Believing Christians Meditate on the Suffering of Christ:
A Prayer for Holy Week
O Jesus, my Jesus, how great is Your love, which was revealed in Your bitter suffering! You are the only-begotten Son of God. You are the Lamb without spot, the Lord of glory, the Most Holy, in whom there is no sin. And yet You surrendered Yourself into the most shameful death and the most cruel suffering for me, an unrighteous person, a sinner, a child of death. Oh, how great is Your unspeakable mercy! The Holy One bears my unholiness; the Perfect One, my wickedness; the Innocent One, my guilt. My sins were laid on You so that Your righteousness could be laid on me. My Jesus, in Your suffering I behold the wrath of God against sin. For, if God on account of the iniquities of others and for imputed sins has so miserably afflicted You on the Mount of Olives - You, the innocent Lamb - and has permitted You to become to awfully disfigured by the treatment of Your enemies, how grievously will those be punished in the end who are not moved to repentance and faith by this suffering? How wretched shall they be when they have to pay for their sins themselves!
My Jesus, I approach You now. With a believing heart, I contemplate Your suffering. You entered the Garden of Gethsemane, and Your sweat is great drops of blood. Lord, have mercy! This was done for me that I might be delivered from the power of Satan. You are brought before the judgment seat, accused ad condemned to death. This was done for me that I may be acquitted, when after death I will be placed before the judgment seat on the Last Day. At Your trial there were only accusers, but no advocate. This is done for me that You may be my Advocate, when my sins and my conscience accuse me. You are scourged and Your body is dyed with blood. The plowers plowed deeply on Your back. This is done for me that I may not be punished for my sins. You are led forth to death. This is done for me that my departure may be in peace, and may be my entrance into heaven, my return to the Father. You are crucified. This is done for me that through Your death I might have life. You are buried. This is done for me that You may sanctify my grave. Truly this is love, this is mercy, that by Your bitter suffering I obtain life, grace, forgiveness of all my sins. The chastisement of all my sins is on You that I may have peace and be delivered from punishment.
I will now place this suffering before my eyes, and wherever I may be it shall be my constant delight. Until body and soul are surrendered, Your suffering and death shall ever be enshrined in my heart. The Israelites were free from all guilt and punishment when in faith they brought a lamb for sacrifice before God and beheld the shedding of its warm blood. So I, too, know that I have been pardoned and reconciled to God, when I believe that You, O Jesus, the Lamb of God without spot or blemish, have been slain for me and have poured out Your heart’s blood for me in abundance. Your blood is the true sacrificial blood, the blood of reconciliation, the blood of purification, the blood of atonement.
O my Jesus, when my heart tries to mislead me into sin, I will remember the sufferings You endured and the blood You shed. When the world by its evil example would entice me to follow its ways, I will place before my eyes Your bleeding image on the Mount of Olives, at the scourging, and on the cross. In the terror of my sins, I will flee to Your wounds. When my conscience fills me with fear, I will receive Your blood as my ransom. Yes, in my dying hour I desire to know nothing but You, O Jesus. Your holy Name, O Jesus, shall be my last word. Your bleeding image, my last thought. Your last word from the cross, my last sign in death With You I will say, “Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit!” (Luke 23:46). In that last hour, Jesus, be my comfort, my joy, my consolation, my defense; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Starck’s Prayer Book, p75ff).
Your unworthy servant,
Pastor Mierow
The Annunciation of our Lord
The painting is “Christ Crucified with Toledo in the Background,” by El Greco
A Prayer for Holy Week
O Jesus, my Jesus, how great is Your love, which was revealed in Your bitter suffering! You are the only-begotten Son of God. You are the Lamb without spot, the Lord of glory, the Most Holy, in whom there is no sin. And yet You surrendered Yourself into the most shameful death and the most cruel suffering for me, an unrighteous person, a sinner, a child of death. Oh, how great is Your unspeakable mercy! The Holy One bears my unholiness; the Perfect One, my wickedness; the Innocent One, my guilt. My sins were laid on You so that Your righteousness could be laid on me. My Jesus, in Your suffering I behold the wrath of God against sin. For, if God on account of the iniquities of others and for imputed sins has so miserably afflicted You on the Mount of Olives - You, the innocent Lamb - and has permitted You to become to awfully disfigured by the treatment of Your enemies, how grievously will those be punished in the end who are not moved to repentance and faith by this suffering? How wretched shall they be when they have to pay for their sins themselves!
My Jesus, I approach You now. With a believing heart, I contemplate Your suffering. You entered the Garden of Gethsemane, and Your sweat is great drops of blood. Lord, have mercy! This was done for me that I might be delivered from the power of Satan. You are brought before the judgment seat, accused ad condemned to death. This was done for me that I may be acquitted, when after death I will be placed before the judgment seat on the Last Day. At Your trial there were only accusers, but no advocate. This is done for me that You may be my Advocate, when my sins and my conscience accuse me. You are scourged and Your body is dyed with blood. The plowers plowed deeply on Your back. This is done for me that I may not be punished for my sins. You are led forth to death. This is done for me that my departure may be in peace, and may be my entrance into heaven, my return to the Father. You are crucified. This is done for me that through Your death I might have life. You are buried. This is done for me that You may sanctify my grave. Truly this is love, this is mercy, that by Your bitter suffering I obtain life, grace, forgiveness of all my sins. The chastisement of all my sins is on You that I may have peace and be delivered from punishment.
I will now place this suffering before my eyes, and wherever I may be it shall be my constant delight. Until body and soul are surrendered, Your suffering and death shall ever be enshrined in my heart. The Israelites were free from all guilt and punishment when in faith they brought a lamb for sacrifice before God and beheld the shedding of its warm blood. So I, too, know that I have been pardoned and reconciled to God, when I believe that You, O Jesus, the Lamb of God without spot or blemish, have been slain for me and have poured out Your heart’s blood for me in abundance. Your blood is the true sacrificial blood, the blood of reconciliation, the blood of purification, the blood of atonement.
O my Jesus, when my heart tries to mislead me into sin, I will remember the sufferings You endured and the blood You shed. When the world by its evil example would entice me to follow its ways, I will place before my eyes Your bleeding image on the Mount of Olives, at the scourging, and on the cross. In the terror of my sins, I will flee to Your wounds. When my conscience fills me with fear, I will receive Your blood as my ransom. Yes, in my dying hour I desire to know nothing but You, O Jesus. Your holy Name, O Jesus, shall be my last word. Your bleeding image, my last thought. Your last word from the cross, my last sign in death With You I will say, “Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit!” (Luke 23:46). In that last hour, Jesus, be my comfort, my joy, my consolation, my defense; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Starck’s Prayer Book, p75ff).
Your unworthy servant,
Pastor Mierow
The Annunciation of our Lord
The painting is “Christ Crucified with Toledo in the Background,” by El Greco
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