Holy Week – Palm Sunday to Easter and everything in between

We’re in the middle of Holy Week, that span of days from Palm Sunday to Easter.

Celebration

If we merely look at Sunday to Sunday, it appears we move from celebration to celebration. We can easily forget the work of Jesus between these two points.

Less familiar days

There were dark days, sobering days, which may be less familiar to us. These include Jesus’ last moments with His disciples, betrayal, an angry crowd, and death on the cross.

Unless we pause to consider what happened between celebrations as we know them, we may miss the contrast of what happened.

Holy Week

The week began with Jesus’ arrival on a donkey. Our Palm Sunday. A day of celebration.

Later that week Jesus had His last supper with His disciples, who may not have realized how he would be leaving them.

He would soon be crucified, Jesus’ death on the cross.

What happened in between

In our own lives, do we sometimes avoid the dark or hard places?

Do we forget or leave out what happened in between?

This season we’re in has included lots of difficult places.

What has your season of darkness looked like? Do you see signs of Jesus? Can you recognize signs of Jesus along the way?

Revisited

For fun I revisited some of the blog posts I wrote a year ago:

Did anybody notice? Look forward in a new way.

In the middle – where to focus in the midst of change

My life doesn’t look anything like it did a year ago. Is it better? Some of it. Do I miss what’s missing? Some of it. Can I see God’s hand in it? Some of it.

This process isn’t about looking back to see the good.

Perspective

I’m sure the disciples didn’t look back and see that the crucifixion was good. From their perspective.

God knew it was necessary. So much so that Old Testament prophesies foretold what would happen.

Jesus’ arrival on a donkey was foretold in Zechariah:

“This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

“Say to Daughter Zion,
    ‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
    and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”

“The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them.” Matthew 21:4-6

Prior to that, on the day of Jesus’ baptism, John the Baptist proclaimed:

“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’” John 1:29 NIV

Jesus had already been chosen as the sacrifice, the Lamb of God. He took the fall for us.

But to what end?

By his wounds

From the prophetic book of Isaiah:

“But he was pierced for our transgressions,
     he was crushed for our iniquities;
 the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
     and by his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5 NIV

By his wounds we are healed.

Healing

For our healing?

For eternal life in Jesus. If we believe, we receive Jesus.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 NIV

This past year has been a hard year. But knowing Jesus is still with us on this end gives us hope.

Hope

We approached last year full of hope. Easter was coming. We made plans for Easter Sunday.

Then all those plans went by the wayside. We didn’t see it coming. That everything would be so much different in the weeks ahead. In the year ahead.

And the disciples didn’t see it coming. They probably thought they had more time with Jesus.

And the people didn’t see it coming. They probably thought a real king was coming.

But God knew it was coming. And He was there through all of it.

God is there

So whether you jump from Palm Sunday to Easter or Christmas to Easter, God is there every step of the way.

From a baby to a king riding in on a donkey to the crucified Prince of Peace hanging on a cross to the resurrected king come to take away the sins of the world.

God with us

God saw it through. And He sees us and He walks with us through our dark days, Emmanuel which means God with us. And He leads us out of darkness into the light if we choose to follow Him there.

He leads us toward healing.

You have been healed

“’He himself bore our sins’ in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by his wounds you have been healed.’” 1 Peter 2:24 NIV

For our healing. That’s something to celebrate.