Welcome. Introduce guests.
Instructions: Tonight is going to be a little different from most services that you are used to. A solemn occasion. It commemorates the crucifixion, the death, and burial of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As we begin our service, I emphasize that as the service progresses, it will become darker and darker in the sanctuary, to the point of being almost a complete blackout. The Lord’s Supper is the last event.
As you can see from the bulletin, this will be a very solemn service. After all, the death and burial of Jesus was not a festive event. It was on this day of the week that Jesus was crucified, died, and was laid in the tomb. So, we must leave here tonight with that thought in our minds. Believe me, it will make the Sonrise service on Sunday morning so much more meaningful.
At the end of the service, we will be participating in a silent Lord’s Supper. I will give you instructions now so you will understand how it will be done. The Lord’s Supper this evening will be done in a way that you may have never experienced.
• Just before the Lord’s Supper, we will be involved in centering prayer. That is a time of complete silence. It will give you the opportunity to sit quietly and listen to God’s still small voice. Focus on the Jesus candle. Centering prayer is not a time to go to the Lord with YOUR requests. It’s a time to totally focus on Jesus Christ. Call out His name to yourself. Anytime you are distracted, or your thoughts began to wander, call out His name in your mind again and regain your focus. Let the Lord communicate with you during this special time. Since the number 7 in the Bible is the number of completeness or the number of perfection, we will spend 7 minutes in centering prayer.
• At the end of the centering prayer, I will lead in a verse of Amazing Grace. Then we enter a time of Silent Lord’s Supper. After the verse of song, there will not be another spoken word.
• When we get to the Lord’s Supper, there will only be one candle that will be lit. This candle represents Jesus Christ as the Light of the World.
• As we begin, I will come to the table and receive the elements.
• Then I will invite you to do the same and sit down. At some point, I take the elements.
• Then I will dismiss myself.
• There will be no words spoken and the bread and cup will not be served to you.
• After I have come to the table and receive the bread and the cup, whenever you are ready, you may come to the table and take the bread and the cup, return to your seat, and then it’s up to you.
• What I would like for you to do to receive the full experience, is to sit down with the bread and the cup, focus on the light of the candle, (representing Jesus Christ). I want you to sit in complete silence and remember what Jesus has done for you.
• Then when you’re ready, at any time, you can take the bread and the cup.
• Your worship service is then completed. Drop your empty cups from the Lord’s Supper into the foyer trash can as you exit.
• Please exit the sanctuary in silence out of respect for those who are still in their worship moment. I can’t stress this enough. Do not say anything until you have cleared the building. Please do not even stand near the glass doors just outside and talk. If you must talk, go to the center of the parking lot and do it. The less the amount of distractions, the more worshipful the experience. The faintest voice heard will cause someone to lose focus.
Do you have any questions?
With that said, let’s begin our Tenebrae experience with a word of prayer.
Opening Prayer
Lord, we first want to invite you to be present with us this evening. In the darkness and the shadows of this evening’s service, we come together to be with You, in Your presence. Palm Sunday is now behind us, the victory of Easter Sunday has not yet come. Tonight, we come in solemness and our hearts break as we reflect on all that You went through for us. We ask that as we think about the dark valleys of life when we tend to be overwhelmed with sorrow, that you comfort us with the thought of Your presence. So, Lord, we grieve for you this evening. We know that You are with us, Now let us be here with You. In Jesus Name we pray. AMEN
Hymn #185 “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”
Hymn #181 “Were You There?” (first 3 verses only)
Light all the candles. Lights go out.
Candles lit arranged in circle around white candle
Luke 23:1-27 – “Then their whole assembly rose up and brought Jesus before Pilate. 2 They began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation, opposing payment of taxes to Caesar, and saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king.”
3 So Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
He answered him, “You say so.”
