HOLY WEEK DEVOTION
Holy Week is on the minds of many Christians as Spring arrives. The final days of Lent and we celebrate the Passion of Christ. Passion Week is when Christians remember Jesus’ journey to the cross, God’s sacrifice of His Son and His love for His people. Holy Week is considered the most Holy time of the church year, especially the three great days of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday.
Palm Sunday, Jesus triumphantly rides down from the Mount of Olives and enters Jerusalem. We rejoice with the crowds. They wave palms, shout ”Hosanna”, and celebrate His miracles. Jesus’ grace, power and mindset, courageously and humbly does it all for you and your family. Thank God for the gift He has sent. Monday, Jesus publicly confronts the teachers to cleanse the temple. Tuesday is Jesus’ last day of public teaching. He answers questions of the scribes and Pharisees and asks questions of His own. He speaks woes to their hypocrisy, prophesies the destruction of Jerusalem and His second coming. The disciples and Jesus travel to return to Bethany. Judas Iscariot goes to Jerusalem on Wednesday and contracts Jesus’ betrayal. Thursday afternoon, Jesus and the disciples make their last trip to Jerusalem. Jesus institutes the Sacrament of of the Altar and washes the feet of the disciples. They celebrate the Passover and pray together in the Garden of Gethsemane; Judas leaves to gather the soldiers, and Jesus is arrested at nightfall. Sunrise Friday, Jesus is convicted. Pontius Pilate hears the accusations, looks the to people for sympathy, but the crowd cries for Jesus’ crucifixion. He is hung from the cross and dies after noon. A member of the Jewish High Court courageously has orders to receive the body. Sunset on the first Good Friday, Jesus is laid to rest. We contemplate the price Jesus paid for our redemption. There is no greater sacrifice. On Holy Saturday, the disciples hid from soldiers and enemies, huddled behind closed doors. They were stunned by the crucifixion of their leader, Jesus.
The Pharisees sealed the tomb. The disciples and the women struggled to comprehend their friend’s death. The Angels, before sunup on Easter Sunday rolled the stone away from the tomb. Jesus is raised. The women find the empty tomb at dawn. Frightened, they visit with the angels and then find the disciples. Mary is visited by Jesus at the tomb. All the disciples, except Thomas, gather as He shows them His hands and feet and gives them the gift of the Holy Spirit. A week later, Jesus appears to them and Thomas. Forty days after Easter, with the disciples at the Mount of Olives, Jesus ascends into Heaven.
Holy Week is a wonderful time for Christian devotion. Jesus’ triumph over sin and death is the cause of our rejoicing. His purity becomes our purity. The church celebrates communicating the Holy faith from generation to generation. On Maundy Thursday, we celebrate the Lord’s supper,on Good Friday, we rejoice in the gift of the cleansing of the blood. On Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday, we celebrate the astounding miraculous resurrection of Jesus. He gave us a promise which is especially meaningful today. ”I am the Resurrection and life. Whoever believes in me, though he may die, shall live. Everyone who lives in me, shall never die.” (John 11:25-26)
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