The Whole Week

Holy Week is bookended by two remarkable Sundays.  Yesterday was Palm Sunday when Jesus entered Jerusalem to great fanfare.  Yesterday, it was a day of victory.  Palm Sunday was Jesus’ out-and-out claim to be the promised Messiah.  Next Sunday we will celebrate the greatest victory ever - Jesus’ resurrection from the grave.  The temptation is that we can simply hop from one joyous Sunday to the next.  It’s a temptation we must avoid.

The space in between these two Sundays is what makes them so joyous and great.  Jesus didn’t just conquer death.  He first bore the sins and sorrow of the whole world.  We can’t get to Easter without Good Friday.  Without death there is no resurrection.  So as we go through Holy Week, make sure you stay connected to the whole week, not just the Sundays on either end.  A great way to do this is at our Maundy Thursday service.  Another is to spend some time reflecting on Christ’s love and passion on your own.  Having connected to Jesus’ death makes Easter even sweeter.