4 Pilate then told the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no grounds for charging this man.”
5 But they kept insisting, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee where he started even to here.”
Jesus Faces Herod Antipas
6 When Pilate heard this, he asked if the man was a Galilean. 7 Finding that he was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem during those days. 8 Herod was very glad to see Jesus; for a long time he had wanted to see him because he had heard about him and was hoping to see some miracle performed by him. 9 So he kept asking him questions, but Jesus did not answer him. 10 The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. 11 Then Herod, with his soldiers, treated him with contempt, mocked him, dressed him in bright clothing, and sent him back to Pilate. 12 That very day Herod and Pilate became friends. Previously, they had been enemies.
Pilate called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people, 14 and said to them, “You have brought me this man as one who misleads the people. But in fact, after examining him in your presence, I have found no grounds to charge this man with those things you accuse him of. 15 Neither has Herod, because he sent him back to us. Clearly, he has done nothing to deserve death. 16 Therefore, I will have him whipped and then release him.”
18 Then they all cried out together, “Take this man away! Release Barabbas to us!” 19 (He had been thrown into prison for a rebellion that had taken place in the city, and for murder.)
20 Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate addressed them again, 21 but they kept shouting, “Crucify! Crucify him!”
22 A third time he said to them, “Why? What has this man done wrong? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore, I will have him whipped and then release him.”
23 But they kept up the pressure, demanding with loud voices that he be crucified, and their voices won out. 24 So Pilate decided to grant their demand 25 and released the one they were asking for, who had been thrown into prison for rebellion and murder. But he handed Jesus over to their will.
The Way to the Cross
26 As they led him away, they seized Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country, and laid the cross on him to carry behind Jesus. 27 A large crowd of people followed him, including women who were mourning and lamenting him.”
Ext. Candle #1
So Jesus was led down the Via Dolorosa. The sorrowful way. The way of suffering. This was a little over 1/3 of a mile (2000 ft.). That isn’t that far of a distance to walk, but it is a difficult journey carrying a heavy wooden beam that weighed over 65 lbs. And after being beaten to the point of near death. Jesus collapses at a certain point in this walk. His body was simply too exhausted and hurting to carry the beam that He would be nailed to.
Ext. Candle #2
Marie sings "Via Dolorosa"
Ext. Candle #3
Luke 23:32-38 – “Two others—criminals—were also led away to be executed with him. 33 When they arrived at the place called The Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals, one on the right and one on the left. 34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided his clothes and cast lots.
35 The people stood watching, and even the leaders were scoffing: “He saved others; let him save himself if this is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him. They came offering him sour wine……
Let me tell you something about this offering of sour wine that you might not have ever heard. Sour wine is vinegar. Vinegar is a disinfectant. In this era of the Bible, they did not have toilet paper as we do today. To clean themselves, they used a sponge mounted on a stick. The sponge was then stored in a pot or jar of vinegar to disinfect the sponge for the next user.
If we think about this, we realize that this whole scene of Jesus’ crucifixion was one of mockery, of making fun of Jesus. We often think that the soldiers were trying to help relieve Jesus of His thirst. But in actuality, they lifted up this same sponge with the vinegar for Jesus to drink. Humiliating mockery……
37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!”
38 An inscription was above him: This Is the King of the Jews.”
Nothing but mockery until the end of His life.
Ext. Candle #4
I don’t think we will ever be able to comprehend what Jesus went through to save us from death and hell. He deserves our love and praise every single day. Let’s think a few moments about what Jesus endured for us.
At the age of 33, Jesus was condemned to death. At the time, crucifixion was the worst death. Only the worst criminals were condemned to be crucified. Yet it was even more dreadful for Jesus. Like other criminals condemned to death by crucifixion, Jesus was to be nailed to the cross by His hands and feet.
Each nail was 6 to 8 inches long. The nails were driven into His wrist, not into His palms as is commonly portrayed. In that day, the wrist was considered to part of the hand. There’s a tendon in the wrist that extends to the shoulder.
The Roman guards knew that when the nails were being hammered into the wrist, that tendon would tear and break, forcing Jesus to use His back muscles to support Himself so that He could breathe.
