last words

submission

Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit Luke 23:46 How does God die? It’s the cornerstone of our faith, and I cannot fully understand. When I think about it too long, my head hurts. But this I do know: it was not a charade that Christ was playing with the Father. It wasContinue reading “submission”

authority

It is finished! John 19:30 Finished is a bit of a misleading word in English, perhaps. The Greek word means not merely to end, but to come to completion, to the fullness, once for all. Like Jesus’ very words about Himself and the law: “I did not come to abolish [the law], but to fulfill.”Continue reading “authority”

pain

Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me? Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34 Oh this ineffable moment of Christ’s despair on which hangs the lifetimes of our hope! In the most broken of circumstances, the most desperate of cries, we have never known a moment over which God’s handContinue reading “pain”

need

I thirst! John 19:28 Sometimes it’s easy to forget that Jesus was dying. It is easy to spiritualize, to theologize, to talk about the events of this history-defining afternoon only in language of redemption and prophecy and divinity. Somewhere in the pious-looking artistic renderings, theological wonderment and resurrection already known-ness, we lost sight of theContinue reading “need”

provision

Woman, behold your son! …Behold your mother! John 19:26-27 The disciple whom Jesus loved. We read John’s self-chosen name without really taking in the reality of a relationship that could define itself as such. That John would have the confidence to proclaim those words is astonishing. Who are you? Oh, I’m the one the KingContinue reading “provision”

grace

“Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise.” Luke 23:43 Oh, the theological weight that has stood on these words! God’s economy is not even, measured, or fair by any worldly standards. No, instead the condemned sinner, literally in the very act of being deservedly punished for his crimes, appealsContinue reading “grace”

compassion

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” Luke 23:34 I doubt these would have been my first words. In fact, I know they would not have been. I know, because even now, in the midst of my comfortable, insulated, well-fed and well-loved life, where what often feel like sins against meContinue reading “compassion”

A Good Friday Tenebrae service is my favorite of the church year. It’s an ancient tradition which has taken different shapes but consistently features the extinguishing of candles throughout the course of the service, usually ending in full darkness and silence. It’s not a tradition I grew up with, however, so I remember distinctly theContinue reading “Last Words”