NICENE CREED
C I believe in one God,
the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth
and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
     the only-begotten Son of God,
     begotten of His Father before all worlds,
     God of God, Light of Light,
     very God of very God,
     begotten, not made,
being of one substance with the Father,
     by whom all things were made;
     who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven
     and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary
     and was made man;
     and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate.
     He suffered and was buried.
     And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures
     and ascended into heaven
     and sits at the right hand of the Father.
     And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead,
     whose kingdom will have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Spirit,
     the Lord and giver of life,
     who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
     who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified,
     who spoke by the prophets.
     And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church,
     I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins,
     and I look for the resurrection of the dead
     and the life + of the world to come. Amen.

Lord’s Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be Thy name,
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven;
give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those
who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom
and the power and the glory
forever and ever. Amen.

Benediction

P The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make His face shine on you
and be gracious to you.
The Lord look upon you with favor and + give you peace.

CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION

P     Good Friday is a day where we see our sin most clearly. We see our sin heaped upon Jesus as He suffers and dies on the cross. We confess our sins to our heavenly Father.
C     Dear heavenly Father, we have sinned against You and our neighbors in our thoughts, words, and actions. We have sinned against You and our neighbors in the things we have done and the things we have left undone. O Lord, have mercy on us.

P     God invites us to see our forgiveness clearly in Jesus. Out of His abundant mercy and grace, God gave His Son to die and rise for you. Because Jesus shed His blood, we are forgiven. Because Jesus endured the cross, we are saved. As a called and ordained servant of our crucified Lord, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C     Amen. We are forgiven by the blood of Jesus.

EPISTLE .................................................................................................................................................................Hebrews 4:14–16; 5:7–9
P The Epistle is from Hebrews, the fourth and fifth chapters.

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find

grace to help in time of need. . . .

In the days of His flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to Him who was able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence. 8Although He was a son, He learned obedience through what He suffered. And being made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.

P This is the Word of the Lord.
C Thanks be to God.

+ WORD +

KYRIE
P     Lord, have mercy.
C     Christ, have mercy.
P     Lord, have mercy.

SALUTATION
P     The Lord be with you.
C     And also with you.

COLLECT OF THE DAY
P     Let us pray.
Almighty God, graciously behold this Your family for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed and delivered into the hands of sinful men to suffer death upon the cross; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C     Amen

PSALM                                                                                                                               Psalm 31
P     In You, O Lord, do I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
in Your righteousness deliver me!
C     Incline Your ear to me;
rescue me speedily!
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a strong fortress to save me!
P     For You are my rock and my fortress;
and for Your name’s sake You lead me and guide me;
C     You take me out of the net they have hidden for me,
for You are my refuge.
P     Into Your hand I commit my spirit;
You have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.
C     I hate those who pay regard to worthless idols,
but I trust in the Lord.
P     I will rejoice and be glad in Your steadfast love,
because You have seen my affliction;
You have known the distress of my soul,
C     and You have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy;
You have set my feet in a broad place.
P     Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;
my eye is wasted from grief;
my soul and my body also.
C     For my life is spent with sorrow,
and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my iniquity,
and my bones waste away.
P     Because of all my adversaries I have become a reproach,
especially to my neighbors,
and an object of dread to my acquaintances;
those who see me in the street flee from me.
C     I have been forgotten like one who is dead;
I have become like a broken vessel.
P     For I hear the whispering of many—
terror on every side!—
as they scheme together against me,
as they plot to take my life.
C     But I trust in You, O Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”
P     My times are in Your hand;
rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!
C     Make Your face shine on Your servant;
save me in Your steadfast love!

P     O Lord, let me not be put to shame,
for I call upon You;
let the wicked be put to shame;
let them go silently to Sheol.
C     Let the lying lips be mute,
which speak insolently against the righteous
in pride and contempt.

P Oh, how abundant is Your goodness,
which You have stored up for those who fear You
and worked for those who take refuge in You,
in the sight of the children of mankind!
C In the cover of Your presence You hide them
from the plots of men;
You store them in Your shelter
from the strife of tongues.

P Blessèd be the Lord,
for He has wondrously shown His steadfast love to me
when I was in a besieged city.
C I had said in my alarm,
“I am cut off from Your sight.”
But You heard the voice of my pleas for mercy
when I cried to You for help.

P Love the Lord, all you His saints!
The Lord preserves the faithful
but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.
C Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the Lord!

OLD TESTAMENT READING Isaiah 52:13–53:12

P The Old Testament Reading is from Isaiah, the fifty-second and fifty-third chapters.

Behold, My servant shall act wisely;
He shall be high and lifted up,
and shall be exalted.
As many were astonished at you—
His appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and His form beyond that of the children of mankind—
so shall He sprinkle many nations;
kings shall shut their mouths because of Him;
for that which has not been told them they see,
and that which they have not heard they understand.

Who has believed what they heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For He grew up before Him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him,
and no beauty that we should desire Him.
He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.
Surely He has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed Him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions;
He was crushed for our iniquities;
upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned every one to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on Him
the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and He was afflicted,
yet He opened not His mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so He opened not His mouth.
By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
and as for His generation, who considered
that He was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of My people?
And they made His grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in His death,
although He had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in His mouth.
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush Him;
He has put Him to grief;
when His soul makes an offering for sin,
He shall see His offspring; He shall prolong His days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
Out of the anguish of His soul He shall see and be satisfied;
By His knowledge shall the righteous one, My servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and He shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the many,
and He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because He poured out His soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet He bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.

