The power of Holy Week
Many religions aren’t particularly concerned with history. As long as the philosophy and ethics of how to live a good life is maintained, the actual history of the origins of humanity, the religion, and its leaders is of secondary importance. Christianity is not one of those religions. The Christian faith makes powerful claims about how
God has intervened in human history, and those claims come to a climax in the days leading up to Easter. For 1700 years Christians have commemorated the actual events that took place on the last days of Jesus’ life, on the day of the week they happened, in their actual locations in Israel. This powerful week of remembrance, in preparation for Easter Sunday, is called Holy Week.
Holy Week dates back to the late 200’s AD. By the time Christianity was legalized under Constantine in the mid-fourth century, thousands of Christians would gather in Jerusalem for the week before Easter. The Bishop of Jerusalem, Cyril, would lead services at different parts of the city that corresponded to the location and day, in which they happened. They would read the Gospel accounts. People would touch the trees where
Jesus prayed. They would walk the stones where he suffered, and they would lament. It is documented that their cries could be heard across the city. After a Christian had walked these painful steps in the shadow of their Lord, their faith was deepened, and they would never forget the experience.
Similarly, Holy Week today is a church-wide reenactment of the last days of Jesus’ life, spread across a whole week. It has the added impact of having congregants and visitors participate in many of the activities that took place during those powerful days. We lift our palm branches, which was the national symbol of liberation for ancient Israel, and shout “Hosanna!” which means, ‘God save!’ We slowly walk through the stations of the cross, which include fourteen meditations on the intense suffering that Christ endured. And as we slow down and hear the accounts, one at a time, of Jesus being mocked, falsely judged guilty, and nailed to a cross, the words have time to sink deeply into our hearts. On Wednesday we discuss the desperation that led Judas to sell his rabbi to the bloodthirsty leaders. On Maundy Thursday we contemplate the gift that Christ gave us in the institution of Holy Communion, and we taste it in bread and wine. We also wash one another’s feet, and feel some of the knee bending humility of Christ, as well as some of the shame of having a friend wash our own feet (especially if you have ugly feet like mine). At the end of the service the altar is stripped, the décor is packed away, the building is left stark and exposed. This feels different than any other day of worship. It is moving toward tragedy. It feels like something awful might happen.
And then we begin fasting. Our bodies start to ache and complain, and we gather in the barren sanctuary for Good Friday. We pray for ourselves and the world including an extended time of confessing our divisions, our prejudices, our vices and the ways we have broken God’s world, and His people. We read some of the darkest prayers in the bible, like Psalm 22, and we read the passion narrative from
John chapter 19. We can’t help but to feel some of the weight of that day, long ago at Calvary. By the time we put our heads on our pillows on Friday night, we, a little like the first disciples, are exhausted. We are burdened. Our eyes are red from tears, and we need a day of rest. And on Holy Saturday, that is what we do. It is a day of preparation. We go to the dry cleaners (If we can find one) and press our best clothes. We buy gifts for the children. We bake a dish to bring to the church potluck. We get bells to ring, and buy champagne. We invite friends and family to celebrate with us, because Holy Week has been deep and difficult, but it has prepared us for a wonderful Easter morning. Together in the Journey, Father Cam Lemons
(Father Cam Lemons serves at St. Timothy’s Anglican Church. Service is at 9 a.m. on Sunday at 700 Hobson St. in Bishop. He also serves at Trinity Memorial Anglican Church in Lone Pine. The service there is at noon at 220 N. Lakeview Road. For more information, go to StTimothysBishop.com.)