Tag: passion

Posted in holy week, Jesus

Some Good Friday thoughts

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Paul Keiffer on Unsplash

I’m going to ramble a bit on this Good Friday. My mind is filled with an assortment of thoughts and memories.

First, I doubt that many, if any, of us can imagine what Jesus suffered at the hands of the priests and the Roman soldiers. The physical violence started with the high priest, teachers of the law, and elders who punched and slapped Jesus. After Pilate handed Jesus over the to the soldiers, they beat him with a staff, flogged him, put a crown of thorns on his head, drove nails through his hands, and crucified him.

When one fighter overwhelmingly beats and bloodies the other in an MMA octagon, the referee stops the fight. With Jesus they don’t stop, but dish out more and more punishment. We wince at the “little pinch” of a flu shot, make sure we’re numbed up before the dentist fills a small cavity, and groan when we get up after sitting too long. Jesus has the flesh on his back torn open with a whip, spikes driven through his hands and feet, and is left to hang by his arms to slowly suffocate . The bell never rings ending the round. There no pain relief, other than the drugged wine Jesus refused. There’s no time out. There’s no tapping out. The pain only stops when Jesus dies.

No painting, drawing, or representation of the crucifixion captures the gruesome horror of Good Friday. Crucifixion was a public execution. Some of those who saw it loved Jesus. Others hated him. I wonder if any of us could watch Christ suffer and die. I would turn away.

We gather for worship on Good Friday, at noon, in the afternoon, or in the evening. Our services are adored with beautiful music, encroaching darkness, descriptive words, and silent exits. The only reason it’s not so bad (good?) for us is because it was terrible for Jesus.

A Good Friday Tenebrae (“shadows” or “darkness”) service will conclude in darkness as the last candle is extinguished. The only way out is through the shadow of death, a valley Jesus traverses with us.

I remember my last Good Friday as a pastor because one grandson lit and another extinguished the candles, surrendering the room to the darkness. I took the huge family King James bible my mom gave us at our wedding, raised it high over my head, and slammed it down on the altar with all my might, to remind all of the stone settling into place, sealing Jesus in the tomb.

It’s a powerful worship moment. Everyone who’s been there before knows what’s going to happen. Yet everyone still gasps when it does.

That book was only called into duty once each spring. But it took a beating, the binding barely holding together when I handed it over to my son to use at his church on Good Friday.

The apostle Paul wrote, “We preach Christ crucified.” This is our message. It’s terrible. And yet it’s wonderful. It illustrates how bad we are and what we deserve. It also proclaims how much God loves us anyway.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Passion, confidence, and anticipation

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash

A “through the bible” devotion from Psalms 3, 4, and 5.

There’s passion, confidence, and expectation in the prayers and songs of these psalms.

  • “I cried aloud to the Lord…Arise O Lord! Save me, O my God!” (Psalm 3:4, 7).
  • “The Lord hears when I call to him (Psalm 4:3).
  • “O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch” (Psalm 5:3).

In these psalms, David audibly voices cries for help. After falling asleep, he rises with anticipation of God’s presence and steadfast love. His tone of voice is different than I typically hear in prayer. It’s different from my typical prayers.

Think about it. How much passion do you hear in prayer? Confidence? Anticipation? Not much. Certainly not much compared to David’s words. You may disagree, but most prayer sounds rote, listless, timid, vanilla, and generic. Too often my own sound that way.

First of all, that’s okay. In Romans, Paul admits he doesn’t know how to pray. Thank goodness for the Spirit who intercedes for us, who translates our awkward words into powerful prayers. (Romans 8:26,27).

Next, I believe we worry too much about what others will think of our prayers. Don’t. It’s not about them, but the Lord. You don’t need to infuse your prayer with a doctrinal statement. Just speak from your heart.

Finally, just read some psalms. They have a way of spawning the passion, confidence, and anticipation we may have lost somewhere along the way. Imagine sitting there with David as he sang about his experiences.

You’ve got the words. Just sing along. And then add your own stanza here or there.

Posted in Life

The holy week experience

Posted on by William Douthwaite

When I was growing up, attending church for all the services of holy week was a given. On Thursday we remembered the institution of the Lord’s Supper. On Friday, we came at both noon, remembering the time Jesus spent on the cross, and again in the evening, as candles were extinguished and the church became eerily dark. On Sunday, we were up for a sunrise service and then another service later in the morning.

It’s always a challenge for me to remember that many have not grown up with these traditions, so it does not occur to them to come to church on any day other than Sunday. I have to remind myself to walk them through the passion of our Lord, rather than assuming they know it, for many just don’t know the story. If we don’t get a chance to pause and think of the agonizing prayer in the garden, the betrayal and denial, the false charges, the cries and “crucify him,” and the cruel nails of crucifixion, we may miss some of the impact of the resurrection, too.

I owe my parents and the church I grew up in a debt of gratitude for making sure I got the complete experience of holy week. I hope I get a chance to pass that along to others.