Good Friday Hymn
When I survey the wondrous cross
on which the Prince of glory died,
my richest gain I count but loss,
and pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
save in the Cross of Christ my God;
all the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to his blood.
See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a offering far too small;
Love so Amazing, so Divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
The Collects for Good Friday
Almighty God, we beseech You graciously to behold this Your family, for which our Lord Jesus Christ was content to be betrayed, and given up into the hands of wicked men, and to suffer death upon the cross, who now Lives and Reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
Almighty and everlasting God, by Whose Holy Spirit the whole body of the Church is governed and sanctified ; Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before You for all members of Your Holy Church, that every member of the same, in their vocation and ministry, may truly and Godly serve You; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
O merciful God, who has made all people, and hates nothing that that You have made, nor desires the death of a sinner, but rather that they should be converted and live ; Have mercy upon all those who do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and take from them all ignorance, hardness of heart, and contempt of Your Word ; and so bring them home, Blessed Lord, to Your Fold, that they may be saved and be made one Flock under one Shepherd, Jesus Christ, Who Lives and Reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, world without end. Amen.
The Epistle Hebrews 10:1-25
The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. 4 It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
“5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings
you were not pleased.
7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—
I have come to do your will, my God.’”
8 First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. 9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
“15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:
16 “This is the covenant I will make with them
after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds.”
17 Then he adds:
“Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more.”
18 And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.
19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
The Holy Gospel of St John 19:1-37
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3 and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.
4 Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” 5 When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”
6 As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”
But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”
7 The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”
8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9 and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”
11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”
13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14 It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.
“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.
15 But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”
“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.
“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.
16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.
So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. 17 Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
19 Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. 20 Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. 21 The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be King of the Jews.”
22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
23 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
24 “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”
This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,
“They divided my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.”
So this is what the soldiers did.
25 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” 27 and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
28 Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
31 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath.
Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 32 The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. 35 The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. 36 These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” 37 and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”
Bishop Ian’s Thoughts
Today’s Epistle Reading is taken from the Epistle to the Hebrews Chapter 10, Verses 1-25.
As discussed a few Sundays ago the Epistle to the Hebrews is a somewhat mysterious Book in that it is not known for sure who wrote it. The writer’s intention was to prove without a shadow of a doubt that the Holy Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is of infinitely greater value than the Law of Moses, especially in cleansing the believer from sin and its accompanying guilt.
The animal sacrifices offered year in, year out, in the ceremonial Jewish worship at the Temple, as prescribed in the Law of Moses, cannot in any way be compared to the Lord Jesus’ Perfect Sacrifice of Himself on the Cross of Calvary.
The writer begins our Epistle Reading by declaring the infinite superiority of the Holy Gospel in dealing with sin for all time. The Law of Moses, with its sacrificial offerings and ceremonial rituals, was only a temporary method of dealing with Israel’s sin. It could not remove sin, whereas the Holy Gospel of the Lord Jesus dealt with all sin for all time:
“1The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. 4 It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings
you were not pleased.
7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—
I have come to do your will, my God.’”
The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews was quoting from Psalm 40, Verses 6-8, to describe the coming of the Lord Jesus, the Holy Messiah:
“6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire—
but my ears you have opened
burnt offerings and sin offering you did not require.
7 Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—
it is written about me in the scroll.
8 I desire to do your will, my God;
your law is within my heart.”
The writer reiterates the Glorious vanquishing of sin by the Lord Jesus:
“8 First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. 9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
The nature of the earthly priest, who offers continual repetition of animal sacrifices is shown to be a mere shadow of the Perfect Sacrifice of the Lord Jesus made once, and never to be repeated because of its infinite value and effectiveness:
“11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.”
By His Death on the Cross the Lord Jesus has given God’s Faithful People Perfect and Eternal Forgiveness of sin.
The Holy Spirit bears witness to this New Covenant written in the Holy Blood of the Lord Jesus:
“15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:
16 “This is the covenant I will make with them
after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds.”
17 Then he adds:
“Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more.”
