Friday, 10 April 2020

τετέλεσται Tetelestai: It is finished

Oh that my head were waters,
    and my eyes a fountain of tears,
that I might weep day and night
    for the slain of the daughter of my people!

Today, Good Friday, Mary and I tuned in to our church's (Trinity)  Good Friday service. By the middle of the first hymn we were both in tears. The first hymn, " There is a green hill far away" a simple children's hymn that we had both sung from children, held many emotions for both of us. This time of lockdown and uncertainty for many of us has left many raw emotions. We have seen the death toll rise steadily, and we hear of friends infected and some killed by the virus.   



So why is today so important for us? How is a would-be Messiah dying on a cross, relevant to the situation we find ourselves in? As we look at a bloodied and half dead man on a cross, this looks like a total failure. His cry of "It is finished!" sounds like  the cry of a vanquished man admitting defeat. However, it is not a cry of despair but a victory shout. Jesus had achieved all that He had set out to do, triumphing over sin and the devil, and bringing all who believe in Him out of the deadness of their sinful disobedience into New Life with Him.
However I will leave Steve our vicar to explain as he can do it much better than I can.

Trinity live Good Friday Sermon

The sermon starts 27 minutes into the service.







      







                                                                                           

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