Bitter and Sweet

Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada, and here’s a precious hymn that was written just for Good Friday. Sing along, if you know it.

O sacred Head, now wounded,
 With grief and shame weighed down,
 Now scornfully surrounded
 With thorns, thine only crown!
 O sacred Head, what glory,
 What bliss till now was thine!
 Yet, though despised and gory,
  I joy to call thee mine.

My voice isn’t the best, but you know what? Whenever I sing this hymn – and it’s kind of somber for a good reason – whenever I sing it, the images behind Mark chapter 15 come to mind. It says there, “They put a purple robe on him, then wove a crown of thorns and set it on him…Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him… And when they had mocked him…they led him out to crucify him.” What hard words, these. And they’re hard because I am certain Mark was being delicate; I’m certain a lot more went on behind the closed doors of the Praetorium where a whole company – get that, it wasn’t just a few soldiers; it was an entire company – I’m sure they did more heinous things to Jesus than just spit on him, strike him. And that is the bitter, hard part.

It’s why the little Reformed Episcopal Church that I was raised in, on Good Friday the service was somber, and a black cloth was draped over the communion table. No happy songs were sung, only sad hymns like this one, “O Sacred Head Now Wounded.” And after the service, everyone instinctively knew that you leave the church in silence. Nobody stopped to chat in the narthex or they laughed. Nobody carried on. It was the one day of the church calendar when our congregation came together, subdued and thoughtful. And boy, as a child, that struck me. The seriousness of Good Friday was branded in my memory. And looking back, I’m glad. ’Cause happy Scripture choruses were appropriate for Resurrection Sunday, but Friday night was for pondering the incredible weight of our sins on our Savior and the burden of the cross. I mean, come on, we’ve got 364 days and a year of Sundays to celebrate all that Jesus secured for us, but only one day like this to meditate on the cost, the painful payment of our salvation. So at some point today, meditate on Calvary, would you? Think about the cross, and, I don’t know, it’s not a time to sing “Oh Happy Day.” We’ll do that on Sunday. No, today is a time to taste something bittersweet.

You know, people around you might be wondering about Good Friday, and what makes it good. And I want to give you a resource – a powerful pamphlet called “Evidence for the Resurrection.” Because your friends may be skeptics, and they may have lots of objections to this whole idea of Jesus rising from the dead. Well, “Evidence for the Resurrection” will supply you with just the right scriptures and answers you need. So get your free copy at joniradio.org. And finally, pray with me, “Lord Jesus, thank you for the enormous sacrifice on Good Friday. Thank you.”

© Joni and Friends