Holy Week marks the most pivotal moments in the Christian faith, but how often do we rush to get to Easter morning? In this thoughtful 7-minute reflection, Terri invites listeners to slow down and experience the complete journey.
Drawing from personal experiences of bringing her young children to Good Friday services, Terri illustrates how encountering the darkness and solemnity of Christ's death creates a deeper appreciation for Easter's resurrection joy. She explores how each moment of Holy Week—from Palm Sunday's "Hosannas" to the confusion of the Last Supper to the waiting of Holy Saturday—enriches our faith journey.
Terri reminds us that Jesus brought a countercultural message of unconditional love to a world focused on who's in and who's out—a message that continues to challenge and transform us today. This brief but meaningful episode offers listeners permission to sit with difficult questions and emotions, knowing that Easter's promise awaits.
Perfect for personal reflection or sharing with your congregation as Holy Week approaches.
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Holy Week is a pivotal week in the life of the Christian faith. It's a week we move from Hosannas to it is finished to He is risen. It's a week we encounter the highs and lows of Christ's last week on earth. It's the week that illuminates the brokenness that exists in our world and the ways that systems dismiss the needs of neighbors as they over- and under-use their power.
It's a week that exposes our vulnerability, both as humans and as followers of Jesus. So this week, we move from cheering Jesus on as he enters Jerusalem to sitting with him at a table where he eats his last meal with his disciples. Each of these moments has significant meaning in our lives as people of faith. So let's slow down.
Let's soak in these moments. all of them. The hard moments when we're reminded of our own brokenness and vulnerability. The moments when our fears surface and it feels like it's going to overwhelm us. The moments where we question our own faith and wonder if we might have been the one who would have betrayed Jesus. The moments of confusion when Jesus says that he's going to be the one to die in order that we might live. The moments of promise when we hear that indeed Jesus is the new covenant and that we are going to live a new life. The holy Saturday moments of waiting, of living in between what was and what will be. Soak them all in.
Let your heart and your mind and your body experience each of these moments this Holy Week. When our children were young, they had Good Friday off from school. So each year I would bring them to the noon Good Friday service. And as you might imagine, it was a somber service that grew darker with each reading or song.
Terri Elton (:
And as we went through the service, the kids would sit close and they'd look around and they'd listen. And then as we closed the service, the leaders would start stripping the altar. And one by one, they'd walk out the candles and the paramounts. And then they would lift up the big worship Bible and they would slam it shut. And the sanctuary would go dark and we would walk out in total darkness and silence. It may seem like an odd service to bring kids to, yet I knew that they wouldn't understand Easter unless they also encountered Jesus' death. It is part of the story, and we can't ignore it or avoid it or rush through it. My kids learned about Good Friday through the darkness in the room, the somber tone of the reading, the clearing of the altar, and of course the slamming of the Bible. Year after year, we'd return. And over time, Easter became a bit more meaningful because we'd spent time at the foot of the cross. The fact is, Jesus, God in the flesh, came to earth and we killed him.
He walked around teaching and healing, proclaiming the good news that we are all God's beloved, saved by grace and invited into eternal life with God. And we, both as humans and as human systems, rejected him and killed him. God took on flesh and lived among us, and we didn't recognize him or accept Jesus' message of what it was to live abundantly, of loving God and our neighbor. The people Jesus encountered didn't know what to do with God's unconditional love. And the truth be told, we struggle to understand this amazing gift and promise as well. So people of faith, the gospel is a countercultural message of welcome, of acceptance, belonging, proclaimed in a world looking for easy fixes, right and wrong answers, and declarations of who's in and who's out. It is a word of hope, and it's given to people in despair. It's a lifeline to people struggling to find their way, and it's freedom to all of us who experience bondage.
This gospel that we confess is foreign to our world. It is strange to people who don't know God, and it's full of paradox for those of us who do. So take your time getting to Easter this Holy Week. Dwell in the story. Dwell in the questions and the pain and the mystery. And remember that the new life that we celebrate at Easter is a promise for us and all who know.
