Sojourners Verse and Voice – 7 April 2023

Verse of the day 
And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” … Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. 

– Matthew 27:46, 50

Voice of the day 
The cross and the lynching tree interpret each other. Both were public spectacles, shameful events, instruments of punishment reserved for the most despised people in society. Any genuine theology and any genuine preaching of the Christian gospel must be measured against the test of the scandal of the cross and the lynching tree. 

– James H. Cone, The Cross and the Lynching Tree (2013)

Prayer of the day 
Irony of all ironies is that the darkest Friday is called good, / because though it put you in the tomb, it brought you back again. / … So we fast and pray, / and in our attempts to understand, / we stop and say that we will never quite grasp / the greatest irony of all: / that you take us in our tired skin and bones / and tell us we’re worth / all the ironies of the cross. 

– Kaitlin Curtice, “A Prayer for Good Friday”