Good Friday Vigil Meditations

“The Seven Last Words of Jesus”

By Jeremy Berg | April 2020

Read all seven meditations below, or print PDF here. 

SET UP: 

Part of the power of our Good Friday vigil experience is the sacred space we create in the church with stations to move through. This year we are left to our own devices inside our own homes. Still, we encourage you to spend some time creating a set-apart space using ambient music, lighting candles, and so on. If you have kids at home, have them help create your home sanctuary. Really, the only thing needed is an open heart willing to let Jesus inside and move the furniture around (cf. Rev. 3:20). Set aside 60-90 minutes to slowly work through these meditations. 

INTRODUCTION: 

Jesus didn’t do a lot of talking on the cross. It was as if he were alone in his pain—silent for the many hours he hung there, except for a very few words and some rough and tumble death mates. But these Seven Last Words of Christ from the Cross provide a window into Jesus’ soul, a way to understand through his own last words what is ultimately important to this One who is dying on the cross. 

The most important part of this vigil experience is to read slowly through the Scriptures of Christ’s Passion with a heart that is open to the Spirit. The reflections are only secondary aids, and you may choose to read through all of them, or maybe just spend time meditating on one or two in greater depth. 

As I wrote them I kept thinking, “Man, these are not fun, happy meditations at all.” But why should an execution story make one feel warm and fuzzy? My second thought was, “Each word from the cross offers really timely advice to people living through this Covid-19 pandemic.” Most Good Friday meditations invite you to think about Christ’s death; these are a bit jarring in that they invite you to take action in your own life. Just as he said to the disciples mending their nets by the Sea of Galilee, so he seems to be saying to all of us from the cross, “Come, take up your cross and follow me.” 

So, ready or not—let’s journey to the cross and let Jesus’ words both woo and rattle us a bit on this somber night when Heaven shed tears on that hill far away. 

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#1 — FORGIVE OTHERS (Luke 23:34)

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, they crucified him there, 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 (Luke 23:34).

Jesus died just as he lived: extending grace toward others. While Jesus’ own death and offer of forgiveness had a one-of-a-kind significance, he also intended for his followers to follow his example. This is why he taught us to pray, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us.” We’ve all heard heartbreaking stories of people who have gone to the grave bearing a grudge, or of children living their entire life weighed down by a burden of guilt or bitterness because they never got the chance to be reconciled to a parent. People are dying all around us these days, and we are foolish to think we are immune to the same possibility. So, let’s take a moment to ponder these probing questions and invite the Holy Spirit to have His gentle way with us in this holy moment.

Reflection: 

1. Can you name the harshest, most painful message you’ve ever received from someone?  Have you worked through this pain—with a friend or counselor? Are you on the path to healing or still pushing aside the pain?

2. Do you need/want to move toward forgiving this person? If they are no longer living, do you need to release the anger or pain into Christ’s hands and let him to bring closure and healing? 

3. Do you need to be forgiven by someone you’ve hurt? Might this time of isolation and collective humbling be a good opportunity to reach out and reconnect with this person?

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#2 — HEAVEN IS REAL (Luke 23:43)

35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, 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 Messiah? 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, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:35-43)

Maura Lewinger’s husband was a beloved high school teacher and assistant principal who died of COVID-19. He was a healthy 42-year old husband and father of three children. She recently spoke to CNN’s Erin Burnett about the last hours of his life as a low-grade fever one day quickly left him dying in the ICU a few days later. She shared how she was able to be “with him” until the end thanks to the nurses allowing her to FaceTime with him. Through the phone she prayed with him, played their wedding song, and eventually said ‘Good bye.’ Take a moment to watch at least the first 10 minutes of the heart-breaking interview below.

Nobody wants to die alone, and it’s a gift to be surrounded by family when you go. Jesus didn’t die alone either—though few of us would chose to have two criminals share our last moments. This is a touching scene to meditate on tonight as so many people in our world right now are facing the reality of death and hopefully wondering what’s on the “other side.” As this coronavirus claims lives of young healthy adults as well as the older vulnerable population, many are hopefully being forced to think about the reality of Heaven, Paradise, Eternity. 

The good news is that Heaven is real, and the Paradise Jesus spoke of is not reserved just for righteous saints, but repentant sinners—yes, even the worst criminals who only turn to God in their dying moments. That’s why its called amazing grace!

Reflection:

1. The two criminals had the same sentence and possibly committed the same crimes, but they had very different heart soils in the end. How did they differ and what lesson can we draw from the two criminals for how we view “rough characters” we come across?
2. Reflect on the meaning of the criminal’s exact request: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Why remember? Why not ‘save me’ or ‘welcome me’ or something? 
3. Reflect on the words “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” What might have rushed through the criminals mind after hearing this? What thoughts rush through your mind if you knew you would be with Jesus in paradise today or tomorrow? 

