An Hour At The Cross

Suggested time: 2-3pm on Good Friday

If you do not have a Bible, click on the references and you will be taken to ‘Bible Gateway’ where you can read each passage.

as you begin

Take a moment to be still. Pray the Lord’s Prayer. Then you could use this prayer:

Assist us mercifully with your help,
O Lord God of our salvation,
that we may enter with joy
upon the contemplation of those mighty acts,
whereby you have given us life
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

2pm jesus rejected

Read Luke 23:26-31 and Psalm 22:1-21

Meditate on the rejection and isolation that Jesus experienced.

Then watch these two videos. Several of today’s videos come from Andrew Peterson’s album “Resurrection Letters: Prologue”.

2.15pm JESUS TRUSTS HIS FATHER

Read Luke 23:32-34 and Psalm 31

Use Psalm 31 to consider Christ’s confidence in his Father.

Then watch this video, based on Jesus’s last words on the cross.

2.30pm he died to save

Read Luke 23:35-43 and Isaiah 52:13 to 53:12

Make Isaiah 53:4-6 personal. Marvel at God’s grace to you.

Then watch this video. It is quite long (almost 10 minutes) but very powerful. In this song, singer-songwriter Don Francisco tells the story of the thief on the cross. You might like to close your eyes as you listen.

2.45pm darkness

Read Luke 23:44-49 and Psalm 88

Allow Jesus’s words in Psalm 88 make you pray for those currently experiencing darkness.

Then watch this video from Andrew Peterson.

3pm the work is done

Read Luke 23:50-56 and Psalm 22:22-31

In Psalm 22:22-31 listen to Jesus as he leads us in praise. “He has done it!” Finish the hour by adding your praise to his.

Then listen to this instrumental video.

To Christ, our Lord, who loves us and freed us
from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom,
priests serving his God and Father,
to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honour and glory and blessing!

The following video, the last of the five songs in Andrew Peterson’s “Resurrection Letters: Prologue” album, is especially good for Saturday. You might like to listen to it on Saturday rather than today. The music ends without resolution, waiting for what comes next.