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Pinnacle Lutheran Church
Good Friday Tenebrae Service
April 2, 2021 – 7:00 pm
Reproaches
P Thus says the Lord: What have I done to you, O My people, and wherein have I offended you? Answer Me. For I have raised you up out of the prison house of sin and death, and you have delivered up your Redeemer to be scourged. For I have redeemed you from the house of bondage, and you have nailed your Savior to the cross. O my people.
C Holy Lord God, holy and mighty God, holy and most merciful Redeemer; God eternal, leave us not to bitter death. O Lord, have mercy.
P Thus says the Lord: What have I done to you, O My people, and wherein have I offended you? Answer Me. For I have conquered all your foes, and you have given Me over and delivered Me to those who persecute Me. For I have fed you with My Word and refreshed you with living water, and you have given Me gall and vinegar to drink. O my people.
C Holy Lord God, holy and mighty God, holy and most merciful Redeemer; God eternal, allow us not to lose hope in the face of death and hell. O Lord, have mercy.
P Thus says the Lord: What have I done to you, O My people, and wherein have I offended you? Answer Me. What more could have been done for My vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad? My people, is this how you thank your God? O my people.
C Holy Lord God, holy and mighty God, holy and most merciful Redeemer; God eternal, keep us steadfast in the true faith. O Lord, have mercy.
Adoration of Christ
C We adore You, O Lord,
and we praise and glorify Your holy resurrection.
For behold, by the wood of Your cross
Joy has come into all the world.
God be merciful to us and bless us,
And cause His face to shine upon us, and have mercy upon us.
We adore You, O Lord,
and we praise and glorify Your holy resurrection.
For behold, by the wood of Your cross
Joy has come into all the world.
Isaiah 53
“Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.”
Hymn: #430 – My Song is Love Unknown (v. 1-4)
THE FIRST LESSON
Jesus told His disciples, “Tonight, you will all turn against Me. It is written: I will strike the Shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”
Peter answered, “Even if they all turn against You, I’ll never deny you!”
Jesus said to him, “Truly, I say to you this night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.” “Even if I have to die with You, I’ll never deny You!” And all the other disciples said the same thing.
Then Jesus took them to a place called Gethsemane and told them, “Sit down here while I go pray, and pray that you won’t be tested.” He took with him Peter and James and John and began to be full of sorrow and turmoil. Then he said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Wait here, and watch with me.”
He went on a little from them, about a stone’s throw. He fell on his face and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Take this cup from me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will.” An angel appeared to him from heaven, strengthening him; and he prayed, saying, “O my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” In agony, he prayed more earnestly, His sweat fell on the ground like great drops of blood. Then He got up and went back to the three disciples. He found them sleeping, exhausted with sorrow, and He said, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
He went away again the second time and prayed, saying, “O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, your will be done.” When he returned, he found them asleep again; for their eyes were heavy, and they did not know what to answer him.
He left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Then he came to his disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour is come; behold, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going. Look, the one who betrays me is here.”
Hymn: #440 – Jesus, I Will Ponder Now (v. 1-4)
THE SECOND LESSON
Judas, one of the Twelve, knew Gethsemane because Jesus and His disciples were often together there. So Judas led the soldiers there with the high priest’s slaves, the teachers of the Law, and the elders of the people – a large crowd with lanterns and torches, swords and clubs.
But Jesus, knowing exactly what was going to happen to Him, stepped forward Himself. “Whom are you looking for?”
The crowd answered, “Jesus from Nazareth.”
“I am He.” When He said that, they fell back and collapsed on the ground. He asked them again, “Whom are you looking for?”
“Jesus from Nazareth.”
Jesus replied, “I told you that I am he. If I am the one you seek, then let these others go.” This was to fulfill the word he had spoken, “Of those you gave me I have lost none.”
Now Judas who was betraying Jesus had given them a sign, saying, “The one whom I shall kiss, that is he; seize him and take him away.” He went up to Jesus and said, “Hail, Master,” and kissed him.
Jesus said to him, “Friend, why have you come? Judas, do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”
They came then and laid their hands on Jesus and took him. When those who were about him saw what would happen, they said to him, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.
Jesus answered, “No more of this.” And he touched his ear and healed him. Then Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath. All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. Do you imagine that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he will send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled that it must be so? The cup which my Father has given me, shall I not drink of it?”
Then Jesus said to the chief priests, and the captains of the temple, and the elders who had come out against him, “Have you come out as against a thief, with swords and clubs to take me? When I was with you day after day teaching in the temple, you did not lay your hands on me; but this is your hour and the hour of the power of darkness. All this has happened that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.”
Then all the disciples abandoned Him and ran away. One young follower had nothing on but a linen cloak. They tried to grab him, but he left the cloak and ran away naked.
