Seven Last Words

"In this inspiring book, Andrew McGowan not only offers reflections both powerful and poignant on the traditional seven last words of Jesus on the cross, but in a creative twist also considers the comments (or in one case, the silence) of seven other witnesses to this most dramatic of moments."

--Michael B. Curry, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church and author of Love Is the Way: Holding on to Hope in Troubling Times



"In these reflections, Andrew McGowan draws on Scripture and tradition to explore the deep connections between the cross and creation. With characteristic creativity and insight, McGowan helps us to see that the seven last words of Christ find their most lucid expression in the promise of the new creation. We hear these words again--as though for the first time."

--William Lamb, vicar of University Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Oxford, England



"The late, great community theologian Kenneth Leech once said, 'The cross is not a problem to be understood but a mystery into which we enter,' and this is exactly what Andrew did when he preached on Good Friday in 2016. His linking of the creation story with the salvific work of Jesus as he died on the cross was truly memorable; it allowed us to enter into those seven words in a new and remarkable way."

--Carl F. Turner, rector, Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue, New York



"Helpless on the cross, Christ acts through his speech. Andrew McGowan takes the traditional structure of Good Friday meditations on Jesus' 'Seven Last Words,' and invests them with new and challenging insights. I first heard these words in the context of a pre-pandemic Good Friday liturgy; encountering them again as companions for a lockdown Holy Week has provided real nourishment in lean times."

--Judith Maltby, Corpus Christi College, Oxford