not tolerate someone who said that God had directed them to attack their Temple cult or who threatened impending judgement on its unwatchful servants. (Craig Keener in The IVP Bible Background Commentary of the New Testament p173 & p307)
Poem:
“We’ve grown so rich and mighty
And so arrogantly strong,
We no longer ask in humbleness
‘God, show us where we’re wrong.’
We have come to trust completely
In the power of man-made things,
Unmindful of God’s mighty power
That He is ‘King of Kings’.
We have turned our eyes away from Him
To go our selfish way,
And money, power, and pleasure
Are the gods we serve today.”
(from “An Easter Prayer for Peace” by Helen Steiner Rice)
You are invited to listen to or join in singing the Hymn: TIS 194 “O love how deep, how broad, how high!” TiS194 AHB6 MHB62
This YouTube clip is for another hymn, but is used here for tune. The words are printed below:
Verse 1 of 3
O love how deep, how broad, how high,
It fills the heart with ecstasy,
That God, the Son of God, should take
Our mortal form for mortals’ sake.
Verse 2 of 3
He sent no angel to our race
Of higher or of lower place,
But wore the robe of Human frame
Himself, and to this lost World came.
Verse 3 of 3
For us he prayed, for us he taught,
For us his daily works he wrought
By words and signs and actions, thus
Still seeking not himself but us.
Thomas a Kempis translated by Benjamin Webb
[The third candle is extinguished.]
Scene Four:
”And what is Truth” Pilate asked John 18: 38
Bible Reading:
John 18: – Jesus before Pilate
28 Early in the morning Jesus was taken from Caiaphas’ house to the Governor’s palace. The Jewish authorities did not go inside the palace, for they wanted to keep themselves ritually clean, in order to be able to eat the Passover meal. 29 So Pilate went outside to them and asked,
“Of what do you accuse this man?”
30 Their answer was,
“We would not have brought him to you if he had not committed a crime.”
31 Pilate said to them,
“Then you yourselves take him and try him according to your own Law.”
They replied, “We are not allowed to put anyone to death. 32 (This happened in order to make come true what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he would die.) (John 3: 14, 12: 32 & 33)
33 Pilate went back into the palace and called Jesus. “Are you the king of the Jews?” he asked him.
34 Jesus answered,
“Does this question come from you or have others told you about me?”
35 Pilate replied,
“Do you think I am a Jew? It was your own people and the chief priests who handed you over to me. What have you done?”
36 Jesus said,
“My kingdom does not belong to this world; if my kingdom belonged to this world, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish authorities. No, my Kingdom does not belong here!”
37 So Pilate asked him,
“Are you a King, then?”
Jesus answered,
“You say that I am a King. I was born and came into the world for this one purpose, to speak about the truth. Whoever belongs to the truth listens to me.”
38 “And what is truth?” Pilate asked.
(Today’s English Version)
Comment:
Pilate follows a Roman procedure called cognitio, and inquiry to determine what really happened. As Prefect, he would make the final decision and answer to no one for it
unless a complaint were sent to Rome. The Priests charge Jesus with claiming to be a King, which is a charge of treason against the Emperor. Herod Antipas was exiled for simply requesting the title, which an earlier Emperor, Augustus, had granted to Herod the Great. The idea that Jesus’ Kingdom is not based on military or political force is repeated throughout the Gospels, but Jesus’ Jewish hearers never grasped that meaning in His words. (Craig Keener in The IVP Bible Background Commentary of the New Testament p309)
Poem:
“As the Easter Season dawns once again,
We look on a World of restless men,
Men who are driven by fear and greed,
And caught in a web of tension and speed,
Driving themselves and the World, as well,
Into a future no one can foretell –“
(from “Easter thoughts for these troubled times” by Helen Steiner Rice)
You are invited to listen to or join in singing the hymn Hymn: “Man of Sorrows! What a name” MHB176
Philipp Bliss
[The fourth candle is extinguished.]
Scene Five:
The crowd shouted back, “Crucify him!” John 19: 15
Bible Reading:
John 18 and 19: – Jesus is sentenced to death
38 Then Pilate went back outside to the people and said to them,
“I cannot find any reason to condemn him. 39 But according to the custom you have, I always set free a prisoner for you during the Passover. Do you want me to set free for you the King of the Jews?”