Hymn: #431 – Not All the Blood of Beasts
THE THIRD LESSON
Then the detachment and its captain and the officers of the Jews seized Jesus, and bound him, and led him away to the palace of Annas, who was high priest with Caiaphas, his son-in-law, the same Caiaphas who had said, “It is better for one man to die instead of the whole nation.”
Those who had arrested Jesus brought him to the high priest’s house, where the scribes and elders were assembled. Peter followed him from a distance, and so did another disciple. That disciple was known to the high priest and went in with Jesus to the palace of the high priest, but Peter stood outside at the door. So that other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the doorkeeper and brought Peter in. He went in and sat with the servants to see the end. He was warming himself at the fire they had kindled in the middle of the courtyard.
Inside, Annas, the high priest, was questioning Jesus about His disciples and His teaching. Jesus answered, “I’ve spoken publicly to the world. I’ve always taught where all Jews gather, in synagogues or in the Temple. Why do you ask Me what I said? Ask the ones who heard Me; they know.”
One of the attendants standing near slapped His face and said, “Is that how you answer the High Priest?”
“If I’ve said anything wrong, tell us all what was wrong. But if I’ve told the truth, why do you slap Me?” Then Annas sent Him, tied up, to Caiaphas.
All the ruling priests, elders and teachers of the Law had been summoned to try Jesus. The whole court tried to find evidence against Him, however false, but without success. Many lying witnesses came forward, but their testimony didn’t agree. Finally, two men came forward and said, “We heard Him say that He would tear down God’s Temple and rebuild it in three days!” But even they contradicted each other.
Then the high priest stood up, moved to the center, and put this question to Jesus, “Do you have no answer? What is this evidence they have given against you?” But he was silent and gave no answer.
Again the high priest put a question to him and said, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?“
Jesus said, “I am. You will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of God’s power and coming with the clouds of heaven.”
Then the high priest tore his robes and shouted, “He has blasphemed! Why do we need any more witnesses? You just heard the blasphemy! What’s your verdict?”
They all shouted, “He must die!”
Then all the members of the court surrounded Him, spitting in His face and ridiculing Him. When they had Him blindfolded, they punched Him with their fists and said, “Prophesy to us, O Christ, who is it that struck you!” And they went on and on, humiliating Him in many other ways as well, and even the slaves, when they took charge of Him, slapped Him too.
Hymn: #436 – Go to Dark Gethsemane
THE FOURTH LESSON
Meanwhile Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. One of the maidservants of the high priest came and saw Peter warming himself. She looked at him closely as he sat in the light of the fire, and said, “You also were along with the man from Nazareth, that Jesus.“
Peter denied it and said, “I do not know what you mean.” He went out to the forecourt.
Another maidservant saw him there and said to those who were standing around, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.”
Peter denied it again with an oath, “I do not know the man.”
A little later those standing around said to Peter, “Surely you are one of them. You are a Galilean. Your accent gives you away.”
Peter started calling down curses on himself and swore, “I do not know the man.“
And immediately while he was still speaking, the cock crowed a second time, and the Lord turned and looked on Peter. Then Peter remembered that Jesus had said to him, “Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.” Peter broke down, and went out, and wept bitterly.
Hymn:#449 – O Sacred Head, Now Wounded
THE FIFTH LESSON
When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people gathered together, both chief priests and scribes. And they led him away to their council, and they said, “If you are the Christ, tell us.” But he said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe, and if I ask you, you will not answer. But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God.”
“Are you the Son of God, then?”
“You say that I am.”
“What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips.”
Then they bound him, led him away, and turned him over to Pilate. Then when Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that he was condemned, he was sorry and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, “I have sinned. I have betrayed innocent blood.“
They said, “What is that to us? That is your affair.” Judas threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed. He went and hanged himself.
The chief priests took the silver pieces and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood.” They took counsel and bought with them the potter’s field to bury strangers in. That is why to this day that field has been called “the field of blood.”
In this way what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled, “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by the children of Israel, and gave them for the potter’s field.”
Hymn: #456 – Were You There
THE SIXTH LESSON
When they had bound Jesus, they led him from Caiaphas to the hall of judgment and gave him over to Pontius Pilate, the governor. It was early. They themselves did not go into the judgment hall, so that they might not be defiled, but might eat the Passover. Pilate then went out to them, and said, “What charge do you bring against this man?”
They answered, “If he weren’t a criminal, we wouldn’t have brought him to you.”
Pilate said, “Then you take him and judge him by your Law.”
The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put any man to death.” So the word of Jesus was fulfilled, signifying by what death he should die. Then they started to accuse Him: “We have found that he makes our people disloyal! He keeps them from paying the emperor’s taxes! He claims to be the Christ, a king!”
