Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, ‘Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.’ Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, ‘Do not write, “The King of the Jews”, but, “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 clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. So they said to one another, ‘Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it.’ This was to fulfil what the scripture says, ‘They divided my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.’ And that is what the soldiers did. Meanwhile, standing near 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 beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfil the scripture), ‘I am thirsty.’ A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, ‘It is finished.’ Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:16-30
Compassionate Creator, look upon us
with the eyes of a truly loving parent
we have gone astray and wandered far
hurting one another and your people.
O Christ, we bless you for by your cross you redeemed the world.
We have used our power so inappropriately
we abuse the poor, scorn the immigrants
tease and torture those who have no voice
and shamed those who are not one of us.
O Christ, we bless you for by your cross you redeemed the world.
We have used violence and not compassion
we have been a church full of bigotry
we have denied those who really need you
and denied our need for your salvation.
O Christ, we bless you for by your cross you redeemed the world.
We take on the customs of the wealthy
and destroy the cultures of the poor
the beauty of your created diversity
we pave over what we cannot understand.
O Christ, we bless you for by your cross you redeemed the world.
Your way is always sacrifice and love
you came so we might all be made free
you lived and life of justice and healing
and we shouted "crucify him" with the crowd.
O Christ, we bless you for by your cross you redeemed the world.
Help us to fall on our knees weeping today
make love and forgiveness our only weapons
help us bring your healing and love with us
to a ravaged, war torn and suffering world.
O Christ, we bless you for by your cross you redeemed the world. Amen
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