Both of His feet were nailed together. Thus, He was forced to support Himself on the nail that impaled His feet to the cross. Jesus could not support Himself with His legs because of the pain so He was forced to alternate between arching His back then using His legs just to continue to breath. Imagine the struggle, the pain, the suffering, the courage.
Jesus endured this reality for over 3 hours. Yes, over 3 hours! Can you imagine this kind of suffering? A few minutes before He died Jesus stopped bleeding. He was simply pouring water from His wounds.
From common images we see wounds to His hands and feet and even the spear wound to His side. But do we realize His wounds that were actually made to His body. A hammer driving large nails through the wrist, the feet overlapped and an even larger nail hammered through the arches, then a Roman guard piercing His side with a spear.
But before the nails and the spear, Jesus was whipped and beaten. The whipping was so severe that it tore the flesh from His body. The beating so horrific that His face was torn and His beard ripped from His face. The crown of thorns cut deeply into His scalp. Most men would not have survived this torture.
He had no more blood to bleed out, only water poured from His wounds. The human adult body contains about 3.5 liters (just less than a gallon) of blood.
Jesus poured out all 3.5 liters of His blood. He had three nails hammered into His members, a crown of thorns on His head and beyond that, a Roman soldier who stabbed a spear into His side.
All of this without even mentioning the humiliation He suffered after carrying His own cross for almost 2000 feet, while the crowd spat in His face and threw stones.
Ext. Candle #5
Luke 23:44-49 – “It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three, 45 because the sun’s light failed. The curtain of the sanctuary was split down the middle. 46 And Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.” Saying this, he breathed his last.
47 When the centurion saw what happened, he began to glorify God, saying, “This man really was righteous!” 48 All the crowds that had gathered for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, went home, striking their chests. 49 But all who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
Ext. Candle #6
Jesus had to endure this experience, to open the gates of Heaven, so that you and I can have free access to God. So that your sins could be washed away. All of them, with no exception.
Video of crucifixion. You Tube https://youtu.be/7uTriZtxw3M?si=1U6EO-mYVYbV4PrA
Ext. Candle #7
Luke 23:50-56 – “There was a good and righteous man named Joseph, a member of the Sanhedrin, 51 who had not agreed with their plan and action. He was from Arimathea, a Judean town, and was looking forward to the kingdom of God. 52 He approached Pilate and asked for Jesus’s body. 53 Taking it down, he wrapped it in fine linen and placed it in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever been placed. 54 It was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. 55 The women who had come with him from Galilee followed along and observed the tomb and how his body was placed. 56 Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.”
Ext. Candle #8 leaving only white candle lit
Video "Above All" https://youtu.be/GBjhZoqem2M?si=VMUQjNTmtK5YVemg
So, we take our final step as we lay Jesus’ lifeless body in the tomb. As far as we know and from what we have seen, His life is over. He is dead. Our Savior, our Messiah is dead. So, we help roll the huge stone over the opening in the tomb, bow our heads, walk away, wondering where do we go from here.
Ext. White candle
Cover cross
Red stage lights come on.
Set up the Lord’s table and light the white candle again.
And so, we end up at the Lord’s Supper table. As we silently partake of this meal, let’s focus on tonight’s journey. Let’s remember all that Jesus went through for our sake. He gave all He had, His life, so that we might have HOPE that can only come through Him.
Let’s take 7 minutes now, the number of completion, the number of perfection, and let’s focus on all we have witnessed on this journey tonight. Focus on the lone candle symbolizing our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Let God draw your thoughts towards all that has been done for us.
2 Corinthians 5:21 – “He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Centering Prayer
Join me as we sing together the first verse of Amazing Grace and then come to His table.
Lead in singing Amazing Grace. Then take the elements and gesture for others to come. People can take the elements, return to their seat, partake as they feel led and then dismiss themselves quietly.
Silent Lord's Supper
