Friday, April 10, 7:00 p.m.

Good Friday Tenebrae Service

The Tenebrae Service is a service that begins in light and ends in darkness. It is symbolic of Jesus Christ, the light of the world, experiencing the darkness of death. The sanctuary goes from light to dark as candles are extinguished to represent the gathering darkness of the sin that
hangs over the world as the earthly life of the Savior comes to an end on the cross. Even though we won’t all be in the sanctuary, you can participate in this experience from home. Find 7 candles that you can light as the service begins and then simply follow along with the service, extinguishing your candles at home as we do in the sanctuary. As the candles go out, one by one, we sense the growing loneliness of Jesus as his friends and followers abandon him. His anguish is so great that he feels even God has left him. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Darkness falls as Jesus breathes his last, abandoned to the cross, surrounded by criminals.

Our service ends in darkness and silence. Yet even then, the darkness is not complete. We have hope that the light will return. “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned, but those who do not believe are condemned already because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.” (John 3:17-21)