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#3 — AFFAIRS IN ORDER? (John 19:26-27)

25 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” 27 and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. (John 19:26-27)

Again, Jesus showed his selfless character in that even while he was dying, he was thinking about the needs of others. In the midst of his suffering and gasping for breath, he took the time to make sure his mother would be looked after when he was gone by putting her into the care of “the disciple whom Jesus loved” who we assume was John. Jesus wasn’t just thinking about the redemption of the entire world, but also very practical matters that would impact his family when he leaves this earth. 

Our decisions as parents and children can live on well beyond our death. Do we “get our affairs in order” now while we are still healthy, or let it all fall on our children after we die? Do we have a Living Will in place and up to date so there’s no legal battles amongst our children/heirs? Are we making lifestyle choices today for the sake of those who depend on us and want us around for many more years? Likewise, do we need to force the issue with our aging parents and get them to start thinking about such things? These are convicting questions, but a powerful way we live out the commandment to “Honor your father and mother,” and to “in humility consider others above ourselves” (Phil. 2:3-4).

Reflection: 

1. So, if you were to get sick tomorrow and die within a week, are your affairs in order? 
2. What tasks or unfinished business might God nudge you to take care of before it is too late? 

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#4 — HONEST TO GOD (Mark 15:34)

33 When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

For 3 long hours darkness descended upon the Light of the world. From noon to 3PM, the words from John’s Gospel were almost proved false: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). The One who was with the Father in the very beginning and shouted, “Let there be light” (Gen. 1:3), now hung in utter darkness crying out as if the Father had abandoned Him there. He could endure the mockery of the crowds and withstand the physical agony of the nails and thorny crown; but the feeling of being separated from the love of God as he bore the consequences of our sins was almost too much to bear.  

In that horrific God-forsaken moment, he let out a cry from the deepest place in his heart—that place that reveals his deepest desire and most precious possession. Theologians and skeptics alike, still struggle to grasp what it means for the Son of God—or even God incarnate—to express such an uncomfortably honest sentiment. But one gets the feeling that He was again giving voice to something we have all experienced—something Jesus should have never had to experience himself.  

But in his cry of desperation tinged with fear and pain and even some anger, Jesus gave us all permission to express our own deepest feelings before God. Some of us have yet to learn that God really can handle the full array of our emotions, and He really wants us to be real in our relationship with Him. We may need to abandon some cheesy Christian cliches and stop repeating shallow formulas if we are to begin to approach our relationship with God with the same intensity and authenticity Jesus modeled for us. 

In this moment of uncertainty and global suffering, will we keep smiling and proffering sentimental refrains such as “God has a special purpose for all of this” or “Our hope is in Heaven”? Or will we trust that God would rather have us cry out to Him voicing what we’re really thinking or experiencing in the depths of our being? “My God, my God, why are you allowing this pandemic to ravage your creation? God, where the Hell are you right now?” 

Reflection: Are you totally honest with God in prayer? Are you holding back and afraid to share your deepest feelings? Will you follow Jesus’ lead and express your true heart to Him today?

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#5 — OBEY YOUR THIRST, OR GOD? (John 19:28)

28 Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. (John 19:28-29)

The genius of good marketing is subliminally tapping a primal human desire in seemingly innocuous ways. If we ever stop to think about the happy commercial jingle, sometimes we’re shocked at the audacity of the message. One example is Sprite’s slogan: “Obey your thirst!” What terrible advice for a race so prone to thirsting after things that don’t satisfy and often bring harm. As a guilt-ridden soda-junkie, I know personally how dangerous it is to blindly obey my thirst. Instead, we need to curb our thirst, tame our thirst, or best of all, to transform our thirst from away from things that don’t quench and toward those things that truly satisfy.

Thirst is a common and powerful metaphor in Scripture. The Psalmist declares, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God” (Ps. 42:1). In Jeremiah 2, God calls Himself “the spring of living water” and laments how his people have forsaken Him by digging their own “broken cisterns” that cannot hold water.”  Jesus tells the Samaritan woman at the well that her unquenchable thirst for love won’t be satisfied by one more romantic relationship, but she can find an overflowing spring welling up inside her if she’ll just drink the “living water” Jesus offers (John 4). 

Here’s the challenge: Nobody would voluntarily drink a cup of poison that would instantly kill them. Yet, many of us are daily making choices that are ever-so-slowly taking life away—and I am not just thinking about literal substances or dietary choices. I also mean the danger of thirsting for human approval, thirsting for wealth and success, searching for the fountain of youth by obsessing over one’s diet and health. 

