The Drama of Holy Week

Holy Week extends from Palm Sunday through Resurrection Sunday (also known as Easter). Sunday was in Biblical times and remains so among Orthodox Jews today, the first day of the week. Thus, Holy Week begins on Sunday morning (what we would refer to as "Monday morning".) Jesus marches into town riding a donkey, not a stallion, signifying that he was a king already established on his throne, rather than a victorious general/king entering the city. The crowds were overwhelmed, boisterous, and rejoicing. The Roman authorities were a bit dismayed.

Likewise the religious elders who wanted to maintain order and peace, being oh so realistic about the Roman military presence. On Thursday, one of Jesus' own inner circle, presumably trying to force Jesus' hand, betrays him to the religious authorities. They are eager to cooperate and to silence Jesus. They do so by turning him over to Pilate for trial and execution. The man who entered the city victorious is now spat upon and scorned as nothing but an egotistical rebel defeated by the all-powerful Roman powers. Tried, executed and dead by three o'clock.

John, writing as one of Jesus' confidantes, describes His death as His hour of glory. It was the hour in which Jesus' love and righteousness were displayed for all who would notice. He was going the extra distance to break the power of sin and death, to unlock the chains of defeat and despair. He carried with Him our sins, our shame, our brokenness. He took upon Himself all the evil--no matter if it was done with good intentions--He took it upon Himself and carried it to the grave.

Matthew on the other hand celebrates Jesus' resurrection on Sunday morning as the highlight of the week. If Jesus had stayed dead in the tomb after all, no matter how noble His intentions had been, His death would have been His defeat. If I want to be the world champion in a sport, I must compete against the other challenger and I must play the game of that sport. If I play the #1 tennis player in the world in a game of badminton and win, I am still not a tennis champion! Jesus challenged Satan on Satan's own court--namely, death itself. When Jesus rose, He was the victor, Satan the loser.

Jesus entered Holy Week a popular king, died as a rejected failure mid-week, and finished the week rising from the grave in total and complete victory. The Drama of Holy Week is amazing.

We have already begun planning our various services for that week. Those services (Palm Sunday 8am and 10:30am; Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 7pm, Maundy Thursday at 7pm and Vigil throughout the night, Easter morning at 7:15am starting outdoors and at 10:30am) capture and reflect a glimpse of the Drama of that week. I invite you to come and join us for any or all of the services.

For the Blog here, I'd like to hear your experiences, curiosities and hopes for Holy Week. What part of the Drama fascinates you or intrigues you?