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Thank God It's Friday: Encountering the Seven Last Words from the Cross
Christ's seven last words from the cross have long been a source of reflection, challenge, and soul-searching. These simple statements contain the full range of human emotions and divine grief, compassion, despair, forgiveness, physical need, the promise of redemption. In many ways they embody the core of the gospel.
In this brief book one of today's most noted church persons and preachers confronts the reader with the seven last word's claim on her or his life. Written with the clarity, depth, and insight that are Will Willimon's trademark, this book offers afresh the challenge and grace of the message of the Crucified One.
In this brief book one of today's most noted church persons and preachers confronts the reader with the seven last word's claim on her or his life. Written with the clarity, depth, and insight that are Will Willimon's trademark, this book offers afresh the challenge and grace of the message of the Crucified One.
104 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2006
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About the author
William H. Willimon
171 books53 followersThe Reverend Dr. William H. Willimon is Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry at the Divinity School, Duke University. He served eight years as Bishop of the North Alabama Conference of The United Methodist Church, where he led the 157,000 Methodists and 792 pastors in North Alabama. For twenty years prior to the episcopacy, he was Dean of the Chapel and Professor of Christian Ministry at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 7, 2020
Let me say that I have been a long-time fan of Willimon's sermons and writings (such as 'Resident Aliens', 'The Service of God', 'Pastor', 'Conversations with Barth on Preaching') but this book which I had looked forward to reading for the Holy Week was a letdown. It could be that Willimon had written some really excellent stuff in the past that my expectation from him has been unrealistically set. My disappointment stems from the uneasy feeling that he is trying too hard here to make Jesus stranger, more subversive and offensive than he really is. Alright, I take it as a given that Jesus is larger than anyone can conceive. It is true that Jesus has been tamed by centuries of domestication and remaking him in our own image...but I am not convinced by the silly portraits Willimon here made him out to be.
For example, the first sermon which zeroes in on Jesus' forgiving his enemies, calling it his 'pre-emptive forgiveness' (a phrase coined to counter the pre-emptive strikes of American military campaigns?) appears to be an exercise in caricaturing what forgiveness is. He seems to take the first of 'Jesus' last words on the cross' as the first and the last word the whole bible has to say about forgiveness. It is true that we have put too many hedges and qualifiers around the gracious act of forgiving but Willimon's taking his words to a one-dimensional extreme seems to fly in the face of the bible's own complex and nuanced conception of that divine-human transaction. It does not take into account that forgiveness proffered is not the same as forgiveness received. It breezes over the fact that God does sometimes withhold mercy (Mt6:14) and that Jesus calls the apostles to sometimes do likewise in their ministry (Jn 20:23). It does not say anything about the condition of those who would die without mercy, having crucified the Son of God all over again (Heb 10:26). There is a lavish, subversive, generous petition for mercy on the cross but it is predicated on the ground that 'they know not what they do' in the sense that Jesus meant it. Curiously, the connecting word 'for'(gar) was left out of his exegesis.
Indeed, Willimon's thesis makes no such nuances but pushes for what appears to be a no-holds-barred blanket application of divine mercy. It sounds shocking and 'shocking' has become something of a novelty lately but the message is not one that one can ulimately live with, nor does it prepare a disciple of Christ to practise forgiveness in a complex, broken world.
Now, that is the first sermon/chapter in the book. I could have skipped over this and hoped for a more balanced treatment in the others but my hope sadly went largely unmet. Somehow Willimon continues to take far too much 'poetic liberty' with the words of scripture to the point of being prosaic. Consider this:
'Death is the ultimate rip-off...In one of his parables, Jesus compared God to a thief who comes in the night while we are asleep and think we are secure, and steals everything we've got. Not the nicest image about God but a truthful one. In the end. God is going to rip off everything that we thought we had.' (page 69) We get his point about the ephemeral nature of life but one wonders if all these immodest language and confusing half-truths about Jesus comparing God to a thief that comes to rip us off are all that necessary. There's a good chance that many of such off-hand allusions are not even accurate if one takes the trouble to examine the texts closely. In this instance, Willimon appears to have conflated two different parables (Mt 24:42-44; Lk 12:20) from different places to make a point quite different from what Jesus actually says in either parable.
Over and over again, he appears far too eager to 'get at the shock of what Jesus says' (page 20) that it does not matter that Jesus actually means no such thing.
As such, the general tenor has been one that is big on 'shock value' and 'provocativeness' and little on what the final words spoken by Jesus really mean, how they breathe new life into the church and guide us in the way of the cross, he commands us to bear daily. He seems tired of the old truths and seeks to hit the audience with something 'fresh' by straining the texts.
P/S: This critical review in no way detracts from my deep admiration for Willimon's scholarship and ministry as a whole but I do so out of a frank appraisal of this particular work, in the hope that perhaps we read/hear him with the respectful critical engagement his work deserves.