18 And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.”
The above quote, regarding the New Covenant, that would henceforth written on the people’s hearts, is taken from the Old Testament Book of the Prophet Jeremiah Chapter 31, Verses 31-34:
31“The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah.
32 It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to them”
declares the Lord.
33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
after that time,” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
34 No longer will they teach their neighbour,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the Lord.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”
The writer, of the Epistle to the Hebrews, then summarises the benefits that we have received, as a Holy Gift, through the Holy Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The curtain referred to in Verse 20 is a reference to the veil in the Jewish Temple that separated the Holy of Holies from the inmost section of the Temple.
The Jewish High Priest could only enter through the veil once a year, on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), in order to sprinkle the blood of the sacrificial lamb, upon the top of the Ark of the Covenant, for the forgiveness of the people’s sin for the year past.
This special Place on the top of the Ark of the Covenant, between the outstretched wings of the Seraphim, was called the Mercy Seat of God.
It was on the Mercy Seat that God symbolically sat and met with his People to forgive their sins.
The sacrifice of the Lord Jesus caused this veil, in the Temple, to be torn in two, thereby granting us freedom to approach the Throne of God at any time, washed clean as driven snow by the Holy Blood of the Perfect Paschal (Passover) Lamb, our Saviour, the Lord Jesus:
“19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.”
Our Epistle Reading concludes with the writer’s exhortation to move forward in love and good deeds confident in our forgiveness and hope of Eternal Life, not forsaking meeting together, but to do so, to encourage our brothers and sisters in the Lord.
This is especially important as we see the signs, in all ages of history, that indicate that the Lord Jesus’ Second Coming is fast approaching:
“23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
May God give us Grateful hearts for His Great Gift of the Holy Gospel of the Lord Jesus, and clothing us in the Lord Jesus’ Holy Righteousness. May we encourage others to accept and cherish this Greatest Gift of God as we await the Lord Jesus’ return to usher in His Eternal Kingdom. Amen.
Today’s Holy Gospel Reading is taken from the Holy Gospel of St John Chapter 19, Verses 1-37.
St John opens this portion of his Holy Gospel with the account of the Lord Jesus being brutally beaten and humiliated by the Roman soldiers under the command of Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor of Judea:
“1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3 and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.”
The Lord Jesus had been brought before an illegal assembly of the Jewish priests, elders, and scribes (the Sanhedrin), in the late evening before being sent to the Roman Governor. This was illegal, as the Sanhedrin was prohibited from sitting, at night on a capital crime.
Pilate then came out to address the Jewish Leaders and the crowd:
“4 Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.”
Pilates’ declaration, when he brought the Lord Jesus out before the Jews, is a most amazing statement, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.”
This declaration was amazing as Pilate stated that he found “no basis for a charge against Him”, yet the Lord Jesus had just been brutally flogged by Pilate’s soldiers and He had not even been charged, at this stage, let alone convicted.
The Jewish Leaders backed by their mob called for The Lord Jesus’ Death:
“5 When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”
6 As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”
But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”
Pilate knew that the Jewish Leaders were determined to kill The Lord Jesus. They ramped up their lies and played their religious card:
7 The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”
On hearing this claim Pilate began to realise that he was being played, and he became afraid of the mob, and any charges, against him, that they could put to Caesar.
He questioned the Lord Jesus further regarding His Claim to Divinity:
“8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9 and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer.
Pilate then appealed to the Lord Jesus’ instinct of self-preservation:
10 “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”
The Lord Jesus declared to Pilate that his authority, as Governor, came not from Caesar but from God:
“11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
Pilate finally decided that that the Lord Jesus was innocent of the Jewish Leaders’ trumped up charges and he then sought to set this remarkable Prisoner free, but the mob had other ideas:
“12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”
Pilate was a shrewd politician and did want to be accused of disloyalty to Caesar and have to defend himself against a possible charge of treason.
The Lord Jesus was brought out to face the mob and Pilate tried one last time to appeal to the mob on the Prisoner’s behalf:
“13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14 It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.
“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.
15 But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”
“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.
“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.
16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.”
