Last night Covenant Church in Palm Bay celebrated Tenebrae, a service where we visited the Three Sad days. We started with the Garden of Gethsemane. One of my favorite Lenten hymn is “Go to dark Gethsemane.
Go to dark Gethsemane, Ye that feel the tempter’s power Your Redeemer’s conflict see, Watch with Him one bitter hour/
Turn not from His griefs away, Learn of Jesus Christ to pray.
Follow to the judgment hall, View the Lord of life arraigned O the wormwood and the gall/
O the pangs His soul sustained. /Shun not suffering, shame, or loss. Lean of Hi to bear the cross.
Calvary’s mournful mountain climb There adoring at His feet Mark the miracle of time
God’s own sacrifice complete “It is finished”–hear Him cry, Learn of Jesus Christ to die.
Early hasten to the tomb Where they laid His breathless clay All is solitude and gloom Who hath taken Him away?
Christ is risen! He meets our ryes, Savior, teach us so to rise. (James Montgomery, 1820. (Public domain)
Anther hymn I remember singing as a child, and it took me to the cross:
“Beneath the Corss of Jesus I fain would take my stand–The shadow of a mighty Rock Within a weary land
A home within the wilderness, A rest upon the wayFrom the burning of the noontide heat and the burden of the day.
Upon the cross of Jesus Mine eyes at time can see cThe very dying from of One Who suffered there for me;
And from my stricken heart with tears Two wonders I confess–The wonders of redeeming love and my unworthiness.
I take, O cross, the shadow For my abiding place I ask no other sunshine than the sunshine of His face.
Content to let the world go by, To know no gain or loss,My sinful self, my only shame, My glory all the cross.
(Elizabeth C. Clephane, 1872. (Public Domain)
The Tenebrae last night featured contemporary hymns, no less meaningful, and concluded with darkened candles and celebration of the Lord’s Supper. In hushed silence, the worshippers left the sanctuary to contemplate the sacrifice of our Lord.
I wrote the next Psalm, Number 345 for the three days between Maundy Thursday and Easter. Imagine with me what the disciples, followers of Jesus suffered those three days. They did not understand the cruelty, the accusations, the false claims which cost the Lord His earthly life. They did not see the resurrection yet. They must have been inconsolable. Some, like Peter, felt shame. After all, he remembered the sting when the Master told him that before the cock crowed, he, Peter, would deny Christ three times. Indeed He did. And Judas was dead. The other disciples contemplated how one among them could possibly betray the Lord. And all of them, after listening to Christ, could not in any way forgive the Romans for what they did. They listened in wonder as Jesus forgave a fellow sufferer from the cross. They too, as Jesus said, thought, “It is finished.” They were confused, defeated, and wondered how it all would be without their Lord among them day to day.
They did not have to wait long, although the time seemed like forever. For resurrection Sunday was coming. They would soon know that Jesus would be among them, and with us, forever, through the work of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. .. that Jesus would dwell in our hearts, no matter where we are–in our homes, at our work, in the middle of the night when we don’t know how to pray, in moments of joy, and in the depths of our own mortal sorrow. Had Jesus not died and risen ans awscended back to His Father, we could never be by His side, or never have the Scriptures to guide us through life.
Not to take credit, but this My Psalm features Three Sad Days which led to the glory of Easter and the eternal reign of King Jesus:
My Psalm 345 THREE SAD DAYS
One sad day the disciples saw
Their Lord crucified, Hanging on a tree.
The next sad day, they mourned His death
Feeling bereft, mourning His absence.
Another sad day the disciples saw
The Risen Lord ascending into heaven.
Can we even fathom
The abandonment
The disillusionment
The sorrow, confusion, loneliness they felt?
Only in scripture can we learn the Plan
God conceived for them for us, and all mankind.
For our sin,
For our depravity ,
For our idolatry,
For our iniquity,
For our faithlessness ,
For our betrayal,
Jesus had to die.
For our salvation,
For our sanctification
For our redemption,
For our restoration,
He conquered death.
For our celebration,
For His elevation
For our adoration,
He rose again.
For our comfort,
For our hope
For our blessing,
He ascended to reach the whole earth,
So the Father would send our Comforter.
The Holy Spirit, our counselor, the Power
To tell the Lord’s story to all generations
While we await Master’s sure return.
And on that day, while some will mourn
His true believers will rejoice forever
His Kingdom will come
On earth as it is in Heaven.
Death, where is your sting?
Grave, where is your victory?
Christ banishes sad days,
Turns them to blessed eternity.
There will be no tears, no death, no sorrow
Eternal rest will be our home
Our debt is paid by Christ alone.
For scripture tells us believers shall be
Where streets are gold and loved ones gather.
A cloud of witnesses and elders and angels
Will join everlasting praise to the Lamb,
Victory: The Great I Am.
Three sad days were short separations
For nothing comes between us and our Lord.
Hallelujah, Hosanna, Praised by Your Name,
Easter forever,
He’s alive,
He is risen
He is risen indeed!
We’ll join nations, tribes, peoples, and saints
In everlasting praise,
Singing “Holy! Holy! Holy!
To the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit,”
In the throne room, in triumphant praise.
Only in the mourning of these sad days can we celebrate the resurrection. It’s not at all about Easter bunnies and celebration of springtime after the winter of our discontent. It’s about our life journey to its intended end: the celebration of eternity with Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior who died on our behalf so that we could live in eternity’s praise of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To this end, thank Him for His sacrifice so that we, through Him, can attain victory which is literally out if this world. Amen, and Amen. Happy Easter!
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