This year, the last week of March is also the last week of Lent. Holy Week is a commemoration that ends in celebration. Here’s some reading to accompany you each day this week.
Palm Sunday
From Morning to Night Hosanna-filled shouts from the crowd start the day. “O Lord, save us.” The same crowds that witnessed the dead being raised. Signs and wonders, palm branches and a donkey colt. Prophecy fulfilled, and glimpses of glory. Then prediction of a crucifixion. “The time has come.” The storm-tossed soul of a savior on mission, a savior with oil-anointed toes from the night before. From glory to glory, and darkness to light. Speaking fragrant words of eternal life. And speaking of fragrant, one final thought to ponder: Was the scent of perfume from the night before still in the air at the end of the day as Jesus prepared to wash his disciples’ feet? Love’s lingering aroma. From darkness to light, and morning to night.
Holy Monday
Holy Monday marks the beginning of Jesus’ last week of earthly God-with-us ministry. On Sunday he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, and on Monday he’s flipping over tables and chasing people out of the temple. If they didn’t know what Jesus was about until this point, they certainly learned after that.
The Lenten journey is usually marked by giving something up. A glimpse of sacrifice intended to point to Christ’s forty days of prayer and fasting before the ultimate sacrifice on the cross on our behalf.
L etting go of what hinders me
E ven if just for forty days.
N ew perspectives, and fresh reflection.
T o you and for you, Lord.
Holy Monday, the beginning of the end.
Holy Tuesday
We’re just a few days into Holy Week - the one week of the year we're supposed to be extra holy. I know, I know. That's not exactly how the holiness of God (or personal holiness) works.
Instead of trying to be extra holy on Holy Week, I’m taking this as a time to slow down, and quiet things down in my heart, soul, and mind. Be more purposeful in my pondering of the life and work of my friend, Jesus.
From water to wine,
the first glimpses of Jesus;
first glimpses of love.
Flipping tables, speaking truth:
This, my friends, is also love.
While he most certainly flipped tables, Jesus also spent his life sitting at tables with all kinds of people.
So which side of Jesus do we feel most comfortable with - the Jesus who flipped tables, or the Jesus who spent his life sitting at tables with all kinds of people?
Holy Wednesday
Betrayal and arrest, interrogations and denials, and rejection.
None of these things caught you by surprise.
None of this deterred you from the mission.
You knew what was in store for you.
Every single bit of it, Lord. You knew.
No going back to the way things were.
Not the world’s kind of king at all.
Born to die for scoffing enemies turned friends.
God embraces the paradox, friends. We should too.
Maundy Thursday
Thursday of Holy Week is referred to as Holy Thursday, or Maundy Thursday, and commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles.
My word nerd flows pretty freely most days, and Holy Week is no exception. So of course we're going to talk a little bit about maundy. It comes from the Latin word for command - mandatum.
A new commandment was shared on that day, the day before the first ever Good Friday so many years ago.
Along with a similar spelling, maundy kind of sounds like mundane, doesn't it? What does holiness have to do with the ordinary stuff of life, anyway?
I used to think that holy could only be found in the really big and glorious things I could do and be a part of for God. I'm learning there's holiness to be found in the being, not just doing.
Grief and sorrow aren't a rare experience in this life. They're part of our day to day ordinary, which means we can - and should - catch glimpses of holiness there, too.
“Where there is sorrow, there is holy ground.”
― Oscar Wilde
Maybe it's got something to do with Jesus' own words about how my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within me. I guess that's why holy ground is often found there, loving God and others in the midst of the mundane.
It's what Jesus modeled for us at the Last Supper - washing the feet of his friends before hosting a meal for them, even knowing one of those friends would betray him just a few hours later.
Grief and sorrow were there that night too. God with us in the midst of it. Jesus, the great paradigm-shifter about where holy ground is actually found.
There is holiness to be found in the mundane moments of life.
Good Friday
The whole earth went dark. Cries went unanswered. Silence is misread and misinterpreted as defeat.
He shared a meal with the one who betrayed him.
He washed the feet of those who didn't quite get what he was fully about.
He even washed the feet of the one he knew was betraying him.
This is radical love, friends. It's the kind of love Jesus has modeled perfectly for us, and it's what we've been called to as his people. This love changes things and people and life trajectories into eternity.
A radical love that waits in silent darkness.
Holy Saturday
“Come back and finish what you started.”
Words I could never say to you.
You came, you started, and Lord, what a finish.
But not before you were tortured and teased.
Authority from above leading the way,
as the king of the Jews carried his cross.
Eternal hunger and thirst fulfilled
as you gave up your spirit.
The knowledge of Sunday gets us through Saturday now,
but what about that Saturday so long ago?
A Saturday of waiting, and wondering what happened.
“Come back and finish what you started.”
And although my heart, soul, and mind
are sure of what you’ve done most days,
the Saturdays of my life
hide the light and dim what’s true.
And then I remember:
Words I thought I could never say to you
are welcome now as a prayer.
“Come back and finish what you started.”
Sunday isn't as sweet if we skip Saturday.
Easter Sunday
“She did not know it was Jesus.”
I’m struck by her ignorance.
How could Mary not know?
Someone she knew so well
was standing right in front of her.
Someone she
did life with,
was taught about life from,
and given new life through.
“I didn’t know.”
I’m struck by my own words
and how often I say them.
The ignorance I share with Mary.
“I didn’t know.”
How often has Jesus been
standing right in front of me,
and I didn’t know?
Couldn’t see.
Wouldn’t see.
Chose not to see.
“Mary.”
She sees.
Once she is called by name,
she is no longer blind.
And so it is with me.
I am called by name,
and my gaze is adjusted.
I am given eyes to see
and can no longer say,
“I didn’t know.”
Speaking of things I didn’t know, you can click here to read all about some other things I didn’t know about Easter Sunday.
Until next time,
Becky
Hoping to revisit this throughout the week to focus on each day you’ve outlined for Holy Week. Thank you 🙏