CALL TO WORSHIP: Psalm 40.6-17.

6.Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced; burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. 7.Then I said, “Here I am, I have come— it is written about me in the scroll. 8.I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” 9.I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, as you know, O Lord. 10.I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and salvation. I do not conceal your love and your truth from the great assembly. 11.Do not withhold your mercy from me, O Lord; may your love and your truth always protect me. 12.For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me. 13.Be pleased, O Lord, to save me; O Lord, come quickly to help me. 14.May all who seek to take my life be put to shame and confusion; may all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace. 15.May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!” be appalled at their own shame. 16.But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you;may those who love your salvation always say, “The Lord be exalted!” 17.Yet I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; O my God, do not delay.

1st HYMN: There is a green hill far away. [WORDS: Cecil Francis Alexander, 1818-95; MUSIC: “Horsley”, William Horsley, 1774 – 1858.]

PRAYER: 

2nd HYMN: On a hill far away. [WORDS: George Bennard, 1873 – 1958; MUSIC: “The Old Rugged Cross”, George Bennard, 1873 – 1958.] 

BIBLE READING (OT): Psalm 22.

For the director of music. To the tune of “The Doe of the Morning.” A psalm of David. 1.My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? 2.O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent. 3.Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel. 4.In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. 5.They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed. 6.But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. 7.All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: 8.“He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.” 9.Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother’s breast. 10.From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God. 11. Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help. 12.Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. 13.Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me. 14.I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me. 15.My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. 16.Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet. 17.I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. 18.They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing. 19.But you, O Lord, be not far off; O my Strength, come quickly to help me. 20.Deliver my life from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs. 21.Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen. 22.I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you. 23.You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honour him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel! 24.For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help. 25.From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you will I fulfil my vows. 26.The poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the Lord will praise him— may your hearts live forever! 27.All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, 28.for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. 29.All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him— those who cannot keep themselves alive. 30.Posterity will serve him; future  generations will be told about the Lord. 31.They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn— for he has done it.

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How can we explain the closeness of this description of Psalm 22 with the events of the Passion of Messiah? A sceptic would say that Jesus probably stage managed it so that the events matched. This begs the question, how did He arrange for His enemies to fall in with His plan?

Another sceptic could say that the Gospel writers adapted the story to fit in. The question that this raises is why would they do this? Why not simply let their words carry the message they want to convey? The person of faith says that, because Scripture is the inspired and infallible Word of God, the question is answered in the fact that the Psalmist was a prophet who recorded what God wanted him to record so that the plan of redemption could be discerned by the spiritually astute.

3rd HYMN: In the Cross of Christ I glory. [© Christian reformed Church (USA); WORDS: John Bowring, 1792 – 1872; MUSIC: “Stuttgart”, Christian Friedrich Witt, c. 1660 – 1716; Psalmodia Sacra, Goths, 1715.]

BIBLE READING (NT): Luke 23.26-56.

26.As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27.A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 28.Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. 29.For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30.Then “‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’ 31.For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?” 32.Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33.When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34.Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 35.The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.” 36.The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37.and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” 38.There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 39.One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40.But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41.We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” 42.Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43.Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” 44.It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45.for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46.Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. 47.The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” 48When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. 49.But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. 50.Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, 51.who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God. 52.Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. 53.Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. 54.It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. 55.The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. 56Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.

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If there is one thing that burns brightly in John’s account of Messiah’s crucifixion, it is His compassion. Whilst the women wept wailed and mourned the events that were unfolding, Jesus expresses His compassion for them in the trials and tribulations that will befall them. After having been nailed to the Cross, and the Cross being dropped into its hole in the ground and wedged upright, Jesus prayed for God’s forgiveness for His persecutors because of their ignorance. And then, just before He died, Messiah extended forgiveness and assurance to one of those crucified along side of Him.

Hallelujah! What a Saviour.

