I love Holy Week, starting with Palm Sunday and leading to Easter/Resurrection Day. It's just a great reminder of what we're all about as Christians and how God loves us so. We get to live out Jesus' last week/resurrection in the same span of time as it happened. Some churches have a service everyday, going through every step that he took that important week. While I haven't been able to do that at school, I have gotten to do some of it.
The favorite event I've gone to this year was the Passover Seder that a fellow student put on for a few friends. It was such a celebration.We got to eat lots of good food traditionally eaten at Passover, like gefilte fish, lamb, an apple cinnamon mix, matza balls, and lots and lots of matza bread. No, most of us were not Jewish, so no, our ancestors were not enslaved in Egypt, but to experience a meal that Jesus experienced every year and to discover how he even fulfilled it was very interesting and fun(...and I'm a sucker for the aforementioned food).
Our meal was a little different than the traditional one, because there were a few things Christians see in it differently than Jews and a few things that Jesus did that we commemorated along with regular Haggadah. For instance, there are four cups that you drink at passover. Two before the meal and two after. We drank all four, but apparently Jesus didn't drink the last one, because he fulfilled it. Also, in the middle of the Seder, Jesus washed his disciples' feet, so we did the same.
The most important connection for Christians to Passover, however, is not what Jesus did during Passover, but how he fulfilled it. I've only mentioned its significance in passing so far, so here's an overview of what Passover is supposed to commemorate. Passover celebrates the angel of God passing over the people of Israel in the last plague of Egypt and the Israelites' exodus from Egypt. God had been ramping up the plagues, but when it was certain that the king would 'let my people go', God decided to make this final blow(which by the way, could have been avoided if the king would have let the Israelites go at that moment). So then, the angel of God was sent to kill all of the firstborn sons living in Egypt, from livestock to the king's son. In order to save themselves from having their firstborn die, the Israelites were instructed to take a spotless lamb and wipe its blood on their doorposts. Its blood saved them from destruction, because it marked them as followers of God, and because its blood covered them. Christians say that this is a foreshadowing of Christ. He was a perfect man, like a perfect lamb. And he was sent to save the world from the destruction we deserve. He died like a sacrifice, and his blood covered our sins. So that's our connection to passover.
Today is Good Friday, arguably the saddest day of the whole week, when we remember that death; this is the day that Jesus was crucified. It was a day of sorrow and pain and confusion. But we have an advantage today that his followers didn't then: we understand the why and how it doesn't end here. Even though he told his disciples all of what would happen to him before coming to Jerusalem that last time, they couldn't and wouldn't understand it. But thanks be to God that Jesus went through with it. That he gave himself to be punished and killed as a criminal. Because without that, our sins would not be covered. But with it, everyone can be right with God.
So now after following his footsteps this far, I'm looking forward to celebrating Jesus' resurrection on Sunday! The resurrection is like the icing on the cake. Death couldn't hold him- because he was more than a perfect man- he was God himself! So this is why I love Holy Week: it's a tangible reminder of the gospel.
"For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him[Jesus], and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation..." Colossians 1:19-22
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God!
The favorite event I've gone to this year was the Passover Seder that a fellow student put on for a few friends. It was such a celebration.We got to eat lots of good food traditionally eaten at Passover, like gefilte fish, lamb, an apple cinnamon mix, matza balls, and lots and lots of matza bread. No, most of us were not Jewish, so no, our ancestors were not enslaved in Egypt, but to experience a meal that Jesus experienced every year and to discover how he even fulfilled it was very interesting and fun(...and I'm a sucker for the aforementioned food).
Our meal was a little different than the traditional one, because there were a few things Christians see in it differently than Jews and a few things that Jesus did that we commemorated along with regular Haggadah. For instance, there are four cups that you drink at passover. Two before the meal and two after. We drank all four, but apparently Jesus didn't drink the last one, because he fulfilled it. Also, in the middle of the Seder, Jesus washed his disciples' feet, so we did the same.
The most important connection for Christians to Passover, however, is not what Jesus did during Passover, but how he fulfilled it. I've only mentioned its significance in passing so far, so here's an overview of what Passover is supposed to commemorate. Passover celebrates the angel of God passing over the people of Israel in the last plague of Egypt and the Israelites' exodus from Egypt. God had been ramping up the plagues, but when it was certain that the king would 'let my people go', God decided to make this final blow(which by the way, could have been avoided if the king would have let the Israelites go at that moment). So then, the angel of God was sent to kill all of the firstborn sons living in Egypt, from livestock to the king's son. In order to save themselves from having their firstborn die, the Israelites were instructed to take a spotless lamb and wipe its blood on their doorposts. Its blood saved them from destruction, because it marked them as followers of God, and because its blood covered them. Christians say that this is a foreshadowing of Christ. He was a perfect man, like a perfect lamb. And he was sent to save the world from the destruction we deserve. He died like a sacrifice, and his blood covered our sins. So that's our connection to passover.
Today is Good Friday, arguably the saddest day of the whole week, when we remember that death; this is the day that Jesus was crucified. It was a day of sorrow and pain and confusion. But we have an advantage today that his followers didn't then: we understand the why and how it doesn't end here. Even though he told his disciples all of what would happen to him before coming to Jerusalem that last time, they couldn't and wouldn't understand it. But thanks be to God that Jesus went through with it. That he gave himself to be punished and killed as a criminal. Because without that, our sins would not be covered. But with it, everyone can be right with God.
So now after following his footsteps this far, I'm looking forward to celebrating Jesus' resurrection on Sunday! The resurrection is like the icing on the cake. Death couldn't hold him- because he was more than a perfect man- he was God himself! So this is why I love Holy Week: it's a tangible reminder of the gospel.
"For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him[Jesus], and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation..." Colossians 1:19-22
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God!
Comments
Post a Comment