I am not a theologian, though I am a believer, even if sometimes I am a doubter. This Holy Week, whenever it comes in the spring calendar, leaves me smack dab as one of all three at the same time. The seven days bring a mixture of breathlessness, awe, and overwhelming joy. Think of times you consider what is coming at the end of a week. Here’s a list. At the end to have finished first grade or to have graduated from any educational goal you’ve worked toward. A wedding with all its plans to be an extra special occasion. A new baby will move from dream to reality .A move that will involve uprooting and resettling. A gathering of family and friends to memorialize the life of one no longer in that circle. Preparation aside, each of these bear the possibility of change lurking along the way.
From Genesis on through Christmas to the River Jordan and a peripatetic ministry, I struggle with the concept of fully God and fully man. Fully man – or human if you prefer – is difficult enough in dealing with daily demands whether it is organizing eating or dealing with quibbling members of a close group. To have a total knowledge of a better way and never say, “Because I told you so!” calls me to always consider the omission of an opportunity missed.
Follow that week that began with palm branches through the days which Jesus knew would unfold. The shouts sound good, but the affirmation won’t last. The misuse of the Temple provided no comfort. A walk out of town and the fig trees didn’t even get the season right. Maybe Martha did her best for a quiet place. Yet, He knew ahead that the right person would provide a room for a last supper together, facing the betrayal that began the process of a trial and the end of his human demands by the requirements of the heavenly gift.
My settling places are two. My church has a Thursday worship service that ends with the Christ Candle carried out of a dark chapel noting finality with each of the bearer’s steps. Even as I cook and prepare for a Sunday gathering, the time of finishing the week hasn’t come until that Candle triumphantly leads a choir processional back into an Easter worship service and the fully God’s words come true for all. The week ends as it began, “Hosanna! Hallelujah!”
“The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. 23 They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.”
Matthew 17 22-23
Let Me Tell Ya 