40 They answered him with a shout,
“No, not him! We want Barabbas!” (Barabbas was a bandit.)
1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him whipped. 2 The soldiers made a crown out of thorny branches and put it on his head; then they put a purple robe on him 3 and came to him and said, “Long live the King of the Jews!” And they went up and slapped him.
4 Pilate went back out once more and said to the crowd,
“Look, I will bring him out here to you to let you see that I cannot find any reason to condemn him.”
5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them,
“Look! Here is the man!”
6 When the chief priests and the Temple guards saw him, they shouted,
“Crucify him! Crucify him!”
Pilate said to them,
“You take him, then, and crucify him. I find no reason to condemn him.”
7 The crowd answered back,
“We have a law that says he ought to die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”
8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid. 9 He went back into the palace and asked Jesus,
“Where do you come from?”
But Jesus did not answer.
10 Pilate said to him,
“You will not speak to me? Remember, I have the authority to set you free and also to have you crucified.”
11 Jesus answered, “
You have authority over me only because it was given to you by God. So the man who handed me over to you is guilty of a worse sin.”
12 When Pilate heard this, he tried to find a way to set Jesus free. But the crowd shouted back,
“If you set him free, that means that you are not the Emperor’s friend! Anyone who claims to be a king is a rebel against the Emperor!”
13 When Pilate heard these words, he took Jesus outside and sat down on the Judge’s seat in the place called “The Stone Pavement.” (In Hebrew the name is “Gabbatha.”) 14 It was then almost noon of the day before the Passover. Pilate said to the people,
“Here is your king!”
15 They shouted back,
“Kill him! Kill him! Crucify him!”
Pilate asked them,
“Do you want me to crucify your King?”
The chief priests answered,
“The only king we have is the Emperor!”
16 Then Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be crucified.
(Today’s English Version)
Comment:
The Crown of Thorns has often been regarded as an instrument of torture, on the ground that it was woven in the form of a garland out of some plant bearing thorns on stems or branches sufficiently pliable for weaving. Recent research has shown that the crown was in fact a radiate crown, constructed in the form of a diadem from which rays of sharply pointed spikes extended upwards. Coins from the period show that the wearing of such a crown was a sign of royalty and divinity. It may well have been then that Pilate’s soldiers made a crown of this kind to mock the claims of Jesus to be a King and divine. Perhaps the most telling irony in this story occurs when Pilate brings Jesus outside the Praetorium face to face with the Jews and announces Him as “your King”. When the people persist in demanding that Jesus be crucified, they justify their actions to Pilate by declaring, ‘We have no King but the Emperor.” Within hours they would recite in their Passover liturgy that their only King is God, but here, in order to reject Jesus, they have to reject God. They unwittingly testify that Jesus and the Father are one.
(Randolph Tasker in John An Introduction and Commentary p207 and Walter Bruggemann Charles Cousar Beverley Gaventa and James Newsome in Texts for Preaching Year A p253 and p254)
Poem:
“O sacred head sore wounded, with grief and pain weighed down,
How scornfully surrounded with thorns, your only crown,
How pale are you with anguish, with sore abuse and scorn,
How does that visage languish which once was bright as morn!
O Lord of Life and Glory, what bliss till now was thine!
I read the wondrous story I joy to call you mine.
Your grief and your compassion were all for sinners’ gain,
Mine, mine was the transgression, but yours the deadly pain.”
(The School Hymnbook of the Methodist Church number 148 MHB202 AHB255 TiS339 verses 1 and 2)
Paul Gerhardt attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux translated by James Alexander
You are invited to listen to or join in singing the Hymn: “In the cross of Christ I glory” MHB186 AHB265 TiS349
This YouTube clip is for another hymn, but is used here for the tune. The words are printed below:
Verse 1 of 3
In the cross of Christ I glory,
Towering o’er the wrecks of time,
All the light of sacred story
Gathers round its head sublime.
Verse 2 of 3
Through the cross, Christ’s love empowers us
Worldliness and self deny,
By his Spirit it inspires us
Him, through love, to glorify.
Verse 3 of 3
When the woes of life o’ertake us,
Hopes deceive and fears annoy,
Never shall the cross forsake us
From it shines our peace and joy.
