Tag Archives: Holy Week

Holy Week: Three Prayers of Jesus

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When Jesus taught his followers how to pray, he gave them a simple formula (such as in Matthew 6).  We often called this the Lord’s Prayer, but Model Prayer or even Disciples’ Prayer would be more descriptive.  Here are three prayers Jesus himself prayed during Holy Week.

The High Priestly Prayer (John 17) This entire chapter is a prayer spoken by Jesus that we call the High Priestly Prayer.  The writer of Hebrews goes to great lengths to detail the ways Jesus acts as our high priest, continuously going into God’s presence and making intercession on our behalf.  His prayer in John 17 casts Jesus in the role of High Priest, bridging the gap between man and God, between the unholy and Most Holy.  Jesus has only a few days left on earth at this point in the story, and is about to take his place at God’s right hand.  Jesus prayed for his followers of that day and all that would ever believe and follow in the future.  Jesus literally prayed to God for us. Continue reading →

Holy Week Review

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Palm Sunday is on April 1 this year, Easter will be April 8.  That final week of Lent is referred to as Holy Week, and should be a special time in the lives of believers.  Here are some Holy Week posts from years past; they may not be new, but are still good.

The “Triumphal” Entry is about Palm Sunday, the first day of Holy Week.  The same Jews shouting Hosanna at the beginning of the week will be shouting Crucify him by the end of the week.

Who Framed Jesus? was a documentary shown by Discovery 2 years ago, but the same thing happens on t.v. and magazine covers every year.  This post generated a frenzy of comments that are also a blast to read.

The Last Supper is about Jesus’ final Passover and the beginning of communion.  And on the same night he washed the disciples’ feet.

Is Jesus the Sheep, or the Shepherd?  This rather short post is one of the most read ever on The Master’s Table.

The Resurrection is the most celebrated event in Christianity, but here’s a thought: Jesus Died.  Jesus is God; have you ever thought that all the way through?

He Cannot Save Himself, the original post and He Cannot Save Himself, a poem for Good Friday.

It’s Friday, Sunday’s Coming  Sermon by S.M. Lockridge, with scenes from The Passion

And finally The Importance of the Resurrection.

What is Ash Wednesday?

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Re-posted from March 17, 2009.  The original title was Ash Wednesday, Lent, (and p.s. Mardi Gras)  The only change is the date in line 2.  

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday occurs 46 days before Easter, 40 days if you don’t count Sundays.  This year it fell on February 22nd.  This marks the beginning of Lent, a time of preparation for Holy Week.  At an Ash Wednesday service, part of the ceremony is placing ashes on the forehead as an outward symbol that you will be observing Lent.  During the 40 day period something is given up, anything typically important to the individual, and more time spent in prayer, worship and meditation.  Lent is about preparing ourselves spiritually to observe Holy Week, the days between Palm Sunday and Easter.

Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday is one week before Easter, and celebrates Jesus’ triumphal entry.  Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey to celebrate Passover.  The crowd shouted “Hosanna”, and waved palm branches.  Actual palm branches may be used in a Palm Sunday service, and those branches will be saved until next year, burned, and the ashes used during the Ash Wednesday service mentioned above.  The same Jews shouting “Hosanna” at Jesus’ entry would be shouting “Crucify him” just a few days later.

Good Friday

Continue reading →

It’s Friday; Sunday’s Coming

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Vocals are S.M. Lockridge, images from The Passion of the Christ

The Last Supper

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The banner at the top of this page is da Vinci’s portrait of the Last Supper.  Renaissance Christians knew that Jesus and his disciples were not white with brown hair and blue eyes.  They would not have been sitting in chairs at a table either.  Despite the cultural “anomalies” the most important things are still visible; Jesus broke bread and passed the cup.  That, after all, was the point.

This is Holy Week, the final days leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus.  On Easter Sunday we celebrate the resurrection, but these days between Palm Sunday and Good Friday are about remembering the last precious days that Jesus had with his closest followers.  This would be the last time they celebrated Passover together, and Jesus still had a lessor or two he wanted to share.  During the course of the meal, he gets up from the table and removed his outer robe.  He then ties a towel around his waist, kneels on the floor, and begins washing the disciples feet.  We know what happens to our own feet during the summer months, going about in sandals or flops.  Imagine wearing sandals everyday and walking everywhere you went.  He then asks if they understand why.  Jews did not wash feet; feet are unclean, both literally and religiously to the Jews.  He was their Master and Lord (and maker of heaven and earth) but he was humble like a servant.  If he then, he explains, is willing to wash their feet they should each be doing the same.  It is not a literal command to wash feet, but a lesson about humility and service to others.

Jesus broke bread to remind his followers that his body was broken.  The fruit of the vine in the cup reminds us that his blood was poured out.  He said that without taking part in his body and blood we had no part in him.  But if we receive the one he sends – the Holy Spirit – then we receive him.   And if we receive him, we receive the one who sent him – God the Father.  The Hebrews had been celebrating Passover since they were brought out of Egypt.  When the death angel saw the blood of the sacrifice it “passed over” that home, sparing the first born.  Jesus takes the elements of that meal, and gives them new meaning for his followers.  He is the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.  When God sees the blood of Jesus on our hearts, his judgement will pass over.

