Just 6 short days to go and Holy Week 2019 will be upon us. Easter seems to be super late this year, yet it came upon me very quickly (if that makes any sense). January slogged but the rest of the year has zipped. Now, I find myself on the precipice of my favorite week of the year.
Holy Week is my favorite week, but it isn't a pleasant week or any easy week. It requires that I take a long look inside. Something I try to do more than just one week a year, but this week of weeks is special. It is the week we remember all that Jesus suffered on our behalf. It begins with a loud celebration, what seems to be a triumphal entry and the adoration of a myriad of souls. It ends with the true triumph, a quiet morning on a hillside where the most amazing and important event in the history of mankind took place.
The cross is important, it is integral to our salvation, but it is just a part. The saddest, more horrible event, but not the whole story. Don't get me wrong, the cross is VERY important, but Sunday, Easter is just as important. Without Easter, Good Friday and the cross are just another day and another death. It is the victory over death that seals salvation for those who believe. So, before His death and defeat of death who was Jesus?
A few years ago I started digging into the Jewishness of Jesus and what that means for me. What can I learn, how can I grow closer to my Savior by getting to know how He lived and the holidays or festivals He celebrated. Hanukkah and Passover have come to mean so much to me. My daughter and I celebrate Hanukkah each year and she and I (along with friends) also have a Passover Seder on Good Friday.
A quick recap- Passover is discussed in the Old Testament. The Jews were living in bondage in Egypt. God sent Moses (a Jew that was miraculously raised in Pharaoh's household) to talk to Pharaoh and get the Jews out of bondage. Pharaoh didn't want to lose all his workers so even with plague after plague the stubborn man kept refusing. Finally God said, "Enough is enough. It is time for My people to go claim the land I have for them." so God sent one more plague. The angel of death came down and killed the firstborn male of all households and animals. EXCEPT for houses that had sacrificial blood on the doors. Those houses he passed over and the males were saved. This great saddness and death finally convinced Pharaoh to let the Jews go. And go they did! It took a while (over 40 years to be more precise) but they finally made it to the land that would eventually come to be known as Israel.
Each year Jews around the globe (and a few of us Christians too) remember the events of the first Passover. My group does it with a Seder dinner (supposed to be at sundown, but being Baptists we do it a bit early in order to make it to the church service on time). Each item at the table has special meaning. The story of Passover is retold. Prayers are said and God's protection is remembered.
For me, it is a way to remember all that God does for us. He hears our prayers and releases us from bondage. It could be slavery like the Jews of Egypt. Or it could be an abusive relationship, depression, alcoholism, bad stewardship or any number of things. We are all in bondage to sin and that is what Holy Week is all about. That is what Good Friday is about, that is what Passover is. It is about how God releases us from bondage.
Our Seder is not 100% traditionally accurate and I'm ok with that. It is the Baptist Girl version and I think it honors our Lord. It connects us in a small way to Jesus, and when we connect in small ways to our Savior, to the Jesus we honor each holy week and hopefully each day of our lives, we grow that much closer to Him, which should be the goal for every Christian.
So, finally as we enter mid April Holy Week is coming! A week full of blog posts, but more importantly a week to commemorate, to remember and to celebrate all that our Savior is, what He suffered on our behalf and how magnificent that is for us. It is a time to humbly come before His throne with thanksgiving, to share our joy with family, friends, neighbors and co-workers. To grow closer to Him.
Holy Week is my favorite week, but it isn't a pleasant week or any easy week. It requires that I take a long look inside. Something I try to do more than just one week a year, but this week of weeks is special. It is the week we remember all that Jesus suffered on our behalf. It begins with a loud celebration, what seems to be a triumphal entry and the adoration of a myriad of souls. It ends with the true triumph, a quiet morning on a hillside where the most amazing and important event in the history of mankind took place.
The cross is important, it is integral to our salvation, but it is just a part. The saddest, more horrible event, but not the whole story. Don't get me wrong, the cross is VERY important, but Sunday, Easter is just as important. Without Easter, Good Friday and the cross are just another day and another death. It is the victory over death that seals salvation for those who believe. So, before His death and defeat of death who was Jesus?
A few years ago I started digging into the Jewishness of Jesus and what that means for me. What can I learn, how can I grow closer to my Savior by getting to know how He lived and the holidays or festivals He celebrated. Hanukkah and Passover have come to mean so much to me. My daughter and I celebrate Hanukkah each year and she and I (along with friends) also have a Passover Seder on Good Friday.
A quick recap- Passover is discussed in the Old Testament. The Jews were living in bondage in Egypt. God sent Moses (a Jew that was miraculously raised in Pharaoh's household) to talk to Pharaoh and get the Jews out of bondage. Pharaoh didn't want to lose all his workers so even with plague after plague the stubborn man kept refusing. Finally God said, "Enough is enough. It is time for My people to go claim the land I have for them." so God sent one more plague. The angel of death came down and killed the firstborn male of all households and animals. EXCEPT for houses that had sacrificial blood on the doors. Those houses he passed over and the males were saved. This great saddness and death finally convinced Pharaoh to let the Jews go. And go they did! It took a while (over 40 years to be more precise) but they finally made it to the land that would eventually come to be known as Israel.
Each year Jews around the globe (and a few of us Christians too) remember the events of the first Passover. My group does it with a Seder dinner (supposed to be at sundown, but being Baptists we do it a bit early in order to make it to the church service on time). Each item at the table has special meaning. The story of Passover is retold. Prayers are said and God's protection is remembered.
For me, it is a way to remember all that God does for us. He hears our prayers and releases us from bondage. It could be slavery like the Jews of Egypt. Or it could be an abusive relationship, depression, alcoholism, bad stewardship or any number of things. We are all in bondage to sin and that is what Holy Week is all about. That is what Good Friday is about, that is what Passover is. It is about how God releases us from bondage.
Our Seder is not 100% traditionally accurate and I'm ok with that. It is the Baptist Girl version and I think it honors our Lord. It connects us in a small way to Jesus, and when we connect in small ways to our Savior, to the Jesus we honor each holy week and hopefully each day of our lives, we grow that much closer to Him, which should be the goal for every Christian.
So, finally as we enter mid April Holy Week is coming! A week full of blog posts, but more importantly a week to commemorate, to remember and to celebrate all that our Savior is, what He suffered on our behalf and how magnificent that is for us. It is a time to humbly come before His throne with thanksgiving, to share our joy with family, friends, neighbors and co-workers. To grow closer to Him.
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