Holy Week Reflections

Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9)









On Palm Sunday, Angie and I went to an Anglican Service, a “Baptist-lite” service, and came home and watched the Palm Sunday service from the Vatican. Each service was different in style, but the substance was all identical. Do you know what was identical? :The message of The Cross! That is what unites Anglicans, Baptists, Catholics, Pentecostals, Methodists, etc. That is why Peachtree City is able to have a community Good Friday service and have seven or eight different Christian pastors speak on the same topic. Jesus told Peter, “Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it”. Jesus did not say churches, He said Church. The different “styles” are fine, but when we all get under “one roof”, there is no reason we cant agree on substance. That substance is the standard itself, and we know it as the greatest selling book of all time and its author as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

As I take time this week to reflect on the events of Holy Week that took place in Jerusalem during the first Holy Week, I thought I would share them with you. It was Holy Week of 1997, when I first encountered the real substance of what it meant to re-live the events and substance of this momentous week in human history. I was raised in another denomination that did not choose at that time to participate in the memorial of this season, except for Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. I have noticed recently that the other denomination has changed somewhat in that regard; but I want to focus on what it was like for me that first Holy Week.

I was away from home on an airline trip on Good Friday. We had gotten to Indianapolis at about 11 AM, and I had time to find a nearby Church to attend Good Friday services. It just so happens there was an Episcopal Cathedral right next door to the hotel. I got over there just in time for the service. It was an extraordinary service and nothing like what I was expecting. The reflective nature of the service started a deep sense of awe and wonder in me, concerning the Lord’s passion that I had never experienced before. The service was over at around 1 PM. I held off eating lunch until the 9th hour (3 PM); the hour of the Lord’s death on the cross. I had a personal prayer service right there in that restaurant as I tried (in my human frailty) to think about what it must have felt like to be one of the disciples that day.

I got home from that trip on Holy Saturday and continued in that “reflective” sense of mind throughout the day; praying and reading the accounts of the Lord’s passion in the Gospels. So many new thoughts about the events of the “passion” began to become clearer in meaning. Then, came Easter Sunday. The ladies in the church had as usual done a magnificent job of decorating the Church for Easter. The music sounded like it was being sung by angels. The Holy Communion followed a familiar pattern, but something was wonderfully “richer” in meaning than ever before. The Holy Spirit’s presence was almost physically tangible. I couldn’t sing very well, because I was so busy wiping back tears of joy! What an awesome Easter it was, and still is each year. I regret that I missed so many years of experiencing this broader range of the Lord’s love and passion expressed in Holy Week. I thank Jesus for these deeper revelations of His glory in my life ever since.

It seems it took a while for me to “catch on” to the mystery and wonder of Holy Week. I think I know what the Lord would say to that. I was praying one day not long ago about such things. I apologized to the Lord for being a “slow learner”. I’m pretty sure I heard him say, “Its ok George, its better than being a NO learner”, besides now we have the rest of eternity to get to know each other better.


Blessings!
George