Do not weep for me. Weep for yourselves … if they do this to the green wood, what will happen to the dry wood.
A contractor we hired missed his deadline and thus didn’t get paid timely enough to meet his own commitments. Even though he knew I was unavailable, he tracked me down on Good Friday and pleaded desperately for payment.
The sacredness of the day, my religious obligation, the story of how silver coins wrought evil – all of that was new to him. Brought up in a free church casually, he planned to take his family to Easter service. But he didn’t know how Good Friday made Easter possible. I paid him and told him of the crucifixion.
Holy Week runs Palm Sunday through Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil and then the Feast of the Resurrection. This is the church’s first gospel. In his last week, Jesus faces everything from a hero’s welcome to a villain’s demise.
Jesus pitied those who wailed for him along the Way of Sorrows as he carried the cross. If his message of transformational love and collective servanthood was a threat to Rome, how much greater terror would insurrection and open revolt be for everyone!
This story continues to be contemporary, as the headlines show. The way of love, even at great sacrifice, remains the only true path of life.
We sing of the resurrection because we know that though injustice and wickedness cause profound suffering, they shall be overcome and death itself shall die. We’ve seen it in Jesus.
Come to the services of the Three Great Days and take in the whole story. Your Easter will truly come alive!
- 7 PM St. Paul – Maundy Thursday: Individual Absolution, Holy Communion and Stripping of the Altar
- 7 PM Faith – Good Friday: Service of Shadows and Adoration of the Cross
- 9 AM – Easter Breakfast & Egg Hunt
- 11 AM – Festival Holy Communion Service of the Resurrection.
Grace and peace,
Pr Russell Meyer