Notes on the Notes – Good Friday – March 29, 2024

Good Friday

Today’s music has been chosen to enhance the Passion narrative of Jesus’ journey to the cross.

“We Remember”

The opening anthem by Joel Raney (2011) draws us into the Good Friday story by retelling some of the events of Jesus’ ministry and leading us to the phrase “we remember Calvary.”  It incorporates the traditional hymn “When I Survey The Wondrous Cross”  by Isaac Watts, which was written in 1707.

“As we gather here, we remember how you turned the water into wine;
How you fed the hungry crowd with five loaves of bread,
How you healed the sick and the blind.
As we gather here, we remember how you gave your life on the tree.
We remember, Lord, you sacrifice, we remember Calvary.

As we gather here, we remember how you freely gave to those in need,
How you shared your Father’s love, his undying care,
With each word, each thought, every deed.
As we gather here, we remember how you gave your life on the tree.
We remember, Lord, your sacrifice, we remember Calvary.

When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain, I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.

Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.

We remember, Lord, your sacrifice,
We remember Calvary.”

“Behold the Lamb of God”

“Behold the Lamb of God,
Behold the Lamb of God who carries our burden,
Who knows our pain, who bears the sins of the world.

Behold the Lamb of God,
Behold the Lamb of God;
Jesus, Jesus is the Lamb of God.

Surely he has borne our grief and carried the sorrows of us all.
Struck down in our stead, rejected and scorned,
And by his wounds we are healed.

Behold the Lamb of God,
Behold the Lamb of God;
Jesus, Jesus is the Lamb of God.”

This song is by Bob Dufford, SJ (1985) and borrows language from today’s reading from Isaiah, the prophecy of the suffering servant.

“Go to Dark Gethsemane” (VU #133)

“Go to dark Gethsemane, you that feel the tempter’s power;
Your Redeemer’s conflict see; watch with him one bitter hour;
Turn not from his grief away, learn from him to watch and pray.

See him at the judgement hall, beaten, bound, reviled, arraigned;
See him meekly bearing all; love to all his soul sustained.
Shun not suffering, shame, or loss; learn from Christ to bear the cross.

Calvary’s mournful mountain view; there the Lord of glory see,
Made a sacrifice for you, dying on the accursed tree.
“It is finished,” hear his cry; trust in Christ and learn to die.”

James Montgomery, born of Moravian missionary parents, was a newspaper editor in England who, risking imprisonment, published articles advocating human rights and the abolition of slavery.  He wrote more than 400 hymns.  He created two versions of this text.  The one used here is the earlier, published in 1820, (edited with updated language).  The tune, REDHEAD, by Richard Redhead, was published in 1853. The three verses follow the Passion narrative from the garden of Gethsemane, to Jesus’ trial and crucifixion.

Hear a choral version of the hymn at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btd2BItO6Wc

Hear a male soloist with guitar, with an alternate version of the lyrics at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD6tcMroY0A

“Shadows Gather, Deep and Cold” (VU #134)

“Shadows gather, deep and cold;
Lamplight flickers, fades and fails.
Lord, you know what daybreak holds:
Thorns and beatings, cross and nails.
You will be denied, betrayed
When the rooster wakes the sun.
Yet you kneel alone and pray,
“Not my will, but thine be done.”

In the watches of the night;
In the hour when darkness reigns,
In the grief that has no light,
In the time of fear and pain,
Then we hold fast to your way,
To the victory you have won.
Jesus, teach us how to pray,
“Not my will, but thine be done.”

As we enter into the story of Christ’s passion, we hear about Jesus time of prayer in the garden prior to his arrest.  Knowing what lies ahead, Jesus prays and accepts the God’s will.  It also brings us to the present “hour when darkness reigns,”  reminding us to keep our faith in God, as Jesus did. This hymn has words by Sylvia Dunstan (1992) and music by David Kai (1994).

“Jesus, Remember Me” (VU #148)

“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

The words for this meditative response are from Luke 23:42.  The music was written by Jacques Berthier in 1978.

“Beneath the cross of Jesus I fain would take my stand:
The shadow of a mighty rock within a weary land,
A home within the wilderness, a rest upon the way,
From the burning of the noon-tide heat and the burden of the day.

Upon the cross of Jesus my eyes at times can see
The very dying form of one who suffered there for me;
And from my smitten heart, with tears, two wonders I confess,
The wonder of his glorious love, and my unworthiness.

I take, O cross, your shadow for my abiding place;
I ask no other sunshine than the sunshine of his face,
Content to let the world go by, to know no gain nor loss,
My sinful self my only shame, my glory all, the cross.”

As we close our Good Friday worship, we join our hearts together with this familiar hymn by Elizabeth Clephane (1868).  In the hymn, Elizabeth alludes to a passage in Isaiah that speaks of “the shade of a great rock in a weary land” (Isaiah 32:1-2).  Perhaps one reason that this hymn has become so well-loved is that we know what it means to live in a weary land.  We feel the need of a mighty rock to shelter us from the storms of life.  Jesus’ cross is that resting place.  Jesus’ cross is our home within the wilderness, our rest upon the way.

Bonus Video: