Introduction

2/22/2023

COLLECT OF THE DAY: Ash Wednesday

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made, and you forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen (ACNA 2019 Book of Common Prayer).

Introduction to the Seven Sayings from the Cross

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the penitential season of Lent (the 40 days, minus Sundays, leading up to Holy Week and Easter) in the church calendar. Our family has chosen to participate in Lent each year by meditating on the seven sayings of our Lord Jesus Christ from the cross and reading selected prayers from the Book of Common Prayer. 

Roman crucifixion was a particularly cruel and gruesome form of execution designed to torture the individual physically and mentally. The person to be crucified was often stripped naked to expose them to public shame. Their hands and feet were nailed to rough-sawn wooden beams forming either a T or the more familiar cross shape. This in itself was excruciating, but as they were suspended by their hands and feet, their chest cavities would begin to collapse and they would begin to asphyxiate. At this point, they had to alternate between hanging from their hands and feet to rest and lifting themselves by the nails piercing their hands and feet in order to breathe. It sometimes took days to die. 

I do not recount this to wallow in the macabre machinations of twisted minds but to point out that our Lord Jesus Christ's words from the cross must be understood in this context. Each of the seven sayings required precious effort and increased his pain. These words were bought dearly so that, in part, they could be recorded in Holy Scripture so that we could know the mind of our Savior as he died for us. They are worthy of our meditation.

The Seven Sayings

Luke 23:34 (ESV) 34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.

Luke 23:43 (ESV) 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

John 19:26–27 (ESV) 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

Mark 15:34, Matthew 27:46 (ESV) 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

John 19:28 (ESV) 28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.”

John 19:30 (ESV) 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Luke 23:46 (ESV) 46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.

The Plan

I would like to invite you to join us, in a small way, this year through a blog series. For each Sunday in Lent (plus Good Friday), I will share the Collect of the Day from the Book of Common Prayer and a short meditation on each of Jesus’s sayings from the cross. I hope it encourages you as you look to Christ alone for the forgiveness of your sins and the fulfill of all of God’s promises to you, even eternal life.