Tag Archives: Jesus

G*d’s Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity, Messiah, Savior

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 5:01 am on April 3, 2015
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Good Friday – Rev. David J. Schreffler

April 3, 2015
Good Friday

“Simon Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now; but you shall follow afterward.” Peter said to him, “Lord, why cannot I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” John 13:36-37

“Now when it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. Around three oʼclock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When some of the bystanders heard it they said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah!” Then someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Leave him alone! Letʼs see if Elijah will come to take him down!” But Jesus cried out with a loud voice and breathed his last. And the temple curtain was torn in two, from top to bottom. Now when the centurion, who stood in front of him, saw how he died, he said, “Truly this man was Godʼs Son!” Mark 15:33-39

Good Friday. Why is it called Good Friday? There is no clear answer of the origin of “Good” Friday. Some say it comes from the phrase “G*d’s Friday”. That seems reasonable. But others point to the fact that what Christ did for all of humanity was so “Good”, that even though it involves his death on a cross, it is Good for all people. There are many ways to honor the day of Good Friday. Some congregations hold a service from 12:00 noon to 3:00 pm – the traditional hours that Christ hung on the cross. During those three hours, sermons are delivered on the seven last words of Christ. Those seven last words from the Gospels include:

“Father Forgive, for they do not know what they are doing.”
“Today you will be with me in Paradiise”
“Woman here is your son; son here is your Mother”
“My G*d, My G*d, why have you forsaken Me”
“I am thirsty”
“It is Finished”
“Father, Into Your hands I commend my Spirit”

In my congregation we will participate in a Tenebrae Service – traditionally known as a service of light. Tenebrae is Latin for “shadows” or “darkness”. It is used to recreate the emotions of the events of Good Friday. Another tradition the churches of 17043 have continued is processing the cross through the town of Lemoyne. Any opportunity we can do to bring the centrality of the cross in our lives to the communities of the West Shore is a good thing – something good to do on Good Friday.

Pastor Dave

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:22 am on April 1, 2015
Tags: Jesus   

Stations of the Cross – Rev. David J. Schreffler

April 1, 2015
Stations of the Cross

“Jesus said, Have you not read this scripture:
“The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes”. Mark 12:11

“With sorrowful heart
Yet for the joy of atonement,
You went, O Christ, to Calvary.

If the stars ceased to twinkle
And the sun forgot to shine,
The ever-increasing rays of God’s love
Would find an earthward passage
Through you.

O Christ,
That a thousand and a thousand years
Have passed since Golgotha you braved;
And still men gasp with fear
And grasp with greed–and suffer:
Let us swing into the orbit of your love.”

Toyohiko Kagawa (1888 – 1960) ” “Via Dolorosa”

The Wednesday of Holy Week has been for me the night where I present the Stations of the Cross. Here are some words of clarification and the Word Origin:

Latin Calvāria, comes from the Greek Kranion (which means skull); Greek Golgothá; Aramaic gulgaltā, akin to Hebrew gulgōleth skull

The Stations of the Cross originated in pilgrimages to Jerusalem. There was a desire to reproduce this “Way” by not traveling to Jerusalem, and this seems to have manifested itself at quite an early date. At the monastery of Santo Stefano at Bologna a group of connected chapels was constructed as early as the 5th century, by St. Petronius, Bishop of Bologna, which was intended to represent the more important shrines of Jerusalem, and in consequence, this monastery became familiarly known as “Santa Gerusalemme”. These may perhaps be regarded as the germ from which the Stations afterwards developed, though it is tolerably certain that nothing that we have before about the 15th century can strictly be called a Way of the Cross in the modern sense. Although several travelers who visited the Holy Land during the twelfth, thirteenth, and 14th centuries (e.g. Riccoldo da Monte di Croce, Burchard of Mount Sion, James of Verona),[4] mention a “Via Sacra”, i.e., a settled route along which pilgrims were conducted, there is nothing in their accounts to identify this with the Way of the Cross, as we understand it.

And so, we carry on this tradition of traveling the “Way of the Cross” with the service of the Stations of the Cross. It is a proper and fitting way to begin the services of Holy Week.

Pastor Dave