Opening Prayer
Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy!
TEXT
Psalm 3 NJB
Psalm Of David When he was fleeing from his son Absalom
Yahweh, how countless are my enemies, how countless those who rise up against me,
How countless those who say of me, ‘No salvation for him from his God!’ [Pause]
But you, Yahweh, the shield at my side, my glory, you hold my head high.
I cry out to Yahweh; he answers from his holy mountain. [Pause]
As for me, if I lie down and sleep, I shall awake, for Yahweh sustains me.
I have no fear of people in their thousands upon thousands, who range themselves against me wherever I turn.
Arise, Yahweh, rescue me, my God! You strike all my foes across the face, you break the teeth of the wicked.
In Yahweh is salvation, on your people, your blessing! [Pause]
John 18:1-12 ESV
There was an orchard there, and he and his disciples went into it. (Now Judas, the one who betrayed him, knew the place too, because Jesus had met there many times with his disciples.) So Judas obtained a squad of soldiers and some officers of the chief priests and Pharisees. They came to the orchard with lanterns and torches and weapons. Then Jesus, because he knew everything that was going to happen to him, came and asked them, “Who are you looking for?” They replied, “Jesus the Nazarene.” He told them, “I am he.” (Now Judas, the one who betrayed him, was standing there with them.) So when Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they retreated and fell to the ground. Then Jesus asked them again, “Who are you looking for?” And they said, “Jesus the Nazarene.” Jesus replied, “I told you that I am he. If you are looking for me, let these men go.” He said this to fulfill the word he had spoken, “I have not lost a single one of those whom you gave me.” Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, pulled it out and struck the high priest’s slave, cutting off his right ear. (Now the slave’s name was Malchus.) But Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath! Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?”
Then the squad of soldiers with their commanding officer and the officers of the Jewish leaders arrested Jesus and tied him up.
Read
But look, O my soul, and see how the King of Heaven was welcomed by His subjects, in what manner they honored their God Incarnate…Who cleansed the lepers, healed the sick, made the paralytic walk and the blind man see; Who straightened the lame and the crippled, Who raised the dead and fed the many thousands who were hungry. Oh, shame covers my face, awe grips my heart, and my tongue trembles to speak! His holy Evangelist cries out in grief: “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not”…Terrible and piteous are these words…Men did not accept their God, servants did not receive their Lord; subjects rejected their King! O, my God, all this You knew, and yet You came to save me, perishing; to find me, the lost!…Glory be to You for all, O my Lover!…They judged You, the Judge of the living and the dead! They insulted and dishonored You, spat upon Your holy face, to which angels dare not lift their gaze! And they buffeted Your cheek and condemned You to death—You, the Life of all! They preferred a robber and a murderer to You, the Son of God, the only good and just One!…Oh prodigy! Oh, fearful and unheard-of crime!
— Tikhon of Zadonsk. Confession and Thanksgiving
Prayer of Response
Lord, so often I, like Judas give you a kiss and betray your love to me. So often I choose the things of this world over the things of your Kingdom. Forgive my betrayal and purify my heart. Sustain me as I pursue you and fill me with your Spirit that I might follow you all the days of my life.