John Bowring
[The fifth candle is extinguished.]
Scene Six: –
“There they crucified him” John 19: 18
Bible Reading:
John 19: – Jesus is crucified
16 Then Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be crucified. So they took charge of Jesus. 17 He went out, carrying his cross, and came to “The Place of the Skull,” as it is called. (In Hebrew it is called “Golgotha.”) 18 There they crucified him; and they also crucified two other men, one on each side, with Jesus between them.
19 Pilate wrote a notice and had it put on the cross. “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews,” is what he wrote. 20 Many people read it, because the place where Jesus was crucified was not far from the city. The notice was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.
21 The chief priests said to Pilate,
“Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am the King of the Jews.'”
22 Pilate answered,
“What I have written stays written.”
(Today’s English Version)
Comment:
Jesus was crucified outside the City of Jerusalem, at a place called “The Skull”,
“Golgotha” in Hebrew, and “Calvary” in Latin. There is only one place around Jerusalem which has borne, and still bears, the name “Skull Hill”. It is just outside the north wall, near the Damascus Gate. It is a rock ledge some 30 feet high, with a striking resemblance to a human skull. (Henry Halley in Halley’s Bible Handbook p385)
Jesus was regarded as a common criminal in that he bore His own cross. John relates that it was Pilate who prepared and caused the title to be placed on the cross. It was the statement “King of the Jews” which caused resentful protests among Jewish leaders, and which reveals the obstinacy of Pilate. (Donald Guthrie in John in the New Bible Commentary p964)
Poem:
“Never love nor sorrow was, like that my Saviour showed,
See him stretched on yonder cross, and crushed beneath our load!
Now discern the Deity, now his Heavenly birth declare,
Faith cries out, “‘Tis He, ‘Tis He, My God, that suffers there!”
(Charles Wesley in Wesley’s Hymns 701 “God of unexampled grace verse 1)
You are invited to listen to or join in singing the Hymn: “When I survey the wondrous cross” TiS342 AHB258 MHB182
The words are printed below:
Verse 1 of 2
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
Verse 2 of 2
See from his head, his hands, his feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down;
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown.
Isaac Watts
[The sixth candle is extinguished.]
Scene Seven:
“He is your son. She is your mother.” John 19: 26, 27
Bible Reading:
John 19: – On the cross
23 After the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier. They also took the robe, which was made of one piece of woven cloth without any seams in it. 24 The soldiers said to one another, “Let’s not tear it; let’s throw dice to see who will get it.”
This happened in order to make the Scripture come true:
“They divided my clothes among themselves and gambled for my robe.” (Psalm 22: 18)
And this is what the soldiers did.
25 Standing close to Jesus’ cross were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 Jesus saw his mother and the Disciple he loved standing there; so he said to his Mother,
“He is your son.”
27 Then he said to the Disciple,
“She is your Mother.”
From that time the Disciple took her to live in his home.
(Today’s English Version)
Comment:
In John’s narrative a group of four women stand beside the cross; the mother of Jesus, His mother’s sister, who is possibly the Salome mentioned in Mark 15: 40, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. The reader is thus confronted with a dramatic contrast between faith and unbelief, for these four faithful women are seen over against the four soldiers in charge of the crucifixion.
Christ divides Humankind in His death as He had done in His life, and as He has done ever since. The soldiers, though ignorant of the significance of what is happening, nevertheless unconsciously fulfil the words of the prophesy in Psalm 22: 18 by dividing the clothes of Jesus into four parts and by ‘tossing up’ for the possession of His tunic. (Randolph Tasker in John An Introduction and Commentary p210)
Poem:
“At the cross, her vigil keeping,
Stood the mournful mother weeping,
Where He hung, the dying Lord;
For her soul, of joy bereaved,
Bowed with anguish, deeply grieved,
Felt the sharp and piercing sword.
O how sad and sore distressed
Now was she, that mother blessed
Of the sole-begotten One;
Deep the woe of her affliction,
When she saw the crucifiction
Of her ever-glorious son.
(“At the cross, her vigil keeping” TiS334 MHB185 verses 1 and 2)
attributed to Jacopone da Todi translated by Anthony Petti
You are invited to listen to or join in singing the Hymn : “Lift high the cross” TiS351 (verses 1, 3 and 4)
The words are printed below:
Chorus
Lift high the cross,
The love of Christ proclaim
Till all the World adore his sacred name.
