A Holy Week Reflection
Holy Week is upon us in much of the Christian world this week, and it feels timely and important right now. Beginning with the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, we journey with Jesus and his disciples through the Last Supper on Holy Thursday, his arrest and abandonment by his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane, and his crucifixion on Good Friday.
The events of Jesus’ life and death invite us to face the reality of human betrayal and brokenness, of which there are abundant examples today. People in the world are suffering on many fronts. Like all wars, bombs dropped in Iran and Lebanon do not with precision strike only military targets. They destroy homes, apartment buildings, businesses, and schools where people reside and live. The innocent suffer. While countries around the globe work to secure borders and deport immigrants, scant attention is paid to providing refuge for people who are trying to escape places where the climate will no longer support basic agriculture or where violence is so endemic that fleeing is simply a decision you make when you want your family to stay alive. In our own country, working people with little to no financial margin are powerless to balance household budgets as food costs rise, gas prices escalate, and health care costs are strapped to a rocket that is lifting into the stratosphere. While government programs that benefit vulnerable people are carefully defunded, millionaires and billionaires receive tax breaks and our national debt will be increased by trillions by the next decade.
Jesus’ suffering and death is not simply for our personal sins, as many as there are. We have great need for forgiveness, which he offers in his redemptive death on the cross. This week we must also remember that Jesus came to usher in the kingdom of God. His ministry was to change lives individually, but he also came to offer us transformation that was collective and social. He began his ministry by stating,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set free those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19 NRSV)
His suffering and death, therefore, are not simply for our personal sins. It calls us to examine whether the vulnerable have their basic needs met. Jesus’ suffering calls us to see the suffering around us, in all of its forms, and then desire to offer works of compassion and justice to transform suffering into gladness.
We walk through the valley of Holy Thursday and Good Friday to remember that Jesus did not receive glad crowds on Palm Sunday and suddenly arise from the grave on Easter. As our creed states, he was “crucified, dead and resurrected.” Only those of fickle faith will forget these services or distract themselves with entertainment during Holy Week, thinking later, “oh yes, I forgot that was going on,” while others reverently gathered to hear scripture read about the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. The faithful attend these services because they offer us the opportunity to not only to see Jesus’ suffering, but to examine our own, and that of the world. We hear these sacred accounts to remind ourselves that the incarnation of Jesus Christ is not simply a lovely story of a babe in Bethlehem, but also the Lord of the universe who writhes on a cross in a pain that so many have felt in so many forms in the centuries since. Such remembrance calls us not only to right our own lives, but to work for justice and the relief of suffering of the people around us.
Just as there is no meaning to the death of Christ on Good Friday without the resurrection of our Lord on Easter, so the resurrection offers little meaning without the willingness of Christ to endure the pain of the world the week prior. When we follow the way of Christ, we do not simply find hope for everlasting life. We become willing to be people who call for the kingdom of God to come in our own time. We show up at rallies that call for change when we see injustice. We write and speak to political leaders to advocate for those whose voice is rarely heard. We work on behalf of any in our communities who need food, care, and relief. Like Jesus, we do not isolate ourselves in the safe havens of our homes. We go into the places where suffering is real, and we commit ourselves to care in ways that are active. And we examine our personal lives and ask ourselves how the love, sacrifice, and hope of the resurrection are exhibited in our words, actions and impact for others. When all of this happens, we realize that our worship during this essential week of the Christian year shapes our faith, our relationships, and our public witness as Christians today.