For example, the first sermon which zeroes in on Jesus' forgiving his enemies, calling it his 'pre-emptive forgiveness' (a phrase coined to counter the pre-emptive strikes of American military campaigns?) appears to be an exercise in caricaturing what forgiveness is. He seems to take the first of 'Jesus' last words on the cross' as the first and the last word the whole bible has to say about forgiveness. It is true that we have put too many hedges and qualifiers around the gracious act of forgiving but Willimon's taking his words to a one-dimensional extreme seems to fly in the face of the bible's own complex and nuanced conception of that divine-human transaction. It does not take into account that forgiveness proffered is not the same as forgiveness received. It breezes over the fact that God does sometimes withhold mercy (Mt6:14) and that Jesus calls the apostles to sometimes do likewise in their ministry (Jn 20:23). It does not say anything about the condition of those who would die without mercy, having crucified the Son of God all over again (Heb 10:26). There is a lavish, subversive, generous petition for mercy on the cross but it is predicated on the ground that 'they know not what they do' in the sense that Jesus meant it. Curiously, the connecting word 'for'(gar) was left out of his exegesis.
Indeed, Willimon's thesis makes no such nuances but pushes for what appears to be a no-holds-barred blanket application of divine mercy. It sounds shocking and 'shocking' has become something of a novelty lately but the message is not one that one can ulimately live with, nor does it prepare a disciple of Christ to practise forgiveness in a complex, broken world.
Now, that is the first sermon/chapter in the book. I could have skipped over this and hoped for a more balanced treatment in the others but my hope sadly went largely unmet. Somehow Willimon continues to take far too much 'poetic liberty' with the words of scripture to the point of being prosaic. Consider this:
'Death is the ultimate rip-off...In one of his parables, Jesus compared God to a thief who comes in the night while we are asleep and think we are secure, and steals everything we've got. Not the nicest image about God but a truthful one. In the end. God is going to rip off everything that we thought we had.' (page 69) We get his point about the ephemeral nature of life but one wonders if all these immodest language and confusing half-truths about Jesus comparing God to a thief that comes to rip us off are all that necessary. There's a good chance that many of such off-hand allusions are not even accurate if one takes the trouble to examine the texts closely. In this instance, Willimon appears to have conflated two different parables (Mt 24:42-44; Lk 12:20) from different places to make a point quite different from what Jesus actually says in either parable.
Over and over again, he appears far too eager to 'get at the shock of what Jesus says' (page 20) that it does not matter that Jesus actually means no such thing.
As such, the general tenor has been one that is big on 'shock value' and 'provocativeness' and little on what the final words spoken by Jesus really mean, how they breathe new life into the church and guide us in the way of the cross, he commands us to bear daily. He seems tired of the old truths and seeks to hit the audience with something 'fresh' by straining the texts.
P/S: This critical review in no way detracts from my deep admiration for Willimon's scholarship and ministry as a whole but I do so out of a frank appraisal of this particular work, in the hope that perhaps we read/hear him with the respectful critical engagement his work deserves.
April 16, 2019
A gripping look at the lessons behind Christ's last phrases from the cross.
April 5, 2021
FABULOUS - used with 2 other books on same topic for Lent = FABULOUS
April 14, 2022
Used this as I worked through the Seven Last Words from the Cross for my Lenten sermon series ending on Good Friday. Willimon always packs a punch in his writing.
March 30, 2015
Excellent Meditations For Good Friday
William Willimon never fails to be excellent in his writing. This book is the perfect companion for Good Friday. Reflecting on the 7 last words of Jesus, Willimon shows us the picture not if a far off, aloof, pie in the sky diety, rather we see a God who comes near to our mess, dives in the midst of it, suffers our pains, bears our insults, and died our death at our hands and then shows us how to be people of forgiveness. I read this book all in one sitting and would recommend that you do the same. Prayerful take a couple of hours and let these words of Jesus, as commented on by Willimon, search you and change you. Just a wonderful book.
William Willimon never fails to be excellent in his writing. This book is the perfect companion for Good Friday. Reflecting on the 7 last words of Jesus, Willimon shows us the picture not if a far off, aloof, pie in the sky diety, rather we see a God who comes near to our mess, dives in the midst of it, suffers our pains, bears our insults, and died our death at our hands and then shows us how to be people of forgiveness. I read this book all in one sitting and would recommend that you do the same. Prayerful take a couple of hours and let these words of Jesus, as commented on by Willimon, search you and change you. Just a wonderful book.
March 5, 2010
I don't think this subject matter, the crucifixion, is something I enjoy, but I heard the author speak and thought he had a refreshing outlook and I wanted to start reading his books. A colleague suggested this as a starting place because it is Lent. The sayings from the cross are enlightening, even if I don't relish thinking deeply about Christ's suffering on the cross.
March 23, 2015
I used this book as a starting point for the Lenten sermon series. Willimon's insights deepened our congregation's Lenten journey. I highly recommend it.
March 25, 2016
A helpful book on the seven words of Christ from the cross. Each saying gets a chapter. And Willimon offers meaningful insight into each one in his own instructive and witty style.
June 21, 2016
Finished this for the Lent 2016. This is a very good book on the last seven words on the cross. Great reflection and meditation from Willimon, full of insights from a pastoral heart.
April 2, 2015
Excellent book for reflection during the Holy Week.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews