By Jill Fandrich
April 13 marks the beginning of Holy Week, a week of great significance to Christians, commemorating the final days of Jesus’ life, his death, and his resurrection. My church, and most Christian churches, will hold special services this week leading up to the celebration of Easter next Sunday.
Holy Week is hard. I struggle with Lent, Holy Week, and the Easter story. Easter is the highest holy day in the Christian tradition, but I personally find it the hardest to grasp and even harder to explain to others. Holy Week is a complex, painful sequence of events leading up to a miraculous ending.
Christmas is easy. God came to earth as a human child to live among us and show us how to live and love. Pentecost is inspiring. God came to us as a spirit whose power is invisible. Jesus’ teachings, challenging and counter cultural as they are, are powerful lessons that we should love everyone, especially those who are hard to love. I can understand, appreciate, and celebrate these parts of the Christian story.
But Holy Week? This week relives the story of Jesus’ final days. It begins with Palm Sunday, which recounts Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. Jesus, who for most of his life was a wandering teacher and prophet, arrived in Jerusalem for Passover. The city was teaming with people there for this holy time.
According to plan, Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey. People shouted “Hosanna” (rough translation “save us”) and waved branches. Today we pass out palm fronds in remembrance of this procession. Theologians and historians interpret this story in several ways. Some, like Marcus Borg, suggest that Jesus’ mini-parade was a counter-procession to the Roman authorities who were entering the city through a different gate, riding grand horses and waving swords and banners. Borg opined that this was a political demonstration, drawing a distinction between Jesus and the Romans. Some think that the palm processional was a mockery, and that the crowds were jeering rather than cheering. Still others believe the crowds were sincere in their praise and enthusiasm.
The next few days bring more disturbing moments in Jesus’ final days. He entered the temples and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, raling at the religious authorities and demonstrating a level of anger and violence that we don’t usually associate with the “Prince of Peace.”
On “Maundy Thursday,” many churches, including Westminster, remember Jesus’ last meal with his disciples. “Maundy” is derived from the Latin word “mandamus”, meaning “commandment.” At the Last Supper, Jesus gave his disciples the commandment to “Love one another as I have loved you,” distilling Jesus’ teachings into one very simple, and very hard to follow, directive.
Also on this night, Jesus pointed to Judas as the disciple who would betray him, then spent the night praying alone in the Garden of Gethsemane, pleading to God to “take this cup from me.” He was then arrested, and brought before the civil and religious authorities.
On “Good Friday”, Jesus was tried and sentenced to death. He was crucified on a cross between two criminals. Many churches hold Good Friday services in darkness on this somber day. Catholic churches walk worshipers through the Stations of the Cross to remember the events of Jesus’ final hours. Saturday is a day for vigil; to mourn and observe Jesus’ time in the tomb.
Easter Sunday tells of the women arriving at Jesus’ tomb and finding it empty. An angel tells them, “He is not here; he has risen.” Death had no power over Jesus; he was still alive! His followers responded with joy, but also with confusion, fright, wonder, and disbelief, all things I feel too. But over time, they and I have come to understand that death is not final for us either, that God’s love endures forever, and that love triumphs. As the writer Ann Lamott puts it, “You can bury the truth, but you can’t keep it there.”
So, that’s what I’ve got-- an attempt by a simple Christian like me to explain the wondrous complexities of the Easter message. With all the egg hunts, chocolate rabbits, and new spring clothes, it’s easy to ignore the hard story—the strange sequence of events in which an itinerate carpenter was considered a threat to the political and religious leaders of his time and put to death. But God doesn’t die. Easter itself, the Day of Resurrection, brings hope to those who believe that God’s love is eternal and for everyone. For that that we say“Hallelujah!”
April 13 marks the beginning of Holy Week, a week of great significance to Christians, commemorating the final days of Jesus’ life, his death, and his resurrection. My church, and most Christian churches, will hold special services this week leading up to the celebration of Easter next Sunday.
Holy Week is hard. I struggle with Lent, Holy Week, and the Easter story. Easter is the highest holy day in the Christian tradition, but I personally find it the hardest to grasp and even harder to explain to others. Holy Week is a complex, painful sequence of events leading up to a miraculous ending.
Christmas is easy. God came to earth as a human child to live among us and show us how to live and love. Pentecost is inspiring. God came to us as a spirit whose power is invisible. Jesus’ teachings, challenging and counter cultural as they are, are powerful lessons that we should love everyone, especially those who are hard to love. I can understand, appreciate, and celebrate these parts of the Christian story.
But Holy Week? This week relives the story of Jesus’ final days. It begins with Palm Sunday, which recounts Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. Jesus, who for most of his life was a wandering teacher and prophet, arrived in Jerusalem for Passover. The city was teaming with people there for this holy time.
According to plan, Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey. People shouted “Hosanna” (rough translation “save us”) and waved branches. Today we pass out palm fronds in remembrance of this procession. Theologians and historians interpret this story in several ways. Some, like Marcus Borg, suggest that Jesus’ mini-parade was a counter-procession to the Roman authorities who were entering the city through a different gate, riding grand horses and waving swords and banners. Borg opined that this was a political demonstration, drawing a distinction between Jesus and the Romans. Some think that the palm processional was a mockery, and that the crowds were jeering rather than cheering. Still others believe the crowds were sincere in their praise and enthusiasm.
The next few days bring more disturbing moments in Jesus’ final days. He entered the temples and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, raling at the religious authorities and demonstrating a level of anger and violence that we don’t usually associate with the “Prince of Peace.”
On “Maundy Thursday,” many churches, including Westminster, remember Jesus’ last meal with his disciples. “Maundy” is derived from the Latin word “mandamus”, meaning “commandment.” At the Last Supper, Jesus gave his disciples the commandment to “Love one another as I have loved you,” distilling Jesus’ teachings into one very simple, and very hard to follow, directive.
Also on this night, Jesus pointed to Judas as the disciple who would betray him, then spent the night praying alone in the Garden of Gethsemane, pleading to God to “take this cup from me.” He was then arrested, and brought before the civil and religious authorities.
On “Good Friday”, Jesus was tried and sentenced to death. He was crucified on a cross between two criminals. Many churches hold Good Friday services in darkness on this somber day. Catholic churches walk worshipers through the Stations of the Cross to remember the events of Jesus’ final hours. Saturday is a day for vigil; to mourn and observe Jesus’ time in the tomb.
Easter Sunday tells of the women arriving at Jesus’ tomb and finding it empty. An angel tells them, “He is not here; he has risen.” Death had no power over Jesus; he was still alive! His followers responded with joy, but also with confusion, fright, wonder, and disbelief, all things I feel too. But over time, they and I have come to understand that death is not final for us either, that God’s love endures forever, and that love triumphs. As the writer Ann Lamott puts it, “You can bury the truth, but you can’t keep it there.”
So, that’s what I’ve got-- an attempt by a simple Christian like me to explain the wondrous complexities of the Easter message. With all the egg hunts, chocolate rabbits, and new spring clothes, it’s easy to ignore the hard story—the strange sequence of events in which an itinerate carpenter was considered a threat to the political and religious leaders of his time and put to death. But God doesn’t die. Easter itself, the Day of Resurrection, brings hope to those who believe that God’s love is eternal and for everyone. For that that we say“Hallelujah!”
RSS Feed