Pilate had failed in his duty to apply the law without fear or favour.
The Jews had condemned themselves by denying the Holy Messiah, God’s Beloved Son.
To placate the Jewish Leaders, backed by their mob, he handed the Lord Jesus, uncharged and unconvicted, over to his soldiers for crucifixion:
“So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. 17 Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.”
Pilate sought to place an insult before the Jewish Leaders in repayment for their manipulation of him into ordering the Lord Jesus’ crucifixion:
“19 Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read:
JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS”
The Jewish leaders did not care for the sign and voiced their protests to Pilate. He threw their protests back into their faces:
“20 Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. 21 The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”
22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
The Crucifixion continued with the soldiers dividing the Lord Jesus’ garments:
“23 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
24 “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”
This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,
“They divided my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.”
So this is what the soldiers did.”
The Scripture that was fulfilled was a passage from the Book of the Psalms, Psalm 22, Verses 14-18. This Psalm is about the suffering and death of the Holy Messiah of God prior to Him being Glorified:
“I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted within me.
15 My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.
16 Dogs surround me,
a pack of villains encircles me;
they pierce my hands and my feet.
17 All my bones are on display;
people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.”
The Lord Jesus, even though He was near death and in great agony, made provision for the care of His Mother by committing her to the care of the apostle John, as his mother, and he as her son:
“25 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” 27 and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.”
Providing for his Mother shows the depth of the Lord Jesus’ love, and also reveals to us that Mary’s husband Joseph had probably died by this time, as he was not present at the Crucifixion of the Lord Jesus and therefore could not provide for his wife Mary in the future.
The Lord Jesus knowing that His Death was near cried out in thirst:
“28 Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”
The Scripture that the Lord Jesus fulfilled is included in a passage from Psalm 69, Verses 19-21, in which the suffering Messiah declares His scorn, disgrace, and shame. He also reveals His thirst:
“You know how I am scorned, disgraced and shamed;
all my enemies are before you.
20 Scorn has broken my heart
and has left me helpless;
I looked for sympathy, but there was none,
for comforters, but I found none.
21 They put gall in my food
and gave me vinegar for my thirst.”
The Jewish leaders did not want to mar the ceremonial Sabbath Day so they asked Pilate to hurry up the executions by having the legs of the crucified men broken, so that their deaths by asphyxiation would swiftly follow, as they would be unable to support their weight on their broken legs:
“31 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath.”
“Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 32 The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other”
The Lord Jesus’ legs were not broken as He was found to be already dead. Just to be on the safe side one of the soldiers thrust his spear into the Lord Jesus side and the wound produced blood and water (blood plasma separated from water, indicating death):
“33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.
34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. 35 The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. 36 These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,”
The quote “Not one of His bones shall be broken” comes from Psalm 34, Verses 19-20, and refers to the Holy Righteous Messiah sent by God:
“The righteous person may have many troubles,
but the Lord delivers him from them all;
20 he protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.”
The writer also quotes “another scripture” that foretold that God’s Holy Messiah would be “pierced.” This exactly foretold the piercing, of the Lord Jesus’ side, by the the soldier’s spear:
” 37 and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”
“Another scripture” referred to by St John is from a passage in the Book of the Prophet Zechariah Chapter 12, Verse 10, and refers to the nation of Israel mourning for their Messiah when He is finally revealed to them:
“10 And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.”
Let us give great and heartfelt thanks to God for revealing the Lord Jesus to us as our Messiah, Saviour, and God, and may we never fail to joyfully tell others about the Great Salvation, and Holy Righteousness, Graciously given to us, and all believers, through the Holy Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Perhaps our Love, Gratitude, and Praise for God’s Great Gift of Love towards us can be no better expressed than in the words of the first and final verses of the wonderful Good Friday hymn, written by Isaac Watts in 1707, that I have used to open our Good Friday devotional presentation:
When I survey the wondrous cross
on which the Prince of glory died,
my richest gain I count but loss,
and pour contempt on all my pride.
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a offering far too small;
Love so amazing, so Divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
Amen.
Bishop Ian