Holy Week. St. Augustine first called Maundy Thursday through Easter Sunday, “The Three Days”. Many faiths, including some Lutheran congregations host a lonnnggg Saturday evening worship called “Easter Vigil” where the service begins in darkness and ends in light with joyous song.
All of this is at the very heart of our Christian faith. I hope you can be with us in some way by your presence in worship or virtually online. You will notice, as always, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday have no benediction. One leads to another until both lead to Easter where worship concludes with a benediction. All three are part of a whole. We can’t tell one part of the story without the other. All together we might say it is THE Story. New life makes no sense if there had not first been death. Without death, new life is just optimism.
I can’t recall when I last preached at a Good Friday worship. I don’t think I have ever done so here. I’m not sure I did in my last congregation, either. In my second congregation I preached as one of seven Lutheran pastors (14 actually took part in the worship) during a noontime to 1:30pm all Lutheran worship, but did not preach for our own evening worship.
It is not that I was lazy or very busy with multiple Holy Week and Easter services. I had associates to share in these. It was instead the sense that no one is preacher enough to improve upon or expound the story that is Good Friday. It is the one service where Jesus needs to speak and we need to hear Jesus speak. We don’t need some other saying, “What Jesus meant was”; or “What Jesus intended was”; or “Here is how this touches us today.” The meanings are clear and strong and it has been, is and will be, a story that touches us.
“Father, forgive them”, “I thirst”, “Behold your mother”, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”, “Today you will be with me in Paradise”, “Into your hands, I commend my spirit!” “It is finished”. What could speak more plainly than these about the experience of Jesus on the cross? What could be improved or expounded on such speech?
Holy Week is full of images that are unpleasant, uncomfortable, and deadly. Some avoid it because of that, but in so doing, miss the very point of Holy Week. Such a trek through these days make the joy of Easter all the deeper and the gratitude and relief all the stronger. If Jesus chose to go through this, can you and I choose to go through a bit of sadness at the hearing of this story?
I invite you: Come be abandoned and betrayed with Jesus. Come be forsaken with Jesus. Come and hear how the one being put to death yet offers forgiveness to his executioners and to a thief. Come, hope and trust that forgiveness is for you as well. Come, experience the joy of Easter!