Good Friday (Year A)

John 18.1-19.42 (TIB[1]):

After Jesus had said all this, he left with the disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. There was a garden there, and Jesus and the disciples entered it. 

2Judas, the traitor, knew the place well, because Jesus often met there with his disciples. 3Judas led the Roman cohort to the place, along with some Temple guards sent by the chief priests and Pharisees. All were armed and carried lanterns and torches.

4Then Jesus, aware of everything that was going to take place, stepped forward and said to them, “Who are you looking for?”

5“Are you Jesus of Nazareth?” they asked.

Jesus said, “I am.” Now Judas, the traitor, was with them. 6When Jesus said, “I am,” they all drew back and fell to the ground.

7Again, Jesus asked them, “Who are you looking for?” They replied, “Jesus of Nazareth.”

8Jesus said, “I have already told you that I am the one you want. If I am the one you’re looking for, let the others go.” 9This was to fulfill what he had spoken: “Of those you gave me, I have not lost a single one.”

10Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s attendant, cutting off his right ear. The name of the attendant was Malchus.

11Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back in its sheath. Am I not to drink the cup Abba God has given me?”

12Then the cohort and its captain and the Temple guards seized and bound Jesus. 13They took him first to Annas. Annas was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. 14It was Caiaphas who had advised the Temple authorities that it was better to have one person die on behalf of the people.

15Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. This disciple, who was known to the high priest, entered his courtyard with Jesus, 16while Peter hung back at the gate. So the disciple known to the high priest went back and spoke to the doorkeeper, and brought Peter inside.

17The doorkeeper said, “Aren’t you one of this guy’s followers?”

But Peter answered, “No, I’m not.”

18Now the night was cold, so the attendants and guards had lit a charcoal fire and were warming themselves. Peter was with them as well, keeping warm. 

19The high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teachings. 20Jesus answered, “I have spoken publicly to everyone; I have always taught in synagogues and in the Temple area where the whole Jewish people congregates. I have said nothing in secret. 21So why do you question me? Ask those who have heard me. Ask them what I said to them — they know what I said.”

22When Jesus said this, one of the guards standing by slapped him and said, “Is this how you answer the high priest?”

23“If I’ve said anything wrong,” Jesus replied, “point it out; but if I’m right in what I said, why do you strike me?”

24Then Annas sent him, still shackled, to Caiaphas the high priest.

25Meanwhile, Simon Peter was still standing there warming himself. Others asked him, “Aren’t you one of his disciples?”

But Peter denied it, saying, “I am not!”

26One of the attendants of the high priest, a relative of the attendant whose ear Peter had severed, spoke up: “Didn’t I see you in the garden with him?”

27Again Peter denied it. At that moment a rooster crowed.

28At daybreak, they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the Praetorium. The Temple authorities didn’t enter the Praetorium, for they would have become ritually unclean and unable to eat the Passover seder. 29So Pilate went out to them and asked, “What charges do you bring against this person?”

30They responded, “We wouldn’t have brought him to you if he weren’t a criminal.”

31Pilate told them, “Take him yourselves, and judge him by your own Law.”

The Temple authorities replied, “We don’t have the power to put anyone to death.” 32This was to fulfill what Jesus had said about the way he was going to die.

33So Pilate reentered the Praetorium and summoned Jesus. “Are you the King of the Jews?” asked Pilate.

34Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or have others told you about me?”

35Pilate replied, “Am I Jewish? It is your own people and the chief priests who hand you over to me. What have you done?”

36Jesus answered, “My realm is not of this world; if it belonged to this world, my people would have fought to keep me out of the hands of the Temple authorities. No, my realm is not of this world.”

37Pilate said, “So you’re a King?”

Jesus replied, “You say I’m a King. I was born and came into the world for one purpose — to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who seeks the truth hears my voice.”

38“Truth? What is truth?” asked Pilate. With that, Pilate went outside and spoke to the people. “I find no guilt in him,” he said. 39“But according to your custom, I always release a prisoner at the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the King of the Jews’?”

40They shouted, “Not him! We want Barabbas!” Barabbas was a robber.

19.1So Pilate ordered that Jesus be flogged. 2Then the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and put it on his head, and dressed him in a purple robe. 3They went up to him repeatedly and said, “All hail the King of the Jews!” And they struck him in the face.

4Pilate came outside once more and said to the crowd, “Look, I’ll bring him out here to make you understand that I find no guilt in him.” 5So Jesus came out wearing the purple robe and the crown of thorns, and Pilate said, “Look upon the one you accuse!”

