GOOD FRIDAY On Good Friday the church mourns the humiliation and death of Jesus yet rejoices in the saving gift of his sacrificial death. The curtain of the temple is torn in two, indicating that because of Christ’s sacrifice, we are no longer separated from God. It is “good” not for Jesus but for us who through his blood are saved. At noon Redeemer observes the Seven Last Words of Christ on the cross and the ancient “Bidding Prayer” for the whole church and the world because of the cosmic nature and efficacy of Christ’s act. In the evening the story is read in the context of Tenebrae, that is, “darkness” or “shadows.” The church grows darker and darker. Worship ends with the Adoration of the Cross, both as a liturgical formula and in our individual reverence and contemplation.
THE ADORATION OF THE CROSS The adoration of the cross originated in the 6th or 7th century in the Jerusalem Church. As the cross is brought in, we behold and stand in awe of its power that is at once gruesome and lifegiving. As you leave the church tonight, you are invited to come forward to reverence the cross, kneeling before or around it in prayer, touching it, or, in the ancient tradition, kissing it.