Easter is the apex of the Christian experience.
This weekend represents the pinnacle of our Lord’s achievement in his commission to enflesh the life and love of God, and engulf all peoples by it.
Our chosen route this season has been to walk the journey of Christ and encounter the word that became flesh through the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touches of the Gospel of John.
For 13 weeks we have immerse ourselves in John’s version of the story of stories;
of the life of God becoming tangible and touchable, and living among us.
With one Sunday remaining in our series, the attentive scholar in you may be curious as to how we will cover the remaining chapters of John’s 21 chapter gospel.
Here is how.
Between our Maundy-Thursday service and the Stations of the Cross Experience on Friday, each chapter remaining between 13 and 19, will receive a creative treatment and interpretation.
Not all chapters will be “preached,” per se. Better than that, we will immerse ourselves in these chapters through the experience of worship.
On Maundy-Thursday, my pastoral meditation will focus on John 13.
Chapters 14 through 17 in John, represent what we referred to as the “Farewell Discourse.” On Thursday, while we celebrate the Lord’s Supper (by intinction), a multitude of verses, comprising the sayings of our Lord, will be appearing on our screen. Worshipers will prayerfully read, and contemplatively meditate upon these sayings of Jesus while approaching the bread and cup, and while sitting silently in holy reverence.
Chapters 18 and 19 describe the passion of our Lord, from his struggle in the Kidron Valley, to his crucifixion, to his entombment behind the stone of a borrowed a grave. We will listen to narrations that creatively interpret his passion, and then together rise in singing “What Wondrous Love is This?” as the purple swag which drapes our sanctuary cross is solemnly changed to black.
In a similar (yet even more experiential way), our Stations of the Cross experience on Friday will give further attention to Chapters 18 and 19.
Then, Sunday morning, we will engage John’s final two chapters, as we join with all the world and creation itself in the glorious proclamation that “He is risen!”
- Our Maundy-Thursday Service is Thursday evening, at 6:30 p.m. in the Sanctuary.
- Stations of the Cross is a self-guided experience lasting about 20 minutes, and will be open from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Friday, in the Heritage Room.
- Easter services at JCBC will be 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.
Shaun King
Senior Pastor
Johns Creek Baptist Church