The “Triumphal” Entry

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Several well known statements are found in Psalm 118:1-25: “His steadfast love endures forever,” “this is the day the LORD hath made,” “the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and even others still.  Verse 25 reads “Save us, we pray, O LORD” in the ESV; “O LORD. we beseech thee, save us now!” in the King James.  The Hebrew word rendered in English as save now is hosanna.

All four Gospels tell the story of Jesus’s triumphal entry.  Palm Sunday is our celebration of Jesus entering Jerusalem for the last time to observe Passover with his disciples. Continue reading →

Ash Wednesday

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Today is Ash Wednesday.  Easter will be in 46 days.  I wrote a decent post last year (not my best ever) titled Ash Wednesday, Lent, and p.s. Mardi Gras.  It’s sort of a Christian Calendar for Dummies.  I’m satisfied to link that for now, and will have some new stuff up before Holy Week.

Final Thoughts on Holy Week

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jesus_crossThis year for Holy Week I pointed out that Jesus died.  We all know that he was crucified, and was raised to life again, but the real miracle here is that God died.

We asked the question Jesus, sheep or shepherd? That post will be my sermon for Easter Sunday.  I’m preaching twice in the morning.

Another thought was on Jesus’ prayer from the cross.  He didn’t pray just for his followers or his family, but he prayed the prayer of intercession for the people who were crucifying  him.  “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  This is the Christ that we are supposed to be like.

There are some older posts I thought about re-posting, but instead I will just link them here.  He Cannot Save Himself is a poem about the crucifixion.  It is based on the sermon I preached for Easter last year.  Feel free to copy and paste it, print it in your church bulletin, or read it outloud.

Other good topics for Holy Week are Jesus’ Examples: Washing Feet and Passover Becomes the Lord’s Supper.

Hindsight is 20/20

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hindsight-rear-view-future-past-road-mirrorHindsight is 20/20 means that anything you look back on is easier to understand that it was at the time.  We make decisions in the now, then sometimes realize later we acted too quickly, neglected certain facts, or else were simply uninformed.  Hindsight being 20/20, we would have done things differently if we could just have seen the big picture. Continue reading →

Holy Week

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How many people will sit in churches on Easter Sunday and listen to a good sermon about the crucifixion of Jesus?  Don’t get me wrong; if you’ve read my previous posts, it’s certainly a good thing to hear the crucifixion being preached in the pulpit of any church.  Not every church in America has that anymore, Easter Sunday or otherwise.  But most every Christian that celebrates Easter is also familar with Palm Sunday.  Nearly as many know about Good Friday.  This entire week between Palm Sunday and Easter is known in many traditions as Holy Week, but it is not celebrated by as many Christian worshipers as it once was.

Palm Sunday reenacts the triumpful entry, the day Jesus rode into Jeruselum to shouts of “Hosanna,” or in effect “Hallelujah!”  Many were expecting him to proclaim himself Messiah, take the throne, and begin his reign as the king of the Jews.  By the end of the week, many of those same Jews who cried Hosanna would cry out “Crucify him” before Pontius Pilate.  On the Christian calendar, each day of this week has a title and special significance.  It was during this week that Jesus shared what we now know as the last supper with his disciples.  He took the Passover meal, the rememberance of how the sacrifice lamb saved the Hebrews while in Egypt from God’s judgement, and gave it new meaning.  He told his followers to still break the bread and take the cup, but to do it in rememberance of him.  This was the week that he washed the disciples feet as a lesson of humility and servanthood.  And in the Garden of Geseminee he was betrayed by Judas Iscariot.  He was tried falsely by Pilate, and crucified on what we know as Good Friday.  All of these events before Easter Sunday, though leading up to that climax.

See, what I’m saying is that Easter isn’t about the crucifixion of Jesus.  Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.  Holy Week is the time to remember his last supper, lessons in the vineyard, final words to his followers, and the events of his death and burial.  Saturday is the time to be sad; it seems evil has triumphed, Death has been victorious, the disciples are scattered, and Mary is mourning the death of her son.  On Sunday, it all changes.  The captive of Death is set free, Jesus rises in newness of life, and hope is given that as Jesus is raised so shall those of us who die in Christ be raised.  Easter celebrates the resurrecting power of God, who made all things in the universe which obey Him.  Easter Sunday is about hope, life, redemption, reward, and in short all things being made new.  Many others before and after Jesus claimed to be the Messiah, but he is the only one sitting at the right hand of God who ever lives to make intercession.

I know why it happens.  Many marginal Christian believers will come to church that day who will not be back until either Christmas or perhaps next Easter.  The pressure is on to get the Gospel out while the chance is there.  But the rest of us need to remember that Easter is not about the end of life, but the beginning of resurrected life.  It is the time to celebrate, and it’s why we meet on Sunday and not the Old Testament Sabbath.  Be gloomy on Saturday, but don’t forget that joy comes in the morning.  (And if you know about sunrise service, joy comes very early in the morning.)