Pilate went back inside his palace and sent for Jesus. When Jesus was standing before him, Pilate asked Him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“Are you asking for yourself, or did others tell you about Me?”
“Am I a Jew? The ruling priests, your own people, handed you over to me. What did you do?”
“My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”
“So you are a king?”
“You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”
“What is truth?”
With that, Pilate took Jesus with him outside again and told them all, “I find no guilt in this man.” The priests and elders started accusing Jesus of many things, but Jesus said nothing. Pilate asked Him, “Don’t you have anything to say? Don’t you hear all the charges they’re making against you?” But Jesus wouldn’t say a word to counter any of their charges. Pilate was amazed.
The priests and elders were shouting at Pilate, “He stirs up people all over Judea with his preaching! He started in Galilee and now he’s come here!” When Pilate heard that Jesus came from the region ruled by Herod, he sent Him off to Herod, who was in Jerusalem at the time.
Herod was very glad to see Him. He had been hearing about Jesus and had wanted to see Him for some time, because he was hoping to see Him do some miracle. While the priests and teachers of the Law stood there, fiercely accusing Jesus, Herod asked Him question after question. But Jesus didn’t answer him. Herod and his soldiers mocked him. They put a splendid robe on him and sent him back to Pilate. (Pilate and Herod had been each other’s enemy, but on that day, they became friends.)
Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, and said to them, “You have brought this man before me as one subverting the people. See now, I have examined him before you and have found nothing in this man guilty of any of your charges against him, and neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Mark this, he has done nothing worthy of death. I will have him punished and release him.”
So Pilate sent Jesus off and had Him beaten and flogged. Then the governor’s soldiers took Him into the palace courtyard and gathered the whole troop around Him. They stripped Him and put a purple robe on Him. They twisted some thorns into a crown and forced it on His head, and put a stick in His right hand. Then they came up and knelt down in front of Him, and worshipped Him in ridicule: “Hail, king of the Jews!” They spat on Him. They took the stick and hit Him on the head with it. They beat Him with their fists.
When they were done mocking Jesus, Pilate went out to the crowd again and told them, “I’m bringing him out to you let you know that I don’t find him guilty of anything.” Then Jesus came out, still wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!”
When the priests and their slaves saw Jesus, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
But Pilate answered, “Take him and crucify him yourselves! I don’t find him guilty of anything!”
The priests and teachers of the Law said, “We have a Law, and according to that Law, he must die! He claims to be God’s Son!”
When Pilate heard that, he was frightened. He took Jesus back inside the palace and asked Him, “Where are you from?” Jesus didn’t answer. “You don’t answer me? Don’t you know that I have the power to free you or to crucify you?”
“You would have no power over Me if it hadn’t been given to you from above. That is why the man who handed Me over to you is guilty of the greater sin.”
Then Pilate was anxious to let Jesus go. But outside, the crowd was shouting, “If you let him go, you’re no friend of Caesar! Anyone who makes himself a king is against Caesar!
Pilate heard them. He took Jesus outside and sat in the judge’s seat. It was the Friday of Passover, at about nine o’clock. Pilate told them, “Behold your king!” But they shouted, “Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate cried out, “Should I crucify your king?” But the high priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!”
As Pilate sat there, his wife sent someone with a message: “Leave that righteous man alone! I suffered terribly in a dream last night because of him.”
At every festival, the governor used to free one prisoner, chosen by the crowd. Just then, there was a notorious robber imprisoned, named Barabbas, who had committed murder in a revolt in the city. A crowd gathered and came to Pilate to ask him to do as he had done before. Now, Pilate knew that the priests had handed Jesus over to him out of jealousy, so he said to the crowd, “You have a custom that I free someone for you at Passover. Shall I release Jesus, whom you call the Messiah, king of the Jews?”
But the priests and elders incited the people so that when Pilate asked them which they wanted, the whole crowd yelled, “Not this one! Away with him! Give us Barabbas!”
But Pilate still wanted to let Him go, so he called out to them again, “Then what shall I do with Jesus?”
They all shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
Then Pilate asked, “Why? What has he done wrong?”
They kept yelling all the louder, “Crucify him! He has to be crucified!”
Their shouting won. When he saw that a riot was breaking out, Pilate took water and washed his hands in front of them all and said, “I am innocent of this man’s blood! You are responsible!”
All the people answered, “Let his blood be on us and our children!”
So, to placate them, Pilate decided to do what they demanded. He freed Barabbas, and he handed over Jesus for crucifixion.
Hymn: #437 – Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed (vs. 1,3,5)
SILENT PRAYER
THE SEVENTH LESSON
The soldiers took the purple robe off Jesus and put His own clothes on Him again. Then they took Him and led Him out, carrying His own cross, to crucify Him. Two others, who were criminals, were also taken out to be crucified with Him.
