Easter Sunday Reading

If you've ever been to a Tenebrae service you would have recognized the style of this mornings scripture reading. Tenebrae is Latin for "Darkness," and the service normally occurs on Maundy Thursday. Maundy Thursday is the night Jesus instituted the Last Supper with his disciples.
Maundy means Holy.
Dag, can the church just start using modern, self-defining terms to label what we do!?!

Anyways, there is a beauty in retaining our connections with the ancient church. While I detest traditionalism, I'm a huge fan of tradition. But I digress.

Tenebrae services are dark and ominous and wonderful. Next year go to some big old church that has a whole cast of actors, singers, musicians and readers, and it will blow your mind. The Tenebrae service I lead at an old church in North Carolina was one of my favorite services of the year, and my favorite "special service."

The reading this morning in our dark movie theatre was my shout-out to Tenebrae, and a test run to see how it would come off. So let me know what you thought.

And here's the script, taken mostly from John 19...

Narrator 1: After Jesus had been betrayed, arrested, denied, and flogged, the soldiers led him into the palace and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. Pilate brought him before the people and they shouted,

Narrator 2: (mocking) “Take him away, take him away! Crucify him!”

Narrator 1: Finally Pilate handed him over to be crucified. Carrying his own cross, they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha, which means,

Narrator 2: “The place of the Skull.”

Narrator 1: And they crucified him...along with two robbers, one on each side of Jesus. The written notice of the charge against him read:

Narrator 2: “THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

Narrator 1: Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying,

Narrator 2: “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!”

Narrator 1: In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves, saying,

Narrator 2: “He saved others, but he can’t save himself! Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.”

Narrator 1: Dividing up his clothes, the soldiers cast lots to see what each would get. At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus said,

Narrator 2: “It is finished.”

Narrator 1: With that he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said,

Narrator 2: “Surely this man was the Son of God!”