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Psalm 88:15-18

From my youth I have suffered and been close to death; I have borne your terrors and am in despair. Your wrath has swept over me; your terrors have destroyed me. All day long they surround me like a flood; they have completely engulfed me. You have taken from me friend and neighbor\u2014darkness is my closest friend.

Isaiah 63:2-6

Why are your garments red, like those of one treading the winepress? \u201cI have trodden the winepress alone; from the nations no one was with me. I trampled them in my anger and trod them down in my wrath; their blood spattered my garments, and I stained all my clothing. It was for me the day of vengeance; the year for me to redeem had come. I looked, but there was no one to help, I was appalled that no one gave support; so my own arm achieved salvation for me, and my own wrath sustained me. I trampled the nations in my anger; in my wrath I made them drunk and poured their blood on the ground.\u201d

Revelation 14:18-20

Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, \u201cTake your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth\u2019s vine, because its grapes are ripe.\u201d The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God\u2019s wrath. They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses\u2019 bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.\xa0

Luke 22:60-68

Peter replied, \u201cMan, I don\u2019t know what you\u2019re talking about!\u201d Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: \u201cBefore the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.\u201d And he went outside and wept bitterly. The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him. They blindfolded him and demanded, \u201cProphesy! Who hit you?\u201d And they said many other insulting things to him. At daybreak the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and the teachers of the law, met together, and Jesus was led before them. \u201cIf you are the Messiah,\u201d they said, \u201ctell us.\u201d Jesus answered, \u201cIf I tell you, you will not believe me, and if I asked you, you would not answer. But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.\u201d

Prayer

We say, Lord, that the night is always darkest before the dawn. \xa0In Psalm 88 we find the sheer hopelessness of that darkness that can, in some seasons of our lives, consume us. \xa0Yet outside the city walls on Good Friday, you placed not us betrayal-prone disciples, nor the peoples of a sin-broken world in the winepress of your wrath, but Jesus. \xa0And by his wounds we are not only healed, but brought back to light and life as far as the infinite mercy of his healing blood flows. \xa0Thank you Lord, for this surprising reversal. Amen.\xa0

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