Holy Week

   We are at a critical point in the history of mankind, a crossroads of faith and culture.  And it is never more apparent than during Holy Week, the time between Palm Sunday and Easter.  Easter, just like Christmas, is being lost to an unbelieving world.  Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny are taking over and Christ is being pushed out.  Why? Faith! Or the loss of it.  We still claim to being a Christian Nation, but one that accepts the diversity of all cultures and religions.  The truth is we are becoming a faithless nation that has been distorted by the acceptable practice of calling belief intolerance. Diversity and acceptance in America did not involve the reduction of the Christian faith, yet here we are.  And Holy Week was God’s forecast of what is happening today.

   Throughout Christian history this week has been known as Holy Week, a week designed to focus our attention on the “passion,” or suffering, of Christ.  The story of Christ is the story of God Himself coming to earth in the form of a human being, a man named Jesus, living the perfect, sinless life and then willingly going to the cross in order to die for the sins of the world.  Not a story of the Easter bunny or egg hunts on the lawn.

   There are five days in this week that are set apart:  It begins with Palm Sunday, and then includes Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and then Easter Sunday.

   Palm Sunday – the Triumphant Entry.  The day that Jesus Christ is declared King.  All the people of Jerusalem welcomed Him in with cheers and palm branches to form a path to walk on.  We once proclaimed Christ as King also.  He was welcomed into our homes as well as our public places and schools and government buildings.  No one was ashamed to do so and everyone was sure even in the face of unbelievers.

   Maundy Thursday denotes when Jesus washed the disciples’ feet during what is known as the Last Supper on the night He was betrayed. The word “Maundy” is built off of the Latin word for “command”; when Jesus washed their feet, He said, “A new commandment I give you – love one another as I have loved you.”   Jesus humbled Himself to us as He still does.  He has left this world to our faith in Him.  Yet, just like the faith of Peter, we too will deny Him when the challenges come.  And as far as loving one another, we have a hard enough time loving other Christians let alone unbelievers. 

   Good Friday is the day we mark the anniversary of when Jesus was crucified.  What Jesus did for us, what His death accomplished on our behalf – that was good. Good because He took on our sins, and then hung in our place, paying the price for our sins so that we could be forgiven.    Anyone that is a Born Again Believer has accepted this “Good” from Jesus.  He did this for all, anyone who accepts the free gift receives His unconditional pardon.

   Holy Saturday, the day before Easter Sunday, marks the time of Jesus in the tomb. The time Jesus spent in Hell for us, for punishment of our sins.  Sins that we commit of our own free submission to our flesh.  Sins that we continue to commit daily because we are of the flesh but also sins that are becoming called acceptable to our society.  Every sin we allow to become the American standard, every time God is removed from our society; it is like Jesus is back in Hell again because we are saying what he did for us already wasn’t enough……

   And then, of course, comes Easter Sunday when we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. A day that so altered human history that we are still talking of it, and marking it, over 2,000 years later.  But how much significance has it lost to the world?  When this one instance of ultimate sacrifice has not been forgotten but is celebrated by millions who do not even believe, understand, know or even those that ridicule true believers. 

   Think again about the people over that one week in history.  They went from celebrating Christ as Lord to tossing Him out as a criminal.  Now think about the history of our nation, Jesus was once King and now He is on the verge – once again – of being called a criminal.  A criminal for the Truth He brings to our world, a criminal for being the only way to salvation.  And just like Peter, many believers are denying Him in these waning days.

   I am reminded of an essay I once had to write in High School, the assignment was title – “The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same”.  The Good News is – Jesus will return just like on the first Easter Sunday.  But this time He will come, not as a humble King, but as a powerful King to make His final declaration for His Kingdom.  And there will be no more doubt, no more lost or weak faith, but also more second chance…………