The ecumenical Good Friday service began at Bethany Lutheran Church in McCallsburg, Iowa in a chapel still dark from Maundy Thursday’s solemn service of Tenebrae (Latin for “shadows”). But then a single candle was lit, then another, then another—until a radiant glow filled the sanctuary.

Light on Good Friday? On a day when the earth went dark at the hour of our Lord’s last breath? Why such a reversal of church tradition?

Associate in Ministry Carolyn Pflibsen explains that Crossways International’s Road to Coronation led her to rethink Jesus’ crucifixion in a way that inspired a new approach to Good Friday services.

“God’s glory, power, and presence may have been revealed fully in the resurrection on Easter morning—but that glory, power, and presence were right there at the cross, too.”  Indeed, the Lenten study Road to Coronation examines how the crucifixion was nothing less than the moment of Jesus’ enthronement—His coronation—as Servant-King and Ruler of the Eternal Kingdom of God.

“In our Good Friday service, prayers and hymns accompany a series of readings from the Gospel of John. Candle #1 is lit to commemorate Jesus’ birth: the Light of the World. We light six more candles representing different aspects of Jesus’ ministry. The sanctuary gradually becomes more illuminated. Ultimately, candle #7 is lit—when God’s full presence is revealed in Jesus at His crucifixion: the Hour of God’s Glory, the Royal Coronation.”

As Road to Coronation points out, prior to the crucifixion, the sacred inner sanctum within the Jerusalem Temple—the Holy of Holies (where God’s presence was said to dwell)—was kept in total darkness. At the moment of Jesus’ death, the Temple curtain was torn in two, and darkness befell Calvary. What did this mean? God’s presence was out of the Temple! It was now visible in a Person! And so the Father was supremely glorified as the Son gave up His very life in this ultimate act of servanthood. A luminous event indeed!