On the cross, Jesus was without sin and had lived his entire life obeying a “hunger and thirst for righteousness” (Matt 5:6). He once told his hungry disciples with rumbling bellies, “I have food you know nothing about; my nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work” (John 4:34). Now, on the cross, the person who lived his entire life drinking from the Eternal Fountain of Living Water and whose cup should’ve “runneth over” (Ps. 23), is suffering the cumulative thirst of all our empty attempts to find satisfaction drinking from broken cisterns. The one who obeyed God died with thirst on his lips because we obeyed our thirst instead. 

Reflection: Jesus died to free us from unholy cravings and offers us “living water” that truly satisfies. Which appetites or thirsts might God want to transform in your heart? Is life in quarantine revealing or helping you cut yourself off from an unhealthy habit or craving?

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#6 — FINISHING WELL (John 19:30)

30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (John 19:30)

Have you ever noticed that the people who live for “happiness” or “comfort” are often less happy than those who live with a great sense of purpose—even if that purpose often brings more challenges than happy days at the beach? Victor Frankl spent time in a Nazi concentration camp, and when reflecting on why some faired better than others, he concluded those who were able to find some deeper purpose for living tended to outlive the others. 

Jesus lived with a great sense of purpose and resolve: “I have come to seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10); “I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will” (John 6:38), and “My food is to do the will of God and complete his work” (John 4). The Apostle Paul had this mindset on steroids, and withstood innumerable hardships because he was determined to finish well. He said, “I consider my life of no value to myself, if only I may finish my course and complete the ministry I have received from the Lord Jesus” (Acts 20:24) and as he was preparing to die he wrote, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim 4:7).  

Many people start off well, but fewer persevere when things get tough and finish the race. These days, we see many “rising stars” in celebrity culture who suddenly flame out in a scandal. Even among those who give their life to serving Christ, a recent survey claimed that 1,700 pastors leave the ministry each month (!), 80% of pastors will not be in ministry ten years later and on average, seminary trained pastors last only five years in church ministry. 

If you quit your job and find another career, few will suffer for it. Jesus, on the other hand, lived his life knowing that the fate of humankind rested on whether or not he finished well. No wonder he sweat blood in Gethsemane, and no wonder we sense the relief he must have felt as he uttered the words, “It is finished.” He would now hear the words he told us to long to hear: “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

Reflection: 

Here’s the good news for weak and well-intentioned “quitters” like you and me: God will never quit on us! Molding stubborn clay like me and you into Christlikeness is quite a difficult task to carry on to completion—perhaps only the Creator Himself could ever pull it off. But reflect on these words today: “I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will carry on his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns” (Phil 1:6).

We need only remain moldable and soft in His hands. Then on that day when eternity beckons, we will stand before God and He will look at us and say, “It is finished! My masterpiece” (cf. Eph. 2:10).

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#7 — IN GOD’S HANDS (Luke 23:46)

44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 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.” 48 When 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. (Luke 23:46)

They say every preacher tends to have only one main message they keep circling around and coming back to from different angles. If that’s true, my (Jeremy) message boils down to the word: surrender. Abraham lived a surrendered life and set off to a strange country. Moses lived a surrendered life and was led back to Egypt to deliver God’s people. Mary lived a surrendered life saying, “I am the Lord’s servant; may it happen to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). Paul lived a surrendered life saying, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). Jesus lived a surrendered life saying just a few hours earlier in Gethsemane: “Not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). 

Trying to “play God” in our own life and secure our own future is a weight and responsibility we were never meant to bear. We were created to live with childlike dependence on God’s loving provision. We were meant to cooperate with God in sharing the load and letting him guide our steps. Every time we grasp for ultimate control and push God into the background of our life, we are eating again from that forbidden fruit. We move further and further away from Eden’s blessings and deeper into the thorny wilderness of our own making outside the Garden. 

Jesus came as the New Adam in order to live the completely surrendered life in perfect cooperation with the Father through the Spirit. He surrendered to God’s will and resisted temptation during his 40 days in the wilderness. He not only placed his life into God’s hands, but his death as well. After hours of agony, I can imagine his final words uttered with a sense of sweet surrender: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46). 

Reflection: We don’t need to wait until our final hours to place our life and death into God’s hands. In fact, we can be relieved of a huge and heavy burden now if we will begin to practice praying this prayer today: “Father, into your hands I place my life—this new day, this new challenge, the uncertain future, my ultimate destiny.” What if we prayed that prayer every morning when our feet hit the floor? 

You can’t easily shake a person who has totally surrendered their life to God’s care. And someone who has no fear of death because they’ve already place it into God’s hands is the freest person of all. Take a moment right now to place your life and death into the Father’s hands.

Thank you for taking this sacred journey together to the cross. Now let’s prepare our hearts to journey to the Empty Tomb on Sunday!