this Holiest of Weeks
Dear First Pres SLO Family,
Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus the Messiah, in whose steps we make our own journey to the Cross this week.
And so we come to the end of this Lenten season. Over the last weeks we have been looking inward, reflecting and repenting as we prepare our hearts for the joy of Easter. Some years Lent feels longer than others, and for me this one has gone on and on…
This final week—this Holy Week—is meant to rein us in and give us focus on the last days of Jesus’ earthly ministry. This next stretch of days calls us to confront our own distance from God, and also the lengths Jesus went to in order to bring us back. The final days of Holy Week have a rhythm to them—they have a relentless feeling of knowing what’s happening next, even if it brings us pain or discomfort.
Today is Spy Wednesday, a day when we remember the betrayal of Jesus by his friend Judas. “Spy” is another way of saying “ambush,” so it points to the sneaking around that led to Jesus being arrested and taken away. Today is a day for reflecting on the ways we can betray Jesus in our own lives. It’s not an easy day. It’s not meant to be.
Tomorrow is Maundy Thursday, a day that recalls Jesus’ last meal with his closest friends. Jesus washed their feet and said to them: “A new commandment I give to you, love one another.” In Latin, mandate is the word for “I command you,” and it comes down to us as “maundy.” Thursday is a day to be reminded that even as he was being betrayed, Jesus reminded us to love each other.
Good Friday is meant to be an ironic name. It’s “good” because it’s the day of the sacrifice that redeems all of creation back to God. But it’s also a day of pain and suffering and death for the one person in human history that didn’t deserve any of that. On Friday, take some time to reflect on the sacrifice Jesus offered so that we could live in shalom with God and with each other. Our Tenebrae service will be at 7pm.
Holy Saturday helps us remember the darkest day of the week—the one full day when Jesus lay dead in the tomb. Christians believe a wide range of things about what happened on that Saturday (Google the “Harrowing of Hell”), but the only truth we can wrap our heads around about that day is this: Jesus the Messiah was dead. Holy Saturday acknowledges the reality that we spend a lot of our lives in that Saturday place of loss or sadness or confusion about what God is doing.
I do like Campolo’s “It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming” but the Saturday between became important to me because it’s real. It acknowledges the reality that we spend a lot of our lives in that Saturday place of loss or sadness or confusion about what God is doing. The pause of Saturday is a gift to us, it’s God acknowledging or creating space that acknowledges the reality of our earthly existence. God could have raised Jesus the very next day, but he didn’t. That pause, that waiting, has sacred purpose. We’ll remember Holy Saturday together at 10am in the Sanctuary.
Easter will come, with the joy and feasting we’re all looking forward to. Easter will come, but until then, let me invite you to walk these next few days with purpose, remembering who God is, what God accomplishes in Jesus, and who we’re called to be in our own lives.
Blessings to you as we make our way through this Holiest of Weeks,
Pastor John