Holy Friday - The Precious Cross
Tonight we process the burial bier of the Lord and lament, but not as those who have no hope. We weep, but not forever. We grieve, but only a little while. We see the Cross, but also the Empty Tomb!
On this Holy Friday:
Let us pray to the Lord,
God and Lord of hosts and Maker of all creation, in Your unfathomable compassion and mercy You sent down Your Only-Begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, for the salvation of the human race; and by His precious Cross You tore up the record of our sins, and triumphed over the principalities and powers of darkness. O benevolent Lord, accept the thanksgiving and fervent prayers even of us sinners. Deliver us from every dark and destructive transgression and from all the visible and invisible enemies that seek to harm us. Nail our flesh with the fear of You, and do not incline our hearts to evil words or thoughts; but rather prick our souls with love for You, so that always looking to You, and guided by Your light, and gazing on You, the eternal and ineffable Light, we may send up unceasing praise and thanksgiving to You, the Father without beginning, and Your Only-Begotten Son, and Your all-holy, good and life-giving Spirit, now and forever and to ages of ages. Amen.
“…by His precious Cross You tore up the record of our sins…”
With shallow eyes, the world looks at the Cross as a defeat. But we see the truth. The Cross is God’s sentence on all the enemies of humanity - Sin, Death, and Satan - and His eternal act of love to save us from death.
As we stand at the cross with the Lord on this Day, know that some are standing here as well, plotting to secure the tomb of the Lord to keep Him from rising from the dead.
That’s always true in our world.
People who love Him and people who hate Him are mixed together.
Look at our Gospel Lesson today in Matthew 27:62-66:
Next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ Therefore order the sepulcher to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can.” So they went and made the sepulcher secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.
From the Cross, during our Master’s passion, pain, suffering, humiliation, and torture, His only thoughts were of others. It is incredible how susceptible to tunnel vision we are when we are in pain.
From the Cross, our Lord thought about those who had betrayed and crucified Him: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” He thought of the thief who repented: “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” And He thought of His Mother and us: “Woman, behold your son.” Our Lord gave His mother to St. John, the Beloved disciple, and, through him, He gave her to all of us since we are all brothers and sisters in Christ with St. John.
Our Lord, amid His pain, thought not of Himself, even as He quoted the Psalms – “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” – and said “I thirst” to fulfill the scriptures.
Our Lord thought only of the joy that would follow the pain, making the pain an impotent weapon that could no longer overcome hope and love.
He also made futile the attempts of those who hated and feared Him to “secure” His tomb. Death was not going to hold forever the Lord of Life! But that’s the fate of all attempts to hold the Lord down. They always fail to overcome Him. Always!
Today, kneel before Him Who was crucified for you and glory in the victory of love and mercy over the worst of human fallenness!
Soon, the Light that destroys the darkness will light up the night of sin and forever show Light greater than all darkness!
You are so close, dearest! Don’t stumble so close to the finish! Stick around for the joy, especially after having witnessed the temporary tragedy of the Cross!
P.S. With Your arms extended * on the Cross, You, O Lord, * drew all people. Since Your life-giving side was pierced, * You, O Jesus, gush forgiveness unto all.
From The Lamentations
Fr. Barnabas Powell is the parish priest at Sts. Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Cumming, GA. He is also the founder of Faith Encouraged Ministries and produces the Faith Encouraged Daily Devotional on Substack. Watch the Faith Encouraged YouTube Channel here - https://www.youtube.com/@FaithEncouraged