6When the chief priests and the Temple guards saw Jesus, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

Pilate told them, “Do it yourself. I find no reason to condemn him.”

7“We have a law,” the Temple authorities replied, “that says he ought to die because he claimed to be the Only Begotten of God.”

8When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid. 9He went back into the Praetorium and asked Jesus, “Where do you come from?”

Jesus didn’t answer.

10Then Pilate said to Jesus, “You refuse to speak? Bear in mind that I have the power to release you — and the power to crucify you.”

11“You would have no authority over me,” Jesus replied, “unless it had been given to you by God. Therefore the person who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”

12Upon hearing this, Pilate attempted to set Jesus free. But the crowd shouted, “If you set him free, you’re no ‘friend of Caesar.’ Anyone who claims to be a king defies Caesar!”

13Hearing these words, Pilate took Jesus outside and seated himself on the judge’s seat at the place called the Pavement — “Gabbatha,” in Hebrew.

14Now it was almost noon on Preparation Day for the Passover. Pilate said to the people, “Here is your king!”

15“Take him away!” they shouted. “Take him away! Crucify him!”

Pilate asked, “Do you want me to crucify your king?”

The chief priests said, “We have no king but Caesar!”

16Then Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be crucified.

So they took Jesus, 17carrying his own cross, to what is called the Place of the Skull — in Hebrew, “Golgotha.” 18There they crucified him, along with two others, one on either side of Jesus.

19Pilate wrote a notice and had it put on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” 20The notice, in Hebrew, Greek and Latin, was read by many people, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. 21The chief priests said to Pilate, “Don’t write ‘King of the Jews,’ but, ‘This one said, I am King of the Jews.’”

22Pilate replied, “I have written what I have written.”

23After the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothing and divided it into four pieces, one piece for each soldier. They also took the seamless robe. 24The soldiers said to one another, “Let’s not tear it. We can throw dice to see who will get it.”

This happened in order to fulfill the scripture, “They divided my garments among them and, for my clothing, they cast lots.” And this is what they did. 

25Standing close to Jesus’ cross were his mother; his mother’s sister, Mary, the wife of Clopas; and Mary of Magdala. 26When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Here is your son.” 27Then he said to his disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that moment, the disciple took her into his household.

28After this, Jesus knew that now all was completed, and to fulfill scripture perfectly, he said, “I am thirsty.” 29There was a jar of cheap wine nearby, so they put a sponge soaked in the wine on a hyssop stick and raised it to his lips.

30Jesus took the wine and said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

31Since it was Preparation Day, the Temple authorities asked Pilate to let them break the legs of those crucified, and take their bodies from the crosses. They requested this to prevent the bodies remaining on the cross during the Sabbath, since that particular Sabbath was a solemn feast day.

32So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first one and then the other who had been crucified with Jesus. 33But when they came to Jesus, they found that he was already dead, so they didn’t break his legs. 34One of the soldiers, however, pierced Jesus’ side with a lance, and immediately blood and water poured out. 35This testimony has been given by an eyewitness whose word is reliable; the witness knows that this testimony is the truth, so that you will believe. 36These things were done to fulfill the scripture, “Not one of his bones will be broken.” 37And again, another scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.”

38After this, Joseph of Arimathea, a disciple of Jesus — but a secret one, for fear of the Temple authorities — asked Pilate for permission to remove the body of Jesus, and Pilate granted it. So Joseph came and took it away. 39Nicodemus came as well — the same one who had first come to Jesus by night — and he brought about one hundred pounds of spices, a mixture of myrrh and aloes. 40They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the Jewish burial custom.

41There was a garden in the place where Jesus had been crucified, and in the garden was a new tomb where no one had ever been buried. 42Since it was the day before the Sabbath and the tomb was nearby, they buried Jesus there.

Other readings:

Isaiah 52.13-53.12; Psalm 22; Hebrews 10.16-25

The Gathering Prayer:

Jesus the Christ, crucified for us, we kneel at the foot of your cross to watch with you. Help us to see the cost of our forgiveness so that we may be made new through your love; for the glory of your holy name. Amen.

The New Zealand Book of Common Prayer (adapted)

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In the Love of the Three in One,

Br. Jack+, LC

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[1] Scripture quotations marked (TIB) are taken from The Inclusive Bible. Copyright © 2007 by Priests for Equality. Used by permission.