Holy Week Services

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A Full Week in Jerusalem

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I give thanks to our gracious God for putting you all in our lives. Your faithfulness and your enthusiasm fill my heart with joy and helps complete my hope in Christ. Every day I look forward to serving our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ alongside each of you and growing in our discipleship journey together.

We have entered into Holy Week. For Jesus, this week was stocked full of an emotional roller coaster, specific teachings, a last supper with his disciples and a gruesome death -- but it all started with a triumphant entrance into Jerusalem for the Passover Festival.

Sunday marked the beginning of Jesus’ last days on earth as a human. Entering into Jerusalem for the Passover Festival was marked with cheers of celebration, victory, and Hosannas to God for the Christ. But the week brought more than celebration and cheers. By the end of the week instead of hosannas, Jesus would hear cries of “crucify him!”.  

Between the the cheers of celebration and the cries for death, Jesus journeyed the week like business as usual.

According to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Jesus continued to teach parables about sacrifice, preparation, and fruitfulness. He cleansed the temple by running off those who were steeling from those who made the Jerusalem pilgrimage for Passover. He also spent many hours in the temple teaching and preaching which of course let to the religious leaders verbally attacking him. In fact, it was during the early days of the week that the approached Judas to betray Jesus.

It was within this week we received the teaching on the Greatest Commandment: Love God wholly and love others unconditionally and sacrificially (my paraphrase). We also have the beautiful passage found in John’s Gospel (John 17) of Jesus praying in the garden of Gethsemane.

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday was Jesus helping his disciples to prepare for what was to come. Thursday was filled with the preparation of the Passover meal, which we call “The Last Supper.” Here, Jesus continued to teach about his death, and his return. It was here Jesus taught about servanthood as he washed the feet of his disciples. 

He changed the tradition, in stead of focusing on the exodus out of Egypt, the bread and cup now represented His body and blood that would be given for the sake of all humanity. It was during this time of breaking bread that he addressed Judas’ betray and sent him away to do what he had agreed to do.

The evening ended with Jesus and his disciples praying in the garden, and his arrest. We then move into Friday where Jesus was humiliated, beaten, tried, sentenced to death, flogged, mocked, spat upon, and eventually crucified. The week ended with Jesus in the tomb, his disciples locked in the Upper Room, the religious leaders celebrating, and the Roman Empire relieved there wasn’t a revolution to deal with.

It was a full week for Jesus and his disciples that began with celebration and ended with tragedy and grief.

But then Sunday came! A new week started. A new hope began! Death could not hold him. The tomb could not contain him. The Christ who entered into Jerusalem in victory, provided the victory a week later. Up from the grace Christ arose! Hallelujah! We cannot have the resurrection without Holy Week. But Holy Week would simply be a tragedy and a meaningless death if we did not have the resurrection. Christ the Lord is risen today!

Have a blessed Holy Week!

Pastor Frank