Verse 1 of 3
Come people, follow where our Captain trod
Our King victorious,
Christ, the Son of God.
Chorus
Lift high the cross,
The love of Christ proclaim
Till all the World adore his sacred name.
Verse 2 of 3
From North and South,
From East and West they raise
In growing unison their song of praise.
Chorus
Lift high the cross,
The love of Christ proclaim
Till all the World adore his sacred name.
Verse 3 of 3
O Lord, once lifted
On the glorious tree,
Draw all to you, let all the Nations see.
Chorus
Lift high the cross,
The love of Christ proclaim
Till all the World adore his sacred name.
George Kitchin
Revised by Michael Newbolt
[The seventh candle is extinguished.]
Scene Eight: –
Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19: 30
Bible Reading:
John 19: – The death of Jesus
28 Jesus knew that by now everything had been completed; and in order to make the scripture come true, he said,
“I am thirsty.” (Psalm 22: 15)
29 A bowl was there, full of cheap wine; so a sponge was soaked in the wine, put on a stalk of hyssop, and lifted up to his lips. (Psalm 69: 21) 30 Jesus drank the wine and said, “It is finished!”
Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
(Today’s English Version)
Comment:
Ultimately it is neither Pilate nor the religious authorities who hold the power at the trial and crucifixion. Details of the story are viewed in the light of the Hebrew Scriptures as the fulfilment of Divine predictions. The effect is to remind the reader that what is happening is part of the greater plan of God.
Jesus confronts Pilate’s pretence of power “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above”. (John 19: 11)
At His death Jesus utters a word not of distress or god-forsakenness, but of completion: “It is finished”. The purpose of God has been fulfilled.” (Walter Bruggemann Charles Cousar Beverley Gaventa and James Newsome in Texts for Preaching Year A p254)
Poem:
“If we could feel God’s gentle touch in every springtime breeze,
And find a haven in His arms ‘neath sheltering, leafy trees,
If we could just lift up our hearts like flowers to the Sun,
And trust His Easter Promise and pray, “Thy will be done.”
We’d find the peace we’re seeking, the kind no man can give,
The peace that comes from knowing He died so we might live.”
(from “An Easter promise” by Helen Steiner Rice)
You are invited to listen to or join in singing the Hymn : “There is a green hill far away” TiS350 AHB266 MHB180
Cecil Alexander
[The eighth candle is extinguished.]
Scene Nine:
One of the soldiers plunged his spear into Jesus’ side. John 19: 34
Bible Reading:
John 19: – Jesus’ side is pierced
31 Then the Jewish authorities asked Pilate to allow them to break the legs of the men who had been crucified, and to take the bodies down from the crosses. They requested this because it was Friday, and they did not want the bodies to stay on the crosses on the Sabbath, since the coming Sabbath was especially holy. (Deuteronomy 21: 23)
32 So the soldiers went and broke the legs of the first man and then of the other man who had been crucified with Jesus. 33 But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead, so they did not break his legs. 34 One of the soldiers, however, plunged his spear into Jesus’ side, and at once blood and water poured out.
35 (The one who saw this happen has spoken of it, so that you also may believe. What he said is true, and he knows that he speaks the truth.)
36 This was done to make the Scripture come true: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” (Exodus 12: 46, Numbers 9: 12, Psalm 34: 20)
37 And there is another scripture that says, “People will look at him whom they pierced.” (Zechariah 12: 10)
(Today’s English Version)
Comment:
The whole event as described must, indeed, have happened as it is recorded for us in
John’s writings, for no writer could have presented in such coherent detail so recognisable an event, unless they had actually witnessed its occurrence. (Randolph Tasker in John An Introduction and Commentary p213)
With the Passover celebrations which the inhabitants of Jerusalem would soon be holding, the Law stipulated that no bones of the Pascal lamb which all households would offer as a sacrifice were to be broken. (Exodus 12: 46, Numbers 9: 12) John, in his Gospel, is careful to draw the parallel between the remembrance of the original Passover and “the deliverance of the Israelites in Egypt”, with the ultimate fulfillment of the Passover with the sacrifice of Jesus as the Pascal lamb for the deliverance of Humanity from their sins. (Augustus Buckland and Arthur Williams in Passover in The Universal Bible Dictionary p360 & 361)
The spear thrust and the flowing of blood and water evidently had particular importance for the Apostle John. It is sufficient to note that these prove the physical reality of Christ’s death in contrast to the views held by such groups as the Docetists, who claimed that He only appeared to die. John’s desire to stress the truth of the matter is so as to lead his readers to faith. (Donald Guthrie in John in the New Bible Commentary p965)
Poem:
“This, this is He that came by water and by blood;
Jesus is our atoning lamb, our sanctifying God.
