This week is Holy Week. Holy Week is the week leading up to Easter. It begins on Palm Sunday and marks the last week of the earthy life of Jesus. It includes the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, the cleansing of the temple, the last supper, the garden of Gethsemane, the betrayal and arrest, the trial, the interactions with Pilate and Herod, the scouring and other physical abuse, the carrying of the cross, the crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. It was quite a week.
Why is Holy Week So Holy?
It is rightly called Holy Week because it is all about holiness. Everything during this week was for the purpose of holiness. These events of this week mark the culmination of God's plan concerning all of humanity and creation. That desire and that plan are all about holiness.
Beginning with Adam and Eve, sin was introduced into God's creation. Sin corrupts, sin destroys, sin results in death, and sin separates humanity from a Holy God. The very introduction of sin into the world, by the very first human couple, God began a 4000-year plan to eradicate the impact of sin and restore holiness to the human race. In Genesis 3, there were prophecies and foreshadowing events that all pointed to Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Son of Man. Even more specifically, the whole plan of God came to a climax during the events of Holy Week, as Jesus was crucified, buried, and raised from the dead. This plan of God was how God desired to restore holiness to humanity.
This holiness is the greatest need for every human. Since sin separates us from God and culminates in death, and all of us have sinned, everyone needs God's answer for sin. Everyone needs to be restored to holiness. That comes only through Jesus, as He paid the penalty for our sin through His death and offers us victory over sin through His resurrection. Through faith in Jesus, our sins can be forgiven, and we can have His holiness credited to us. We are restored in our relationship with God because we stand before Him "clothed" with the holiness of Christ.
So, this week is most appropriately called Holy Week. It is the week in which God's plan for humanity's holiness culminates, and the purpose for the events of this week are that we might be made holy. It is truly a Holy Week.
But what about next week? And the next? And the other 51 weeks of every year? Those should be holy weeks as well. In a sense they are, as we live in the holiness of Christ, imputed to us. But we should also live out this victory over sin in our daily lives. Holy Week is not only about the penalty of sin paid for us, so we don't have to suffer the eternal consequences of our sin, but it is also for the purpose of our lives in daily victory over sin. Through Jesus, God has worked His holiness into us. As we walk in surrender to Him, we can work that holiness in our daily lives so that every week can be a more holy week.
As Lent commences on Ash Wednesday, we are entering a time of introspection and prayer leading to Easter. Let us reflect on the significance of death preceding resurrection, urging readers to embrace a daily practice of surrendering self in preparation for our spiritual transformation.