Holy Week. Passion Week. Paschal Week.
Chances are, you have heard the week between Palm Sunday and Easter referred to in at least one of these ways.
Holy – because the Holy Son of God entered Jerusalem hailed as a king, left it bearing a cross, and conquered it through death.
Passion – not for the passionate, pure love He held, not for the outburst of emotion that carried him into the city amidst waving palm branches, not for the angry mob’s passionate demand to “Crucify Him” – but, like Paschal, derived from the Greek verb pascho, to suffer.
This is a Holy week of suffering in the life of Christ. The timeline in the gospels lays out the week with greater detail than any other period of time in His earthly life. We know that Sunday was the triumphal entry, but that the people hailed him as what they wanted to see, not what He came to be. We know that Monday brought the cleansing of the temple, the cursing of the fig tree, and our Savior’s weeping over Jerusalem.
We know from the gospels as well that Tuesday he had verbal sparring with the Pharisees, as they tried to entrap the Holy Son of God in a trap made by man. We know he talked with his disciples about future events at the Mount of Olives, on his way back to Bethany. Jesus was already preparing them for the time beyond his crucifixion. Facing His greatest suffering, He thought of His beloved friends, He thought of the future church, He thought of us.
And today, on what is sometimes called Holy Wednesday, or Great Wednesday, or the Day of Silence, the gospels are silent. No record appears of exactly what Jesus was doing or saying on this day. Obviously it was a day of preparation. The Last Supper will be the next day. Jesus must have been making arrangements. Likewise, another one – Judas – was probably making arrangements with the Sanhedrin to negotiate Christ’s arrest.
Does it strike you that here in the very midst of the busiest week in the gospels, there is silence? Does it move your soul that preparations were being made for ultimate good, and for ultimate evil? That in the silent gospel record as Jesus moved to achieve our ultimate salvation, there is preparation via the schemes of man to try to take down the ministry of Christ, to stop it for once and for all?
This is a good day to stop and be silent. To be still and know that HE is God. To prepare our hearts and souls to celebrate the next four days. Join us, won’t you, as we meditate on the happenings in the life of Christ in the three days so far in Holy Week, and pray for God to speak to our hearts as we commemorate – yes, even celebrate – the coming days of suffering through which eternal triumph emerges:
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Zechariah 9:9
“And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, “it is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.”” Luke 19:45-46
“…the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up and said to him,”Tell us by what authority…or who it is that gave you this authority.”…”The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour…” “So they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said…” (Luke Chapter 20. Just read the whole chapter!)
Blessings as you seek Him!
Cara and Patti
Classic Christianity
Chances are, you have heard the week between Palm Sunday and Easter referred to in at least one of these ways.
Holy – because the Holy Son of God entered Jerusalem hailed as a king, left it bearing a cross, and conquered it through death.
Passion – not for the passionate, pure love He held, not for the outburst of emotion that carried him into the city amidst waving palm branches, not for the angry mob’s passionate demand to “Crucify Him” – but, like Paschal, derived from the Greek verb pascho, to suffer.
This is a Holy week of suffering in the life of Christ. The timeline in the gospels lays out the week with greater detail than any other period of time in His earthly life. We know that Sunday was the triumphal entry, but that the people hailed him as what they wanted to see, not what He came to be. We know that Monday brought the cleansing of the temple, the cursing of the fig tree, and our Savior’s weeping over Jerusalem.
We know from the gospels as well that Tuesday he had verbal sparring with the Pharisees, as they tried to entrap the Holy Son of God in a trap made by man. We know he talked with his disciples about future events at the Mount of Olives, on his way back to Bethany. Jesus was already preparing them for the time beyond his crucifixion. Facing His greatest suffering, He thought of His beloved friends, He thought of the future church, He thought of us.
And today, on what is sometimes called Holy Wednesday, or Great Wednesday, or the Day of Silence, the gospels are silent. No record appears of exactly what Jesus was doing or saying on this day. Obviously it was a day of preparation. The Last Supper will be the next day. Jesus must have been making arrangements. Likewise, another one – Judas – was probably making arrangements with the Sanhedrin to negotiate Christ’s arrest.
Does it strike you that here in the very midst of the busiest week in the gospels, there is silence? Does it move your soul that preparations were being made for ultimate good, and for ultimate evil? That in the silent gospel record as Jesus moved to achieve our ultimate salvation, there is preparation via the schemes of man to try to take down the ministry of Christ, to stop it for once and for all?
This is a good day to stop and be silent. To be still and know that HE is God. To prepare our hearts and souls to celebrate the next four days. Join us, won’t you, as we meditate on the happenings in the life of Christ in the three days so far in Holy Week, and pray for God to speak to our hearts as we commemorate – yes, even celebrate – the coming days of suffering through which eternal triumph emerges:
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Zechariah 9:9
“And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, “it is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.”” Luke 19:45-46
“…the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up and said to him,”Tell us by what authority…or who it is that gave you this authority.”…”The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour…” “So they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said…” (Luke Chapter 20. Just read the whole chapter!)
Blessings as you seek Him!
Cara and Patti
Classic Christianity
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