"By a perversion of justice he was taken away.
Who could have imagined his future?
For he was cut off
from the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people. ."
(Isaiah 53:8, NRSV)
In the 6th century before Christ's birth, an unknown Hebrew author wrote the words above while the people of Israel were in exile. Hundreds of years before the 'Man of Sorrows' mentioned throughout Isaiah Chapter 53 came to walk the earth, the prophetic image of one who would suffer for all, die to give life, and embody the will of the Lord God Almighty, was given to the people in exile.
This week we walk from the palm-strewn parade route at the city gate all the way to Golgotha, the Hill, the Place of the Skull. We follow Jesus through the festivities of his Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, to the welcome table of his Passover feast, along the darkened path to the garden to pray, into the hands of his captors, as a witness to his trial and sentencing, and stand before the cross as it bears our shame. Friends, it's a long walk. And we'll do it all in a week's time. Are you in? Grab your shoes.
I find myself moving through this week each year in a series of emotions. First there's relief that we're almost through Lent, which is a particularly challenging season for Christ's followers. I've had just about enough introspection for a whole year by the time Palm Sunday rolls around. Then, however, I experience some anxiety - there are several days at the beginning of this week that we can't account for Jesus' every move. The Gospels get pretty specific from the point of the Last Supper in that Upper Room on to Jesus' death, but what was he up to earlier in the week? I feel the need to somehow prepare for what's to come, but I remember, Jesus was already prepared in many ways, and didn't spend a lot of energy in those first days after his return to Jerusalem sweating the small stuff. As we approach the Passover feast, where Jesus washes his disciples' feet and institutes the sacrament of Communion, I begin to tear up. I feel the guilt and sorrow as the weight of my own sin is laid on this innocent man's shoulders. As we bid goodbye to the empty cross following Good Friday's service, I'll be a mess. How do we ever live up to the standard of self-sacrifice and holiness our Lord and Savior exemplified?
The good news is, we don't have to. And that's just the start of the story. In fact, in many ways, this whole 'Holy Week' is just the start of the story. The story explodes out of these events come Easter Sunday morning, with the stone rolled away and the empty tomb, to the witnesses reporting Christ on the loose, to the amazing accounts we have of Jesus resurrected and continuing to teach and lead his disciples, through the Great Commission, Ascension, Pentecost, and the spreading of the Word of Truth all the way through history to this very day. From the first Apostles all the way to you and me!
What a whirlwind of emotion we are in for this week. Will you ride this roller coaster with me? The line is not long, because most folks chicken out, and the price is just the cost of your whole life serving God and others. So, what do you say?
Are you in?
In Christ,
J.M.D.