As they were on their way out of the city, Simon from Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus) was on his way into town from the country. He was about to pass by, but the soldiers grabbed him, laid Jesus’ cross on him, and forced him to carry it behind Jesus.
And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him, but Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me. Weep for yourselves and for your children, because a time is coming when people will say, ‘Happy are the barren women, the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed!’ People will say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and tell the hills, ‘Cover us!’ If this is done to the green tree, what will be done to the dry tree?”
They brought Him to Golgotha, which means, “The Place of the Skull.” They tried to give Him a drink of wine mixed with myrrh and gall, but when He tasted it, He refused to drink it. They stripped Him. They crucified Him.
And they crucified the two robbers with Him, one on His right and the other on His left, with Jesus between them. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”1
The soldiers took His clothes and divided them into four shares, one for each, and cast lots to see who would get which. The tunic was left over; it was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, so they said to each other. “Let’s not tear it. Let’s cast lots for it and see who gets it.” So what the Scripture said came true: “They divided My clothing among them; they cast lots for My clothes.” Then they sat down there to keep watch on Him.
Pilate wrote a notice, stating why Jesus was being punished, and they put it above His head on the cross. It read: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Many people read the notice, because the place was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek. The high priest told Pilate, “Don’t write, ‘The king of the Jews,’ but ‘this man said I am king of the Jews.’”
But Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
People stood there, watching. The passersby mocked Him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself. If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”
The soldiers, too, made fun of Him, going up to Him and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself.”
And the priests, with the teachers of the Law and the elders mocked Him to each other: “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down from the cross that we may see and believe. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God”
The thieves who were crucified with him also reviled him. And one of the criminals who hung there with him railed at him:
“Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us.”
But then the other criminal rebuked him, “Don’t you fear God since you are under the same sentence?We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
“I tell you the truth: Today you will be with Me in Paradise.”2
Jesus’ mother and her sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary from Magdala were standing near the cross. Jesus saw His mother and the disciple He loved standing near, and He told His mother, “Woman behold your son.” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother.”3 And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.
At about noon, darkness fell over the whole country; the sun gave no light. It was dark until three in the afternoon. At about three o’clock, Jesus cried out loudly, “My God! My God! Why have You forsaken Me?”4
When they heard Him, some of them who were standing near said, “Listen! He’s calling Elijah! Let’s see if Elijah comes and takes him down!”
After that, knowing that everything had been done, to fulfill the words of Scripture Jesus said, “I thirst.”5 A jar of sour wine was standing there and immediately one of the men ran and took a sponge, soaked it in the sour wine, put it on a hyssop stem, and held it up to Jesus’ mouth.
When He had taken the wine He said, “It is finished.”6 Then He called out in a loud voice, “Father! Into Your hands I commend My spirit!”7 And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. At that moment, the curtain in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The ground quaked, rocks split, and the tombs of many saints opened. Their bodies were brought back to life. They came out of their graves and many people saw them.
When the centurion who stood facing him saw how he died, he said, “Truly, this man was the Son of God.” All the people who had gathered to see the sight, when they saw what had happened, turned away beating their breasts. Those who had known him stood at a distance, and also the women who had followed him from Galilee.
The Jews didn’t want the bodies still on the crosses on Saturday, because of the importance of the festival Sabbath, so they asked Pilate to have the legs of the men broken and the bodies removed. The soldiers came back and broke the legs of the first man and then of the other who had been crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they didn’t break His legs. But one of them thrust a spear into His side and, immediately, blood and water came out. So what the Scriptures had foretold came true: “Not one of His bones shall be broken,” and, “They will look at Him whom they pierced.”
Many women were watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus and provided for Him in Galilee, and had followed Him to Jerusalem. Mary of Magdala, Mary the wife of Clopas, the mother of James and Joses, and Salome, the mother of Zebedee’s sons, were among them. When it drew towards evening Joseph of Arimathea came, a just and upright man who was waiting for the Kingdom of God. He was a wealthy and prominent member of the Jewish court who had not consented to their actions because he had become a disciple of Jesus, though secretly, for fear of the other Jews. But now he dared to go to Pilate and ask for Jesus’ body. Pilate was surprised and asked the centurion, “Is he already dead?” When the centurion assured him that it was so, he ordered the body given to Joseph. Joseph went and bought some linen and then took down the body from the cross. Nicodemus, who had first come to Jesus by night, came too, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes. They took the body to Joseph’s unused tomb, which was cut out of rock. They wrapped the corpse with the spices in the linen. Then, while Mary of Magdala and Mary the wife of Clopas watched, they laid the corpse in the grave, rolled a large stone against the opening, and left.
(All leave in silence)
GOOD FRIDAY
