Holy Week ‘24

Monday: Endurance! 

Jesus endured The Way so that we might be strengthened to do the same. Lord have mercy.

Tuesday: Denial!

We’re all accustomed to it, especially when the solution is in our midst. Fear leads to denial, so “be strong and steadfast; have no fear or dread of them, for it is the LORD, your God, who marches with you; he will never fail you or forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6)

Wednesday: Control!

On this day Judas asked, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” (Matthew 26:15) 

In the portrayal of Judas’ betrayal of Christ it would seem that Judas had “the best of intentions” to move things forward, but in a direction of his choosing and for his own gain. On this day of Holy Week we should ask ourselves the toughest of all questions: Am in this for me and my own plan to move things forward (ultimately for my own immediate gain) or am I willing to simply follow, wait and trust?

Don’t be too quick to say, “Surely it is not I…” 

Sit with the challenge for the day, for there seems to be a precedent in our world that we want things the way we want them, and we want them now… And ultimately, we only want the outcome that suits our own preferences.

If this stings a little, I understand!

Holy Thursday: Take!

“I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.” (John 13:15)

Jesus’ ‘Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity’ is given to us on this day so that death might pass over us… Lord, may we take it and share it, and therefore be it for one another. Amen!

Good Friday: Receive!

“It is finished.” And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.” (John 19:30)

Like Christ gives us his Body fully and completely, he also hands us “the spirit!” That which feeds us also empowers us! The Cross, seemingly an instrument of death, becomes the giver of life… For Jesus “came so that [we] might have life and have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) and “God so loved the world that he gave his only son.” (John 3:16)

Please know that this is done for you… Receive!

“Jesus’s violent death stands in front of us as an impossibility. How can the savior die? And, really, how can the ugliness of death visit each of us? The feeling is one of horror. Allow yourself to think about the horror of it for a moment without turning away. This is what we do during Holy Week: we do not flinch from the truth.”  (Kate Bowlers Daily Reflection Day 39 - Good Friday)

Holy Saturday: Wait!

Lord, may I also keep vigil with You as You sleep. I know that this day ends with Your glorious triumph, Your victory over sin and death. But for now I sit quietly mourning Your death. Help me, dear Lord, to enter into the sorrow and the silence of this Holy Saturday.