Emphasis Preaching Journal

A particular church's practice was to read the gospel account of Jesus' crucifixion from chapters 18 and 19 of the gospel of John out loud on Good Friday as part of the service. Worshipers that day would each take a role in the reading. One person would read the part of Jesus, another Pilate, others the roles of Peter, the religious leaders, the soldiers, and so on. The rest of the congregation would read the part of the crowd, shouting "Crucify him! Crucify him!" at the appropriate time in the dramatic reading.