christos anesti / alithos anesti
From Palm Sunday through Holy Week we read three different accounts of the Passion of Christ, finishing with the account according to John on Good Friday. This is done script-fashion, with a narrator, the priest as the voice of Jesus, and two other parts, designated V for "Voice" (when it is a single speaker who is not Jesus) and C for "Crowd". The congregation at my church is invited to participate in reading both the V and C parts. This results in several back-to-back responses such as "You are not also one of his disciples, are you?" "I am not." and "Behold your king." "Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!"
I think that this was initially instituted because we have fewer readers than we used to and also it's a bit awkward getting everyone to fit in the sanctuary, but it makes for a powerful reading experience. If you're paying attention, it forces you to identify with everyone, with Pilate and with the chief priests and scribes of Israel, with Judas and with the court gatekeeper, with the screaming crowd and with the disciple who could not stand by his teacher and with the centurion who declared that, truly, this man was the son of God.
When it came time to shout, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" I couldn't do it. This year, I couldn't do it. Sometimes I can. I couldn't this time. I couldn't speak for an entire page, because I was crying.
I think that this was initially instituted because we have fewer readers than we used to and also it's a bit awkward getting everyone to fit in the sanctuary, but it makes for a powerful reading experience. If you're paying attention, it forces you to identify with everyone, with Pilate and with the chief priests and scribes of Israel, with Judas and with the court gatekeeper, with the screaming crowd and with the disciple who could not stand by his teacher and with the centurion who declared that, truly, this man was the son of God.
When it came time to shout, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" I couldn't do it. This year, I couldn't do it. Sometimes I can. I couldn't this time. I couldn't speak for an entire page, because I was crying.