Thought for this Holy Week
“It is important to place the hope of the Resurrection, the promise of newness and life, against the background of death and endings. It is only in walking through the shadows and darkness of Holy Week and Good Friday, only in realizing the horror and magnitude of sin and its consequences in the world incarnated in the dying Jesus on the cross, only in contemplating the ending and despair that the disciples felt on Holy Saturday, that we can truly understand the light and hope of (Easter) Sunday morning!”
“The Days of Holy Week” – Dennis Bratcher
If you visit Machu Picchu on a pilgrimage, the guide will take you on the Inca Trail and for four days you will climb the Andes mountains up miles and miles of rock stairs, through thick trees and the rain forest. The journey only takes six hours if you take the trail along the river but the emperor knew that the more painful the journey, the more the traveler would appreciate the city, once he got there.
During this Holy Week, ask God to help you sense the agonizing journey of Jesus’ last week on earth and the enormity of His sacrifice for us. Take the “four day” instead of the “six hour” journey. Then you will much more appreciate Easter (Resurrection) Sunday. As Apostle Paul said, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection…” Philippians 3:10 (NIV)
Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). Here they crucified him, ….When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:16-18,30 (NIV)
“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.
Matthew 28:7 (NIV)
Sherrie
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.
It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. (2 Timothy 3:16-NLT)
