So we are home this Good Friday…watching and waiting and sheltering in place. Here is a devotional you can follow on your own or with your family or housemates. And it also can be done another time if you’re not able to do it on Good Friday itself.
You will need some props to pray with:
A candle to light as you begin, A piece of paper with a cross outline drawn on it, the handout (GOOD FRIDAY thinplace), a pen, a band aid/bandage, a jar/can of spices ( like cloves, cinnamon, rosemary or basil) i like cloves, but make sure you are not allergic because you will rub this spice in your hands, the curtain print out or a small piece of cloth to tear in two.
GOOD FRIDAY AT HOME
LIGHT A CANDLE AS YOU BEGIN
and LISTEN or READ one or both of these gospel passages MATTHEW 27 and JOHN 19
Bible Gateway has several audio versions of the bible you can use to listen to the passages.
AFTER READING… You can discuss these questions with your family, housemates or journal from them.
WHAT DO YOU NOTICE? What does the Holy Spirit highlight for you?
Is there a word or phrase? Is there something you’ve never thought of before? Is there a question that is raised by this passage?
There is much pain and violence in the account of Jesus’s crucifixion, even before he is nailed to the cross, he is beaten and abused. Pray for people you know who are in pain today. People in your world, and in the world at large who are abused, suffering violence, and being falsely accused. Pray for these people and situations for God’s intervention.
PUT ON A BANDAID to remind you to pray for those in pain and those who are suffering and in need of healing and deliverance.
Who has helped you carry your cross this week? Who has helped you carry the burdens you bear in your life? Pray for these people. Thank Jesus for them. Who in your life needs help to carry their cross today? Ask Jesus to help you serve them. WRITE THEIR NAMES ON YOUR CROSS. 
NEXT, READ/Listen to, and Consider the WORDS of JESUS from the Cross
Read what Jesus said from the cross
“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
Luke 23:34
“Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Luke 23:43
“Woman, behold, your son!”… “Behold, your mother!”…
John 19:26-27
“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”Mark 15:34
“I thirst.”
After this Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said to fulfill the scripture, “I thirst.”
John 19:28
“It is finished”;
John 19:30
“Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!”
Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!”
And having said this he breathed his last. Luke 23:46
What touches you today? Which of these sayings speaks to you?
What do you need to hear from Jesus today?
Do you need to be forgiven? Or do you need Jesus to help you forgive others?
Do you need to know that Jesus wants you to be with him, now and in the future?
Do you need certainty ?
Do you need to know you are not forgotten or abandoned like Mary and John?
Are you feeling forsaken?
What are you thirsty for today?
Do you need the reminder that Jesus is here in the midst of your suffering? That he finished it on the cross?
Are you in need of the reminder that you too are in the hands of the Father?
that you too have the Holy Spirit?
Talk to God about where you are today in the middle of this pandemic.
Ask Jesus to show you how he is here with you.
DRAW OUTLINE OF A CROSS or use the one provided.
Write down on the cross what you are feeling today.
What do you need to hear from Jesus today? Write that on the cross too.
Find a piece of cloth (3x 5 ) or use the curtain print out.
TEAR THE CURTAIN IN TWO
When Jesus died, he opened the way for us to have direct access to God.
The Curtain is Open
The curtain between you and God is now open…torn open by Jesus death on the cross..
You are invited into the Holy of Holies to BE with GOD!
You are no longer separated from God
The barriers are gone!
You are free to be with God!
Talk to God about this. How does this make you feel?
Thank Jesus for His Death and your new freedom and access to God.
TAKE HIS BODY TO THE TOMB
GET OUT YOUR SPICE JAR
They took Jesus’s body off the cross and buried him in a new tomb. (JOHN 19: 38-42)
Consider the scene.
The weeping of his friends and his mother.
The heaviness of the body being wrapped in shroud.
The smell of the spices wrapped in the cloth filling the tomb.
What are you weeping for today?
What are you mourning ?
What are you grieving? Write those things on your cross.
GIVE THEM TO JESUS TO CARRY FOR YOU!
Take some of your spices and sprinkle them in your hand. Rub the spices in your hand and smell their aroma. Let the smell of the spice remind you that Jesus is carrying your grief for you today. And he carries all the grief and the suffering of the world with him.
Let the smell of the spice fill your space.
You might keep an open bowl of this spice out til Easter to remind you of Jesus in the tomb.
BLOW OUT YOUR CANDLE…IT IS FINISHED. JESUS IS BURIED and we wait with his followers everywhere.
CLOSE IN PRAYER: LORD! Give us grace today to love as you love Help us love with extravagance.
Give us hope today for ourselves and others. Heal our hurts and our hearts today so we can serve and help those around us.
Help us to know that YOU are enough.
And help us live today and everyday in Thankfulness.
For all you’ve done and for all you bless us with. In the name of the Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. AMEN
ON EASTER SUNDAY…Some churches have the tradition of covering the empty cross with flowers on Easter Sunday morning as a symbol of resurrection and new life. Color the JOY CROSS and fill it with flowers. Place your flowered cross on top of the one you filled on Good Friday.
©lillylewin and freerangeworship.com
GOOD FRIDAY thinplace PDF TO PRINT OUT