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Tag: Holy Week

On A Tuesday

April 4, 2023 / / 0 Comments

The events of this week are powerful for those who live out their Christian faith. From Palm Sunday celebrations to seemingly business as usual until the special services on Thursday and Friday and then the big reveal on Easter morning, this week is filled with power and emotion. But it’s not just the big days that are important. There is something special about each of these days through the week that we call Holy Week.

Yesterday we dealt with having the case of the Mondays. And today we’ll move into that day often called Holy Tuesday. The word holy is a word designated for things set apart or different for a specific purpose. This Tuesday of Holy Week is a special one to be sure.

A few key things happened on this Tuesday of Holy Week that make it stand out from the other Tuesdays in life. First, we see Jesus on a trip which isn’t all that unusual. On the way he discusses what faith really means by killing a fig tree. I know it seems a bit odd to do this but the point was made in a bold fashion. The disciples, kind of like we are today, were a bit on the hard headed side and easily missed the often obvious!

So Jesus kills the fig tree for not bearing fruit and then tells the disciples that if they had faith they too could do similar things. The point wasn’t about killing a tree really. The key was faith. We say we have faith, but when it comes time to actually act on that faith there are often crickets! No action. Faith gives way to fear which gives way to freeze. But Jesus offers an alternative. Believe that the one who called you to do this is able to help you accomplish it.

But there’s more to this Holy Tuesday than a dead fig tree. Jesus makes his way to a mountain called Olivet. And here he gives a sermon that is often referred to as the Olivet Discourse. I know super original naming right?

Well on this mountain, Jesus starts to teach that things are going to change drastically over the next few days. He tells them he’s going to die. Then that he won’t be around anymore. Then that they will be in charge of keeping this movement going in his absence. This is really why he was teaching them about faith through the fig tree. He needed them to believe they were able to do what he was calling them to do.

Nestled in the middle of the Olivet Discourse is a section dealing with the end of the world. Insert ominous music in the background. Well the section dealing with the end is really a lesson on how the world will un-evolve when he’s gone. So Jesus is saying that he’s going to die and rise and ascend. But when he’s gone the world is going to be really hard. And increasingly so as we get further and further from His death and resurrection. The more time lapses between when Jesus was here the harder and more evil the world will become.

But there’s a glimmer of hope buried in that sermon. Not only will things get hard and we’ll really not like it at all while it’s happening, but when it runs its course he will come back. That’s the cool part of this whole week.

Jesus is hailed as King. Paraded through town. Then quickly abandoned for a more convenient prospect. Then killed and tossed outside the city to hopefully be forgotten. But his followers are supposed to carry this message just like he carried his cross. Until one day life will be so full of evil and death and wrong and sin that God will call it over. He’ll send Jesus back and collect what’s rightfully his. The rest will dealt with in what is called judgment.

So this week isn’t really about Jesus dying and rising as much as it is laying the foundation for something that is yet to come in the future for all of us. Holy Week is about Jesus coming back again to close the book on this sinful world and set us up in a place that is far better than anything we could ever imagine. And that’s what happened on a Tuesday.

Today In History

April 3, 2023 / / 0 Comments

This week is a week that Christians around the world celebrate as something we call Holy Week. It’s the week that we attribute to Jesus coming into Jerusalem where he is heralded as King. Then things turn drastically for the worse and by the end of the week he’s dead and buried. Pretty hard shift to say the least. But how did it all happen? And what happened between Sunday and Friday to bring this change in how people saw Jesus?

What exactly is Holy Monday anyway?

The Monday of Holy Week is called Holy Monday. Really not much holy about most Mondays so we’ll take it right! This day is called holy primarily because it falls during this week that in general is considered Jesus’ holy walk to the cross.

But did Jesus do anything special on this Monday to make it special?

The answer is a bit complicated. So we’ll give it a yes and a no. I get it that’s the cheater’s way out but stick with me here for a minute.

On the Monday of this Holy Week time period, Jesus entered the city and went straight to the temple. In the center of the town was a temple. And it was a lot like a small community of its own complete with worship center, tons of people and even the ability to buy and sell certain things.

Well, this particular day Jesus enters the temple area and is upset. He’s upset because the main thing in the temple was supposed to be worship and sacrifices to God. But that’s not the focus that day. The focus was on the buying and selling things.

Ok so Jesus didn’t really have a problem with the buying and selling either. From what many bible scholars and cultural history buffs tell us, you could buy and sell animals for sacrifice in certain parts of the extended temple complex. The issue Jesus had was essentially the currency conversion rate and the mark up placed on these goods.

You see in the temple you couldn’t just walk in with street money and expect to buy things. There was a temple currency of sorts that generally had to be obtained. So they had these currency conversion tables. The issue here however is the temple got to determine the conversion rate. So they could charge some people more for the conversion and others less depending on the person’s overall economic standing.

