Good Friday sermons
When the Crowd Yells Something Awful, Good Friday – April 3, 2026
[RCL] Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Psalm 22; Hebrews 10:16-25 or 4:14-16; 5:7-9; John 18:1-19:42 The passion narratives in the gospels contain many voices. In today’s gospel, we primarily hear the voices of Jesus, Peter, and Pilate. Since the gospel references passages of scripture written earlier, we also hear the voice of the prophet Zechariah, who wrote, “when…
Training Ground, Good Friday – 2025
[RCL] Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Psalm 22; Hebrews 10:16-25 or Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9; John 18:1-19:42 A blessed Good Friday to you, as we remember the death of Jesus, the one who loved us to the end. Good Friday brings us face to face with something we spend our lives trying to avoid: Death. On either end of…
The Identity of the Slain, Good Friday – 2024
[RCL] Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Psalm 22; Hebrews 10:16-25 or Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9; John 18:1-19:42 After listening to the achingly beautiful words of Second Isaiah, to the despair of Psalm 22, and the mournful solemnity of St. John’s remembrance of the saddest night in Jesus’ and his disciples’ lives, we wonder: What more can a sermon add?…
The Hour Has Come, Good Friday – 2023
[RCL] Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Psalm 22; Hebrews 10:16-25 or Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9; John 18:1-19:42 The hour has come. For much of John’s Gospel, it was not the hour. It was not the hour when Mary, his mother, told Jesus about wine running out at the wedding. It was not yet the hour when Jesus spoke with…
Behold My Servant, Good Friday – 2022
[RCL] Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Psalm 22; Hebrews 10:16-25 or Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9; John 18:1-19:42 At no time do we stand closer to the mystery, the hiddenness, the total otherness of God than we do at this hour, at this moment, at this cross. At no other time do we see how completely not-us God is. This…
Beloved, Good Friday – 2021
[RCL]: Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Psalm 22; Hebrews 10:16-25 or Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9; John 18:1-19:42 Today is a day that weighs heavy on the church. Each year during Holy Week, we hear the passion narrative; each year we resuscitate those familiar feelings, the anguish and disbelief, that accompany Jesus’ death. And yet, each year it strikes differently….
Christ Our Passover, Good Friday – 2020
[RCL]: Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Psalm 22; Hebrews 10:16-25 or Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9; John 18:1-19:42 From noon on Good Friday through Easter Sunday morning is the Christian Passover. In these three days, Jesus passed over from death into life and opened the way for us to follow. The two stories of the Passover and Jesus’ death are…
The Rock and the Handmaiden, Good Friday – 2019
All week, we have grappled with our dual nature. It began on Palm Sunday. We started by shouting Hosanna to the Son of David and ended shouting for his crucifixion. It’s bewildering and exhausting, being knocked from pillar to post, being confronted with our best selves and our worst selves, hardly knowing from one minute…
The Passion According to John, Good Friday – 2018
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord my strength and my redeemer. Today we have heard some of the most beautiful, painful, heart-wrenching passages of scripture, juxtaposed with one of the holiest, most beautiful, painful, heart-wrenching moments of the Christian story. Jesus, our…
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Kristen LeMay
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