A reflection on the meaning of Holy Week

It was an earthshaking moment in history. No earthquake, regardless of the magnitude, moved the earth more drastically then that moment in history. It has been called “the hinge of history” by a variety of authors. Truly a cosmic event of the first order. It changed the literal course of history. The transforming power of a few days in the life of just one individual born to a virgin who was barely a teenager is breathtaking … especially when the realization is understood to be so personal, so intimate, so life changing.

From the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, to the confrontation in the Temple, to a small Upper Room, to long hours of prayer in a garden, to an arrest and trial, to a hill just outside the city, to a cross and nails and a hammer, to the agony of his death, to the sad burial in a borrowed tomb, to an empty tomb and the declaration of the angels … events that changed the world, upended agendas, transformed individuals and still remain a mystery to too many.

Within the course of three years, climax and summarized in one week, Jesus moves religion from a national understanding to a personal relationship. He moved it from rules and regulations to a note of grace and mercy. He moved it from restrictions and laws to an invitation to hope and promise. He moved from multiple sacrifices to one ultimate sacrifice … himself. He moved it from a faith for just a few to one wherein everyone in the entire world is embraced. It was truly a cosmic event.

And we still don’t get it!

We don’t get it as we think of our nation as God’s gift to the world. We don’t get it as we seek our political agendas. We don’t get it when we think that if we only had the repeating of the Lord’s Prayer in our schools everything would be okay. We don’t get it when we desire to restrict the freedom of others to worship as they desire because they happen to be Muslim and not Christians. We don’t get it when all we want to do is hang the 10-Commandments in our courtrooms without living out the reality of those commandments in our own lives. We don’t get it as we invoke the name of Jesus at our political gatherings and ask God to bless our nation without seeking the welfare of all of God’s people. We simply don’t get it!

When I see all of this religious posturing going on I kind of think of Yogi Berra, the famous catcher for the New York Yankees. It was the world series of baseball. Well, into the game, with the series tied, a batter comes to the plate, crosses himself and steps up to the plate to bat. Yogi asks for a time out. Stands up in front of the batter and symbolically rubs off the sign of the cross with his catchers mitt saying, “Let’s just let God watch the game!” So much of what involves our time and energy is of little importance to God and yet in dominates our days and wastes valuable time, as well as resources.

We are called into action – especially with the events of the final week called Holy. We are called to do things that we would not normally do. We are called to bear witness to the only one who can change lives. We are called to follow Christ even if it means a personal cross for ourselves. We are called … We are called to feed the hungry, cloth the naked, visit the sick, and take care of the homeless, widows and orphans, but we are not called to return neither our Christian faith nor our nation back into what the religious police of Jesus’ day were creating in Israel. We are called to be servant people. We are called to live out our days on the frontlines of the battle for the hearts and minds of all people.

We are called to be Kingdom people where Hallelujah is our song and life changes are the results.

Quote for today: It's a celebration of life over death. The whole message of Holy Week is the message of God to join him. ~Glenn Duffy