Then there is the mark up. The issue here is that when people came to buy an animal for the regular sacrifice, the temple sales people were marking up the cost of animals to make a little extra cash. It’s not really known if they were pocketing the money or storing at the temple or sending their families to Disney World. All that is known is that they were selling things are a far higher price than they should have. So Jesus enters the temple and tells them all to get lost until they can have the right heart.

Now when making money is your motivation for doing something. And when someone stops you from making money, you get a bit bent. This is what started to happen to some of the leaders when Jesus came in and turned over the tables and removed them from the temple.

So what we see on this Monday of Holy Week is the beginning of the end for Jesus. This is one reason why things turned so quickly for Jesus and shouts of praises on Palm Sunday turned to kill him by Friday.

The Table Is Set

April 1, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Today marks a pretty special day in the life of the church. It’s actually a pretty cool thing that happens on this day and we’ll talk more about it tonight in our worship service but here are a few things I thought would be helpful as you consider what this day is all about.

Maundy

Ok so for starters this is just a weird sounding word. We don’t use it any other time but so often we throw it around as if it’s normal or something. The word actually derives from the Anglo-French and means commandment. I know that’s not the normal focus of our Midweek Maundy Thursday worship but that’s where the word came from.

There actually was a command that was part of what we normally celebrate as the Maundy Thursday account. The command is to love one another as Jesus has loved them. The command isn’t about doing anything or performing some weird ritual. It’s about loving and serving one another and putting others before yourself. That’s the Jesus way!

Why did they all sit on one side of the table?

I know you’re probably not wondering this but I always find it odd that in every picture they’re all sitting behind the table as if for a photo op or something. But none of them are looking in the direction the camera would be! So obviously none of these pictures are real and they really in all likelihood sat around a table like most normal people do.

Why this night?

So there’s a lot of history and tradition and ritual in the timing of all of this. Jesus doing this on this particular night fits right in with the rest of the week. We talked about Palm Sunday and all of the cool hidden details in a previous post that you can read here. The idea is simple really. Jesus had to celebrate this meal with his disciples on this very night to fulfill everything the Old Testament points toward. There was a celebration in the Jewish calendar known as Passover which commemorated the plagues on Egypt and how God delivered his people by letting the angel of death pass-over the faithful. The way the angel would know whose house to pass-over was made clear by the sacrifice of a lamb in that house and the blood being on the door posts. This signified the people relying on God to deliver them.

Fast forward to this night and we see Jesus celebrating the Passover while he’s preparing to be the newer, better, fuller, forever-er sacrifice for all people not just the Israelite ones from the Old Testament.

Where’d he get the bread and wine?

Another cool thing that we might miss if we’re not paying attention is that while Jesus eats the Passover meal, he takes some of that meal as the elements for the new meal that he starts. So he takes the bread that was made for the Passover meal and consecrates it, sets it apart for what we call communion. He does the same thing with the wine. He takes a cup of wine, of which there were several in this meal to mark different attributes and actions of God. Then he blesses it and sets it apart as His very blood of a new covenant.

So when the Old Testament followers of God celebrated the Passover they had to kill a lamb to atone, bible word for pay for, their sins and their lack of faith. Now in the new Passover event, we don’t see the killing of many lambs but the self sacrifice of one lamb known as the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world.

How often should we do this whole bread and wine thing?

The simple answer is…yes. I know that’s not an answer to the question but really you should take it as often as it is offered. So if it’s offered once a year, then take it! If it’s once a month, then take it! If it’s every other week, take it! If it’s weekly, yep you got it – take it!

There is no set rule for how often a church should offer it. That’s left up to the context of each congregation. And no you will not lessen its meaning if you offer it weekly. No you won’t find it less special if you take it every week versus once a month. That’s ludicrous.

Who should take it?

Now this one is where the bus comes to a bit of a screeching halt for many. The church body to which I ascribe my doctrinal beliefs has a pretty solid teaching on this. The way we do this in the church I serve is I explain what communion is, and if you agree completely with the explanation I give and have had some teaching and instruction on it before that moment with a pastor (either me or someone else) then come on. If, however, you don’t think the same way, don’t believe it the same way, are confused by it, or don’t even think it’s important – then by all means don’t do it! This is a huge deal so don’t go at it willy-nilly. You have to understand what it’s about or you make a mockery of it and it will actually not benefit you at all.

So there you have it. A few little tidbits of info on what Maundy Thursday is all about, why we do it, and why you should too! If you have a church home then please set some time aside to go and worship tonight and this whole weekend (heck go every Sunday!) If you don’t have a church home, then we’d love to welcome you as our guests at Living Word Galena. And if you’re just not sure but want a little more, you’re welcome to check us out online first to listen along to see if what we teach and believe lines up with what you understand and believe.

Happy Holy Week!

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