Dear Friends in Christ

This upcoming Sunday is the first day of Holy Week. Now, I wonder: What comes to mind when you think of Holy Week?

Many worshipping Christians think of palm branches, the Maundy-Thursday Service of Tenebrae, and Easter. But, Holy Week is much more – even though it doesn’t include Easter! (Easter is the first day of the week after Holy Week!)

So what constitutes the “much more” of Holy Week? It starts with what we have called Palm Sunday. On this day, we’ve mostly – or exclusively – celebrated Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. But, it’s a more complex day, and there are two other “P’s” that constitute Palm Sunday: Passover and Passion. On the day of palm waving, Jesus entered Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. In doing so, he showed his passion: his desire for the deliverance of his people from Roman oppressiveness. He also displayed his willingness to risk his life for this deliverance, and it would lead to his Passion: his giving of his life his passion.

The “much more” of Holy Week also includes remembering Jesus’ righteous indignation and his overturning of tables in the Temple courtyard. It also includes remembering his expression of worry and sorrow: “If only you, Jerusalem, knew the things that make for peace,” he lamented (Luke 19:42).

Holy Week also includes what came after his celebration of Passover and constitutes part of our Maundy-Thursday Last Supper remembrance: his prayer and arrest in the garden followed by his confrontation with Herod and Pilate, all of which led to his execution on a Roman instrument of capital punishment, the cross.

Finally, there’s Holy Saturday with its prayer vigil and remembrance that because it was the Sabbath his grieving followers waited until early Sunday morning to make their way to Jesus’ tomb to prepare his body for burial.

So it is, Holy week contains more elements from Jesus’ life than we often remember, but we’ll encounter all of these during our Holy Week worship. And, whatever it is you generally think about when you think of Holy Week, I hope you’ll experience hope and joy, disappointment and anger, worry and patience, sorrow and courage – passions and a Passion that are ancient, but also relevant to your life, and our common life together, in this world today.

Holy Week’s Blessings,
Pastor Ed