CHOIR ITEM:

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If there is one thing that burns brightly in John’s account of Messiah’s crucifixion, it is His compassion. Whilst the women wept wailed and mourned the events that were unfolding, Jesus expresses His compassion for them in the trials and tribulations that will befall them. After having been nailed to the Cross, and the Cross being dropped into its hole in the ground and wedged upright, Jesus prayed for God’s forgiveness for His persecutors because of their ignorance. And then, just before He died, Messiah extended forgiveness and assurance to one of those crucified along side of Him.

Hallelujah! What a Saviour.

MEDITATION: Messiah Murdered

Most people are decidedly turned off by the subject of murder. It might be OK – even fun - in the fantasy world of Agatha Christie novels or the ubiquitous CSI programmes on TV. But, in real life, murder – even the very thought of murder – makes most people quiver inside. And, perhaps, this is the very thing that turns many people off Christianity. You see, the Christian faith is centred on an act of murder – Messiah’s murder on that first Good Friday.

We are told that, after the raising of Lazarus, “Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.” [Jn. 11.45ff; NIV] The result of this meeting was that, under the leadership of Caiaphas the high priest, the majority of the Sanhedrin determined that Jesus must die. So, you see, the crucifixion was premeditated; it was an act of murder! In human terms, grubby little minds conceived a grubby little plan and perpetrated a grubby little murder.

But this is only a superficial understanding of the matter. The reality is that Jesus was not simply some itinerant preached whose message was upsetting the status quo. The religious leaders saw Him as a threat – someone who was threatening their cushy little positions; someone who needed to be removed from the scene to protect their status. But, Jesus was God – the second person of the Holy Trinity. And so, when the authorities killed Messiah, they committed a particular type of murder – it is called “deicide”: the killing of God.

Jesus knew all about what was going to take place in Jerusalem. We read in Matthew’s Gospel, “17 .Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, 18.‘We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death 19.and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!’” [Matt. 17.17ff; NIV]

All the way back in the wilderness wanderings of the Children of Israel, we read of an incident when serpents came among the people and bit them… Many died, but God said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” [Num 21.8; NIV] When Jesus spoke with Nicodemus, He alluded to this incident and said, “14.Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15.that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” [Jn. 3.14f; NIV]

God took the grubby workings of the grubby minds of grubby men and wrought a wondrous miracle through it. There is a hymn which asks the question: “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” Most of us would say, “Of course not. It was nearly 2000 years ago!” But I wonder if this is a strictly true answer. I wonder whether the truth is that, though we weren’t there in person, we were there and represented by those who bayed for Messiah’s blood. Messiah did not simply die for the sins of those who preceded Him; He did not simply die for the sins of the people of His time; Jesus died for your sins and for mine. When Messiah was murdered, He was not simply murdered by sinful men of the C1st; He died for the sins of sinful people of the C21st – for you and for me. We are as guilty of His murder as was the Sanhedrin. We murdered God. This doesn’t sit well with C21st mankind. It doesn’t sit well with us because we have conveniently re-defined sin and almost defined it away.

Take murder itself for instance. The majority of people agree with embryonic stem cell research. We refuse to recognise that such research requires the murder of a conceived human being. Someone, sometime, somehow has redefined the requirement to define a cell as living. It does not live at the time of conception, but some time later – so we do not murder anyone. The majority of people accept the availability of abortion on demand. We have re-defined an unborn child as being a part of the mother’s body and not an individual in its own right – and so, of course, abortion is not murder. The majority of people agree with euthanasia by defining it an “assisted suicide.” They conveniently forget that if someone is involved in deliberately taking the life of another it is murder.

We do not, at the dawn of the C21st take sin as seriously as god does. God takes it so seriously that He allowed His own sinless Son to pay the penalty of sin for His people. Sin is so serious in God’s eyes that only the murder of Messiah could satisfy Him. How does the murder of Messiah that first Good Friday affect you? Do you feel in any way responsible for Messiah’s death? Do you see the need for His death to cover your sins? Do you recognise what sin is? Do you take God’s word on it, or