Blog Post

Christ on Trial & Death on a Friday Afternoon

by Erin Doom

Feast of St Makarios, Bishop of Corinth; Holy Friday in East

Anno Domini 2020, April 17

Way to Calvary by Duccio di Buoninsegna ca. 1308-1311

1. Essays & Reflections: “Christ on Trial” by George Dardess

I’m an Orthodox Christian so please indulge me and the other Orthodox readers for the next two days as we journey through Holy Thursday, Friday, and Saturday toward the glorious three-day resurrection of our Lord and God and Savior this coming Sunday. I’m usually the one peddling books but on this occasion, I’ve been convinced by George Dardess’s peddling to read Rowan Williams’ book Christ on Trial: How the Gospel Unsettles our Judgement.

Williams offers a “close reading of the scenes in each of the four Gospels where Jesus is on trial before the authorities.” But, as Dardess notes, “it’s not only a close-reading of texts. The close-reading of texts is meant to stimulate a close-reading of hearts, the readers’ own. It does so by ‘unsettling our judgment.’”

Read the whole reflection here and get a copy of Williams' book from Eighth Day Books.

2. Essays & Reflections: “Death on a Friday Afternoon” by Richard John Neuhaus

Here’s the opening paragraph to one of the classic and majestic (and contemporary) meditations on Holy Friday by Richard John Neuhaus:

Exploration into God is exploration into darkness, into the heart of darkness. Yes, to be sure, God is light. He is the light by which all light is light. In the words of the Psalm, “In your light we see light.” Yet great mystics of the Christian tradition speak of the darkness in which the light is known, a darkness inextricably connected to the cross. At the heart of darkness the hope of the world is dying on a cross, and the longest stride of soul is to see in this a strange glory. In John’s Gospel, the cross is the bridge from the first Passover on the way out of Egypt to the new Passover into glory. In his first chapter he writes, “We have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.” The cross is not the eclipse of that glory but its shining forth, its epiphany.

Whether you are Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant – and even if you have read it before – read Neuhaus’s essay “Death on a Friday Afternoon” here.

3. Essays & Reflections: “What W. H. Auden Taught Me About Easter, God, and Surviving a Season of COVID-19” by Jay Parini

Upon a chance meeting with W. H. Auden while feeling ill, Parini recounts two pieces of advice Auden gave him. They are both timely for Easter tide and our pandemic times. Discover Auden's advice by reading Parini’s light reflection here.

4. Books: Death on a Friday Afternoon: Meditations on the Last Words of Jesus from the Cross by Richard John Neuhaus

You’ve already had a taste of Neuhaus in his essay “Death on a Friday Afternoon.” Now you can read the Eighth Day Books review of his book by the same title here.

5. Poetry: "Let Evening Come" by Jane Kenyon

"Let it come, as it will, and don’t

be afraid. God does not leave us

comfortless, so let evening come."

Those concluding lines should convince you to read the whole poem here.

6. Bible: 1 Cor. 5:6-8, Matt. 27:62-66. Online here.

7. Liturgy: "All of Creation Changed by Christ on the Cross" from Holy Friday Vespers

Today the Master of Creation stands before Pilate; today the Maker of all things is given up to the Cross, and of His own will He is led to as a lamb to the slaughter. He who sent manna in the wilderness is transfixed with nails; His side is pierced, and a sponge with vinegar touches His lips. The Deliverer of the world is struck on the face, and the Creator of all is mocked by His own servants. How great is the Master’s love for mankind! For those who crucified Him, He prayed to His Father, saying, “Forgive them this sin, for in their wickedness they know not what they do.”

Read more here.

8. Word from the Fathers: "Sacrificed Once but Festally Returned Each Year" by St. Augustine

We know, my brethren, and we hold to it in very firm faith, that Christ died once for us: the Just for sinners, the Master for slaves, the Free for captives, the Physician for the sick, the Happy One for the wretched, the Rich One for the needy, the Seeker for the lost, the Redeemer for the sold, the Shepherd for the sheep, and, what is more wonderful than all, the Creator for the creature; preserving what He had always been, giving up what He became; hiding as God, appearing as Man; giving life by His power, but dying because of His infirmity; unchangeable in divinity, yet susceptible to pain in the flesh.

Read the rest of the short homily here.

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