Seven Last Words: Cross & Creation (Andrew McGowan) - Review
SEVEN LAST WORDS: Cross and Creation. By Andrew McGowan. Illustrated by Bettina Clowney. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2021. 86 pages.
It is a
tradition among many to observe Good Friday with services that focus on the
Seven Last Words of Christ. The tradition goes back to the medieval era. Some
of these services can last several hours or about an hour. Sometimes the
service will feature just one preacher who focuses on the text. Or, it might be
an ecumenical service with seven preachers offering a meditation on one of the
seven words. I’ve participated in these services as a preacher both in Santa
Barbara, California, and in Troy, Michigan. These services were only an
hour-long, requiring a 5-minute meditation. Long before that, I participated in
a three-hour service as a preacher. So, over the years I’ve covered each of the words taken from the four
gospels several times. I even published a set of my sermons preached in Santa
Barbara under the title A Cry from the Cross. My book is just one of
probably thousands of books reflecting on these words.
Seven Last Words: Cross and Creation is an offering from Andrew McGowan, professor
of Anglican studies and dean of the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale
University. This book includes both sermons on the seven last words and a set
of reflections focused on seven figures connected the cross, as revealed in the
Gospels. Intriguingly, McGown connects the seven words and seven figures with
the seven days of creation. He writes in his prologue: "Each of Jesus'
seven words from the cross can be understood as a creative act, as a new divine
work." (p. 2). Even though he was immobilized on the cross, he continued
to act creatively. Thus, "bound and nailed right, he remakes the world and
us, and as in the beginning creates by word." (p. 3).
The
seven words are these: “Father forgive them; for they do not know what they are
doing;” “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise;” “Woman, here
is your son,” “Here is your mother;” “My God, My God, why have you forsaken
me;” “I am thirsty;” “It is finished;” and “Father, into your hands, I commend
my spirit.” These sermons were preached on Good Friday in 2016 at St. Thomas
Church, Fifth Avenue, in New York City, and then in a somewhat different form
in 2018 at St. Mary the Virgin, Oxford, UK. This is the church once served by
John Henry Newman before his conversion to Catholicism.
Besides
the Seven Words that will be familiar to many, he speaks of seven conversations
at the Cross. He points out that there were other words spoken at and near the
cross, besides those spoken by Jesus. These have been chosen, he writes,
because they "glean responses to the other and more famous seven uttered
by Jesus himself" (p. 44). The seven voices described here come from
Judas, Dismas (the thief on the cross beside him), Mary the mother of Jesus,
God the Father, Longinus (the centurion), the angels who are silent, and
finally Nicodemus. These voices or lack thereof, provide a larger context to Jesus’
time on the cross and they invite us to respond to Jesus' words from our
location. Each of these figures is quite different, ranging from a mother who
weeps as her son dies to a soldier responsible to carry out the sentence to one
dying alongside Jesus. The reflections are brief, but informative. This second
set of reflections that feature the seven figures were written during McGowan’s
sabbatical in 2020 and reflect the realities of that year.
These
reflections are accompanied by full-color images painted by Bettina Clowney
that illustrate the events on the cross and nearby by Bettina Clowney. These
images help bring the words described by McGowan to life. Therefore, they are
highly welcomed.
So, if
you are a preacher looking for inspiration for your own Good Friday sermons,
this will prove helpful. Or, if you simply are looking for a set of reflections
that will help you experience this holy day, then you will not be disappointed.
McGowan’s Seven Last Words is a worthy contribution to that ever-expanding
collection of reflections on the words spoken that day by Jesus and those
around him.
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