Holy Week

Holy Week has, over the years, become more and more special to me and my family. One of the reasons is that we practice a Messianic Passover Seder during the week. This meal, which Jesus took with his disciples the night before he was crucified, is a commemoration of God's deliverance of the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt through the last of the ten plagues--the death of the firstborn in the families who had not slaughtered the Passover lamb. (For the full story, including God's direction for this to be an annual ordinance to both remember the event and pass it on to the following generations, see Exodus 12.)

It also provides the framework for what Christians today celebrate as communion or the Lord's Supper. Jesus was using elements of the Passover meal--matzah (unleavened bread) and wine--to show us an even deeper meaning, that is, that Jesus body and blood would be broken and spilled as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. Jesus would become the Passover Lamb for us so that we might escape the judgment. It is amazing--and I don't use that word lightly; read on!--also how many points of the Passover Seder point to Jesus and to his gospel. Eating a Messianic Passover meal each year has given us greater appreciation for all that God has done, including giving us beautiful foreshadowing of his plan of redemption as well as a better understanding of communion and salvation itself.

(By the way, have you noticed how many images of the Lord's Supper, whether in picture or in dramas put on by churches, have leavened bread in them? I got an online offer the other day for PowerPoint images of Holy Week--with leavened bread! Don't people read the Bible? The alternate name for Passover is the Feast of Unleavened Bread! There are at least two issues here--first, the Israelites were in a hurry and would not have time for the dough to rise, and second, the yeast symbolizes sin in this context, and so the removal of yeast in the yearly commemoration should point believers to a fresh examination of their lives.)

Another part of Holy Week that has become important is the Good Friday service. While not as well attended as I would like, the people who come always seem to be deeply moved as we concentrate on the death of our Lord Jesus. (I can't tell you how many people have come up to me since Friday telling me that it was a truly moving service and the best they had ever been a part of; it was interesting that every year we get similar comments.) While we are not overly fancy on Good Friday, we do try to create a dark mood, emphasize the death of Jesus, and put worshipers in the place of the disciples as we partake of the Lord's Supper and as we walk through the events through Scripture, word, song, and simple drama. In other words, we want worshipers to leave the service sad and confused but convinced of God's love.

One way we try to accomplish this is through mood and lighting. We set a somber tone throughout on most years. We try to show the emotion of Jesus. We don't usually print a program so that people aren't as sure of what is next. We also make an effort to end the service in an abrupt way--at least not like the end of a usual service--so that worshipers are not quite sure if the service is over or not. This uncertainty, it is hoped, will help them feel in some sense like the disciples did after Jesus abrupt from turnaround--from entering Jerusalem to cries of "Hosanna" on Sunday, to delighting the crowd with his teaching on Tuesday, to being mocked, ridiculed, and crucified on Friday. We seek to do this to make Sunday all the more sweet!

In fact, we try to take the first few moments of the Resurrection Sunday service to recreate that mood--to remind worshipers what the disciples were feeling on Sunday before the news came to them and before Jesus appeared to them. Then we can truly experience the joy of the resurrection as we hear God's word and listen to words of triumph and sing with overflowing hearts about God raising his Son from the grave! Someone once told me that the word gospel in its original context does not simply mean good news but good news in the face of bad news. In other words, when a policeman is around, I suppose it is good news; when he shows up just as you are being robbed, that is really good news. It is good news to put to right a bad situation. That's what the gospel of Jesus is--good new of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection in the face of bad news--my sins that need to be forgiven!

Hallelujah! Christ is risen!

Christ is risen indeed!

I should close here, but I want to share the introduction to my message from yesterday, Resurrection Sunday (I know that most of you call it "Easter," but I have a good reason for not, and I may share that some day.) This introduction itself had nothing directly to do with the resurrection, but I used it to share a bit of the difficulty that pastors may have on special days like resurrection because of the way we use words. (Perhaps it might even make you stop and think about the words you use!)

Have you noticed how our world today is so given to hype and hyperbole? We can see it in advertising for TV series: “The most shocking episode ever” will be followed by, “The one episode this year you don’t want to miss.” Of course, that will be followed two weeks later by “The most intense episode ever.”

Did they get it from us—or did we get it from them? Have you noticed how many things in this day and age are “awesome”? I’m not quite sure how that differs from “totally awesome” or “amazing,” but terms like that thrown around today about the most mundane of subject.

“I love your shoes. They’re totally awesome!”
“We went shopping today. It was an awesome experience!”
“Oh, the game today was really amazing!”

One of my best friends has the gift of encouragement. That’s wonderful. But everything I do is “amazing.” It would not surprise me if I sneezed in his presence because we are in pollen season if he said, “Fred, that was an amazing sneeze!”

You may ask, “What’s the big deal? You know what they are talking about. It’s just the way language evolves in its usage. And your friend is just trying to be encouraging.”

Yes, I do understand that. But, since you ask, let me tell you the problem that can come from it. When everything is “totally awesome,” how do we describe something that is totally awesome?

The Bible says, “Our God is an awesome God.” That means, in the original, that he inspires awe. He takes our breath away when we consider him and all of his creation. It gives rise to deep thoughts of life and love and eternity and the nature of all things.

Today, it means he’s like a pair of new shoes.

When the Bible writers said that Jesus’ teaching was amazing, they meant that people were stunned by how this one with little formal education could bring the truths of God down to their level on a practical basis and show them what God was really like, a God not in love with ritual but with people. A God not concerned as much about outer appearances and with the heart.

When John Newton wrote that God’s grace is amazing, he meant he couldn’t believe God would save someone as wretched as himself, someone who had been a slave, got his freedom, and then turned around and traded others as slaves. Today, to say that Jesus’ teaching and God’s grace are amazing just communicates we think they’re cool.

Here’s my specific problem today: it’s my job to tell you the most totally awesome, the most amazing thing that has ever happened in history, and for you to really
understand that it is not hype nor hyperbole.

Well, that's it for now. Remember, he is still risen!