St. Nicolai Notes

Good Friday prayer: April 18, 2014
Matthew 26:15-27:66

Here is one of the prayers I have written for today's worship.

Merciful God, we rejoice in your great mercy even as our hearts grow heavy while we consider all that Jesus endured on behalf of his people—including us. 

We ache knowing that Jesus was betrayed by one who walked with him daily, disowned by another, and abandoned by all who said they would die with him.  We acknowledge in sorrow that we too have abandoned him in moments of threat.

We grow angry when we consider the carnival of justice—cultivated deceit, midnight machinations, and abdicated responsibility—that Jesus endured without defending himself.  We acknowledge in sorrow that our deceits contributed to his unjust condemnation.   

We are pierced as we remember that Jesus was struck, spit upon, insulted, beaten, executed, and mocked as he hung dying with his arms stretched out before the world.  We acknowledge in sorrow that our actions contributed to Jesus’ pain and death. 

Merciful God, we have received your mercy and we are reminded of your mercy, yet again, as we consider all that Jesus endured on our behalf.  Receive our glad worship that is tinged with sorrow today.  Amen.