Holy Week at Restoration

I got to read the Passion Gospel three times on Sunday, at each of our three services. That’s a lot of verses. One of the things that struck me as I read them over and over was just how intentional and deliberate Jesus was at each step along the way to the cross. He was intentional in sharing the Last Supper and in washing the disciples’ feet. Intentional in going to the garden to pray. Intentional in the way he responded to Judas, to his sword-happy disciple, to Caiaphas and Pilate and the jeering crowd. Jesus wasn’t the helpless victim of an angry crowd or a jealous high priest or a cowardly governor. He willingly, deliberately, intentionally chose to walk the way of the cross.

Part of what I love about Holy Week is that it invites us also to intentionally walk alongside Jesus on the way of the cross. From Maundy Thursday all the way through to Easter Sunday, we take time to be with our Savior at each step of the way. There’s nothing new about the story, of course. But there’s always something new in our story — in the things we’ve experienced, the ways we’ve been challenged and grown in the year past. So I find that each year, as I walk through this week, God shows me something new about what Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection mean for me and for our world.

Will you join me this week on the way to the cross? I hope to see you at one or all of these special Holy Week services.

• Maundy Thursday
  • 7:30pm – Holy Eucharist and footwashing service*
• Good Friday
  • 12 – 3pm – Church open for prayer and reflection
  • 7:30pm – The Seven Last Words of Christ*
• Holy Saturday
  • 8:30pm – The Great Vigil of Easter – Baptisms, Holy Eucharist, and a great Resurrection Party!
• Easter Sunday
  • 9am, 11am, and 5pm – Holy Eucharist*

* – nursery care provided