Readings

A Reading                                                          from Markings, by Dag Hammarskjold*

I don’t know who – or what – put the question, I don’t know when it was put. I don’t even remember answering. But at some moment I did answer Yes to Someone – or Something – and from that hour I was certain that existence is meaningful and that, therefore, my life, in self-surrender, had a goal.

From that moment I have known what it means “not to look back,” and “to take no thought for the morrow.”

Led by the Ariadne’s thread of my answer through the labyrinth of life, I came to a time and place where I realized that the Way leads to a triumph which is a catastrophe, and to a catastrophe which is a triumph, that the price for committing one’s life would be reproach, and that the only elevation possible to man lies in the depths of humilation. After that, the word “courage” lost its meaning, since nothing could be taken from me.

As I continued along the Way, I learned, step by step, word by word, that behind every saying in the gospels, stands one man and one man’s experience. Also behind the prayer that the cup might pass from him and his promise to drink it. Also behind each of the words from the cross.

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 The Man of Sorrows                                                                             Isaiah 53: 2-5           He grew up like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account.

Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.  But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.      

 The Shadow of Betrayal                                          Matthew 26: 20-23, 25

When it was evening, he took his place with the twelve; and while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.” And they became greatly distressed and began to say to him one after another, “Surely not I, Lord?” He answered, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.  Judas, who betrayed him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” He replied, “You have said so.” 

Hymn (one verse):   Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?

The Shadow of Desertion                                                  Matthew 26:31-34

Then Jesus said to them, “You will all become deserters because of me this night; for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” Peter said to him, “Though all become deserters because of you, I will never desert you.” Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, this very night, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” 

The Agony of Soul                                                                Luke 22:39-44

He came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples followed him. When he reached the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not come into the time of trial.” Then he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.” Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and gave him strength. In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground. 

Hymn (one verse):  Were you they pierced his brow with thorns?

The Arrest in the Garden                                                         Luke 22:47-53

While he was still speaking, suddenly a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him; but Jesus said to him, “Judas, is it with a kiss that you are betraying the Son of Man?” When those who were around him saw what was coming, they asked, “Lord, should we strike with the sword?” Then one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him. Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple police, and the elders who had come for him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs as if I were a bandit?  When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness!” 

The Cock Crow                                                                     Luke 22:54-60

Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house. But Peter was following at a distance. When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. Then a servant-girl, seeing him in the firelight, stared at him and said, “This man also was with him.” But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” A little later someone else, on seeing him, said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” Then about an hour later still another kept insisting, “Surely this man also was with him; for he is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about!” At that moment, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. 

Hymn (one Verse):  Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?

At Pilate’s House                                                         John 19: 1-3, 9-11

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.  And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and t hey dressed him in a purple robe.  They kept coming up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and striking him on the face.  Pilate entered, and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?”  But Jesus gave him no answer.  Pilate said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me?  Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?” Jesus answered him, “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above.” 

The Shadow of the Cross                                           John 19: 17 – 20

So they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is Golgotha.  There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus in between.  Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross.  It read, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.   It ws written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.  

Hymn (one verse):  Were you there when they pierce him in the side?

What the Soldiers Did                                                  John 19: 23 – 25

When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothese and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier.  They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top.  So they said to one another, Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it.  And that is what the soldiers did. 

The Lonely City                                                                Lamentations 1:1-2, 11-12

How lonely sits the city that once was full of people! How like a widow she has become, she that was great among the nations! She that was a princess among the provinces has become a slave. She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has no one to comfort her;  her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they have become her enemies.

Her people groan as they search for bread; they trade their treasures for food to revive their strength.

Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow. 

Hymn (one verse):  Were you there when the sun refused to shine?

The Women at the Cross                                                   John 19: 25-27

Meanwhile, standing near thecross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and mary Magdalene.  When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.”  Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.”  And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. 

The Word Was God                                                           John 1:1-4, 12

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God. 

Hymn (one verse):  Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?

Tolling the Bell 

 Carrying Away the  Christ Candle

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Illustration:

After the Crucifixion, John and Mary in Lamentation, The Rohan Master, c.1430, Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, France.  From The Vanderbilt Divinity School Library, Art in the Christian Tradition.

*Quotation, from Markings by Dag Hammarskjold, taken from Suzanne Guthrie’s blog, Soulwork Toward Sunday.