Thoughts for Holy Week

This is one of the most sacred of weeks in the Christian calendar - a week in which we at least pause, if not come to a complete stop, and remember the suffering and death of our Savior.  And, for our Jewish friends, Saturday will make the first day of Pesach or Passover - a time of remembrance of God's miraculous sparing of their lives moments before they left the slavery of Egypt behind; yet remembering also the sacrifice of an innocent lamb whose blood was applied to the door frames of homes, thus sparing them from the ravages of death.  Jesus Christ was the ultimate sacrifice - as we hear those words from John the Baptist: "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" 


I know that there are a lot of news stories I could cover this week - and they are important stories that impact our lives.  But I want to focus our thoughts for a few moments on Holy Week.  Perhaps it is because I had the privilege Sunday of preaching the "Servant Songs" in Isaiah that I am conscious of the events in those final days and hours of Christ's life. 


The physical suffering of Jesus almost overwhelms our souls.  No other person has suffered as did Jesus.  His was a violent death that came as a consequence of hatred being poured out upon Him.  The Jewish leadership truly hated Jesus.  They hated His person.  They hated His actions.  They hated His words.  So, when Jesus surrendered to their authority, that hatred was heaped upon Jesus.  Isaiah portrays that hatred with these words: "I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting" (Isaiah 50:6).  And that was just the beginning.  The Gospel writers tell us that Pilate had Jesus flogged - an act of violence that often led to death.  A whip with pieces of glass and iron and stone was lashed across the back, but often the thongs would wrap around a person's chest and waist.  The glass pieces would cut deeply tearing away the flesh, often exposing the deep muscular structure and even internal organs.  Friend, the miracle was that Jesus survived that flogging. 


Suffering from acute blood loss and dehydration, Jesus was forced to carry the cross-beam to the place of execution.  His physical strength was nearing the point of complete exhaustion.  Jesus stumbled and fell and so another was commanded to carry the cross piece for Him.  Arriving at Golgatha, the hands and feet of Jesus was nailed to the cross - the Romans doing it in such a manner to create the most excruciating pain imaginable.  And then the cross was hoisted into place, dropping with a thud into the hole.  When that occurred the shoulders separated creating even more pain. 


Friends, Isaiah states something about the appearance of Jesus upon the cross that staggers us: "Just as many were appalled (a better translation of this word is "shocked") at him - his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness" (Isaiah 52:14).  Did you grasp the magnitude of Isaiah's words?  As Jesus hung upon that cross He was barely recognizable as being a human.  Hatred had done its awful work!  The body of Jesus was ravaged in a way no other person ever has been. 


And then there was the emotional pain.  The voices spewing hatred continued almost unabated.  The leaders were not satisfied with a horrific death.  No, they heaped words of hate upon Jesus as well.  And finally there was the spiritual pain.  Darkness enveloped that scene of death and we hear those anguished words of Jesus, "My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?"  It was for that very moment that Jesus had come to this earth.  It was for that very moment that Jesus had committed Himself before the foundations of the world were laid.  It was at that moment Jesus became "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."  All the hatred, all the evil that this world could create was placed upon the shoulders of one whose physical strength and emotional strength were nearing an end.  Yet the spiritual strength, although wavering, held strong.  Satan had accomplished his work.  Yet, listen to those final words of Jesus: "It is finished!"  This is not the cry of defeat; it is the cry of victory.  With that cry it is almost as if Jesus is anticipating the coming resurrection, the coming glory that would be His.


Friends, I challenged my congregation last Sunday to take some quiet time this week and reread Isaiah 53.  Picture afresh in your mind the cross and Christ's sacrifice.  Remember that He died for you.  He took your place.  It is then that we can sing "Hallelujah, What a Savior!" 


I wish my Jewish friends a Passover filled with the joys of family.  May your Seder be blessed by God.  And I wish everyone else a happy Easter as we celebrate the foundation for our faith - the empty tomb.  "He is risen!  He is risen indeed!"