MEMPHIS, Tenn. (localmemphis.com) — This weekend is the most observed Christian Holiday in the world. Locally, people are remembering Good Friday as the day Jesus Christ was sacrificed on the cross. Easter is Sunday. Christians observe it as the day Jesus was resurrected from the dead to save us from our sins.
“The story of the crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ is to me the most powerful story that there is,” said Pastor Bill Parkey with Grace Life Pentecostal Church.
Dr. Shane Stanford, Senior Pastor Christ United Methodist Church, said, “He had to have someone carry the cross for him. He was at the end of his physical rope. He was absolutely at the mercy of the world.”
At Christ United Methodist Church in East Memphis, Good Friday services were observed in a special way.
“By Jesus humbling himself at this place, by being nailed to this cross, he said to every one of us, it’s okay to find yourself at this place because I have been here first,” Parkey said.
People were asked to write down their sins and troubles and nail them to the cross.
“We often live in a community that is focused on things that we don’t agree on. But for Christians, this is one place that we should, and we do, all sort of limp our way into. None of us gets to the cross on our own,” said Stanford.
At Second Presbyterian in East Memphis, Christians sought a more silent commemoration.
“People do it in different ways. Some in silence. Some go to passion plays. Some just celebrate at home. But however you do it, celebrate the fact that Jesus is alive and He’s alive in us and He can be experienced and realized in our own lives personally,” said Parkey.
The season of Lent began with Ash Wednesday, the start of a 40-day period of prayer and fasting leading up to Easter. Holy Thursday signified the Last Supper, and Good Friday symbolizes the death of Jesus. Easter is Sunday, and for Christians it commemorates the day Jesus rose from the grave.