P This is the Word of the Lord.
C Thanks be to God.

HOLY GOSPEL ……………………………………........................................................................................................John 19:25–37
P The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the nineteenth chapter.
C Glory to You, O Lord.
Standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to His mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished,” and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.

Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of His bones will be broken.” And again another Scripture says, “They will look on Him whom they have pierced.”

P This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C Praise to You, O Christ.

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH

P     Lord Jesus Christ, defend Your Church throughout the world from the assaults of Satan, so that we be kept firm in the one true faith. What language shall we borrow
C    to thank Thee, dearest Friend?

P     Lord Jesus Christ, bless all people who serve You in their callings and vocations. Grant them a measure of Your humility and servanthood. What language shall we borrow
C    to thank Thee, dearest Friend?

P     Lord Jesus Christ, You are the great teacher of Your people. Bless all those who receive instruction in the faith, that they might be faithful unto death and receive the crown of life. What language shall we borrow
C    to thank Thee, dearest Friend?

P     Lord Jesus Christ, You possess all authority. Guide those who have been given earthly authority, especially our president, Congress, governor,

and all those who make, administer, and judge our laws. What language shall we borrow
C    to thank Thee, dearest Friend?

P     Lord Jesus Christ, You are the light that shines in the darkness. Shine Your light upon all those who walk in darkness apart from You, so that they might see Your love for them. What language shall we borrow
C    to thank Thee, dearest Friend?

P     Lord Jesus Christ, You endured suffering and shame from Your enemies. Strengthen us to love our enemies, to do good to those who hate us, and to pray for those who persecute us. What language shall we borrow
C    to thank Thee, dearest Friend?

P     Lord Jesus Christ, You are the true Vine; we are the branches. Feed us with Your Word and Sacraments that we might bear fruit in keeping with repentance, so that the world might praise You. What language shall we borrow
C    to thank Thee, dearest Friend? O make me Thine forever! Amen.

Pastor Jonathan Bontke

PRAYER
P Let us pray.
Merciful and everlasting God, You did not spare Your only Son but delivered Him up for us all to bear our sins on the cross. Grant that our hearts may be so fixed with steadfast faith in Him that we fear not the power of sin, death, and the devil; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord.
C Amen.

BEAUTIFUL SAVIOR LUTHERAN CHURCH
6830 S. Pleasant Valley Rd.
Austin, TX 78744
Office 512-443-4947
Pastor Jonathan Bontke
Cell 512-426-7040
Home 512 -520-5171
www.bslcaustin.com

PRAYER
P Let us pray.
Almighty and everlasting God, You willed that Your Son should bear for us the pains of the cross and so remove from us the power of the adversary. Help us so to remember and give thanks for our Lord’s passion that we may receive forgiveness of sin and redemption from everlasting death; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
C Amen.

PASSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST - TENEBRAE

P The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. John.

READING John 18:1–11

When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. So he asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.” This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.” Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant's name was Malchus.) So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”

First candle is extinguished

READING John 18:12–27

So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him. First they led him to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it would be expedient that one man should die for the people.

Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in. The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man's disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.”  Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.

The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching.  Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret.  Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said.”  When he had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?”  Jesus answered him, “If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?”  Annas then sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.”  One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?”  Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed.

Second candle is extinguished

READING John 18:28–40

Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor's headquarters.  It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor's headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover.  So Pilate went outside to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?”  They answered him, “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.”  Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.”  This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”  Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?”  Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?”  Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”  Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”  Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him.  But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”  They cried out again, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.

Third candle is extinguished

READING John 19:1–16a

Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”

From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic[b] Gabbatha. Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.

So they took Jesus,

Fourth candle is extinguished

READING John 19:16b–24

So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.

So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”

When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says,

“They divided my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.”

So the soldiers did these things,

Fifth candle is extinguished

READING John 19:25–30

but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Sixth candle is extinguished

READING John 19:31–42

Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”

After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

(The removal of the final candle, the strepitus, and the return and replacement of the candle concludes the service and looks toward the blessed joy of Easter morning. The congregation leaves in silence with minimal light.)

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church (LCMS)

+PREPARATION+
INVOCATION

P     In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C     Amen.

OPENING SENTENCES

P     Our Lenten journey with Jesus arrives at the cross.
C     We have followed Jesus from the Upper Room to Gethsemane.

P     We have followed as Jesus stood trial before the chief priests and Pontius Pilate,
C     and we follow Him now to the cross.

P     On the cross, Jesus bore our griefs and carried our sorrows.
C     On the cross, Jesus was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities.

P     On the cross, Jesus shed His blood for us and for our salvation.

Sermon Text: John 19:25–37

Sermon:

GOOD FRIDAY
John, the Gospel Writer
AS WE GATHER

Our journey to follow Christ through witnesses to Christ arrives now at the cross. Tonight, we view Christ on the cross through the author’s eyes—John, Apostle and Evangelist, the beloved disciple, the son of Zebedee, and the brother of James. By John’s witness, we view Jesus beaten and bloodied. We hear His words of forgiveness and fulfillment. We see Him shedding His blood for the life of the world. As we sing and pray and sit in silence this evening, we ponder Christ’s love for us. We marvel at His gifts of forgiveness and salvation, for we have been clothed with the blood of Christ.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church (LCMS)​​​

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church (LCMS)