See from His wounded side the mingled current flow!
The water and the blood applied shall wash us white as snow.
The water cannot cleanse, before the blood we feel,
To purge the guilt of all our sins, and our forgiveness seal.
(Charles Wesley in Wesley’s Hymns number 705 “This, this is he who came” verses 1, 2 and 3)
You are invited to listen to or join in singing the Hymn: “Were you there when they crucified my Lord” TiS345 AHB261
[Verses 1, 2 and 3 only are being sung in this segment of the worship service. The words are printed below:
Verse 1 of 3
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
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?
Verse 2 of 3
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?
Verse 3 of 3
Were you there when they pierced him in the side?
Were you there when they pierced him in the side?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble;
Were you there when they pierced him in the side?
Based on an African-American spiritual
[The ninth candle is extinguished.]
Scene Ten
The two men took Jesus’ body and wrapped it in linen cloths. John 19: 40
Bible Reading:
John 19: – The burial of Jesus
38 After this, Joseph, who was from the town of Arimathea, asked Pilate if he could take Jesus’ body. (Joseph was a follower of Jesus, but in secret, because he was afraid of the Jewish authorities.) Pilate told him he could have the body, so Joseph went and took it away.
39 Nicodemus, who at first had gone to see Jesus at night, went with Joseph, taking with him about one hundred pounds of spices, a mixture of myrrh and aloes.
40 The two men took Jesus’ body and wrapped it in linen cloths with the spices according to the Jewish custom of preparing a body for burial. 41 There was a garden in the place where Jesus had been put to death, and in it there was a new tomb where no one had ever been buried. 42 Since it was the day before the Sabbath and because the tomb was close by, they placed Jesus’ body there.
(Today’s English Version)
Comment:
Burying the dead was a crucial and pious duty in Judaism, and an important act of love; being unburied was too horrible to be permitted even for criminals. To accomplish his task before sundown and the advent of the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea has to hurry. White linen garments were worn by Jewish Priests and were also wrappings for the righteous dead. (Craig Keener in The IVP Bible Background Commentary of the New Testament p314 and 315)
The two men dutifully embalm the corpse in accordance with Jewish custom, avoiding the possibility of mutilation and binding it with strips of linen interspersed with the myrrh and aloes brought by Nicodemus. The body is then laid in a new tomb free from all corrupting influences. (Randolph Tasker in John An Introduction and Commentary 219 and 220)
Poem:
“In life, no house, no home my Lord on Earth might have;
In death, no friendly tomb but what a stranger gave.
What may I say? Heaven was his home;
But mine the tomb wherein he lay.”
Samuel Crossman
(from “My song is love unknown” TiS341 AHB257 MHB144 verse 6)
You are invited to listen to or join in singing the Hymn: “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” TiS345 AHB261
Verses 4 and 5 only are being sung in this segment of the worship service. The words are printed below: To sing these verses, restart the YouTube clip used in the previous segment.
Verse 1 of 2
Were you there when the Sun refused to shine?
Were you there when the Sun refused to shine?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble;
Were you there when the Sun refused to shine?
Verse 2 of 2
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?
Based on an African-American spiritual
[The tenth candle, the Christ candle, is extinguished.]
In the service at the church, the Congregation will be asked to leave quietly.
Service for Sunday 28th May 2023, which was conducted by Mr Geoffrey Webber 
Service for Sunday 3rd September which included Communion, and was conducted by Mr Geoffrey Webber. 
Service for Sunday 29th January 2023, which was conducted by Mr Geoffrey Webber 
Service for Easter Sunday 17th April 2022, conducted by Mr Geoffrey Webber 
