holy week - jupiterfirst church · and, this can be life-giving to you and yours during this...

at homeH O L Y W E E K

“Listen to me carefully. We’re on our way up to Jerusalem.

When we get there, the Son of Man will be betrayed...”

JESUSM A R K 1 0 : 3 3

We are living in an unprecedented time.

There is no script for how to handle the excruciating distance that separates us.

Try as we might to salve our souls with baking, surfing, and zooming, it only seems to serve to keep our heads just above water in a crushing ocean of emotion that threatens to drown us under its weight at any moment.

Never before has all of humankind’s circadian rhythms of life been so utterly annihilated.

... and, it is a spiritual crisis as well.

Never before has all of humankind been forced to celebrate the climax of the church year, Holy Week, in isolation.

No Passover Seders.No Community Egg Hunts.No Good Friday Services.No Easter Sunday Gatherings.

Our annual rites of passage have been necessarily altered on the sacrificial altar of the greater communal good.

This year, we must celebrate Easter in isolation... if at all.

So, rather than lament the traditions that must for a time be laid down, why not pick up new traditions?

Let’s celebrate Holy Week, at home!

Here is a guide to help you on your pilgrimage of doing just that. This devotional is dense but doable. Don’t be worried.

You can do this!

And, this can be life-giving to you and yours during this difficult time.

You don’t need to read or accomplish everything in this “Holy Week at Home” guidebook. Think of it more as an à la carte scenario where you may feel free to pick and choose what works for you.

In a way, this is a “Choose Your Own Adventure,” through the most epic week, ...well, ever.

Select the rhythms that work best for you. Select a few activities, if you wish. Color the pictures, if you want. Make the prayers yours, if you prefer. Savor the daily devotional thoughts, if you dare.

No guilt; just joy!

Join me on the journey,

Rev. Dr. Kevin M. Young

PALM SUNDAY

FIGMONDAY

HOLYTUESDAY

SPY WEDNESDAY

MAUNDYTHURSDAY

GOODFRIDAY

HOLYSATURDAY

EASTERSUNDAY

We begin by celebrating Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into the great city of Jerusalem to kick off Passover Week... and perhaps a new kingdom.

P A G E 6

We follow Jesus as he makes a surprising pronouncement over a tree and takes a whip out in the Temple.

P A G E 9

We listen closely to Jesus’ words as he offers his final teaching and predicts the future which is to come.

P A G E 1 1

We sit in a lull with Jesus on a day where, on the surface, little seems to happen... but behind the scenes, wheels have been set in motion.

P A G E 1 3

We join Jesus for the most iconic meal of all time, the Last Supper, as he breaks bread with his friends.

P A G E 1 7

We follow Jesus down the Via Dolorosa, the Way of Suffering, to the foot of the cross, where it seems that all hope is now lost.

P A G E 2 1

We sit, alone and in grief, on what has been called Dark Saturday, reflecting on the events that have brought us to this moment.

P A G E 2 6

We arise to a dramatic turn of events, joining Jesus in his resurrection and acceptance of new life.

P A G E 3 0

EASTERMONDAY

The joy continues...

P A G E 3 4

I N T H E A N C I E N T C H U R C H

In the early church, meaning the first few centuries after Jesus Christ, Easter was celebrated all of the time... fifty-two times a year, in fact. Every Sunday was a “little Easter!”

But Holy Week itself, the final days just before Easter, were extra-special. Holy week wasn’t an afterthought, it was the climax of the Christian year where the story of the living, dying, and rising Christ was told not just through words but self-participation in the unfolding passion drama.

Early Christians acted out the story of Holy Week.

Even before Holy Week began, there was a deep desire to identify with the sufferings of Jesus. This season, which became Lent, was marked by self-deprivation in a desire to suffer alongside Jesus. Early Christians were deeply convinced that Resurrection Sunday could not be fully experienced without traveling the way of death themselves.

Early Christians wanted to literally fulfill the words of Mark 10 by taking up their cross and journeying with Jesus on his way up to Jerusalem for the final time (v.33). They wanted to drink from the cup from which he drank and be baptized with his baptism (v.39).

The fasting and prayer of Lent were not an end in and of themselves but instead a preparation for the unfolding drama of Holy Week.

Holy Week

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Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.

This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it.I thank you that you have answered me

and have become my salvation.The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

PSALM 118: 19-24

P A L M S U N D A Y

During Jesus’ lifetime, it was the custom for common people throughout the Roman Empire to greet royalty by waving palm branches and strewing them in the path of royal processions. The palm itself was a symbol of victory; Roman generals and their armies often carried palms in triumphal processions as they returned from battle. So it was, that Jesus made his own triumphal entry into Jerusalem on what we now call “Palm Sunday.” He entered, not upon horses in a procession of war chariots, but among thousands of lambs being brought into the city for sacrifice.

The early church celebrated Palm Sunday by gathering together at the summit of the Mount of Olives. They held palm branches, waving them, singing “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” over and again. Waving and singing, they slowly began their descent from the Mount of Olives, moving toward the church in Jerusalem.

The bishop of Jerusalem, who symbolized Jesus Christ, walked in the middle of the crowd, just as Jesus did in the middle of the lambs during his Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.

When night fell, evening prayers were celebrated, concluding with a particularly moving prayer to kick off the journey of Holy Week The prayer was given in front of a cross erected especially for the occasion.1

T O R E A D I N Y O U R B I B L E T O D A Y

Mark 11:1-10

D E V O T I O N A L P A U S E

The hard truth about journeys is that they demand that we embrace the unknown. We may embark with high hopes—accepting a marriage proposal, receiving news of a long-desired pregnancy—or with dread—the diagnosis is an inoperable and metastasized cancer or virus that is sweeping the globe—but we actually know very little about what will be demanded of us along the way, let alone what the outcome will be. Even the most humdrum day is a journey in this sense; upon rising in the morning we utter our prayers inattentively, as a demanding to-do list looms in our mind, but we can’t foresee what we’ll actually accomplish during the next twenty-four hours. We don’t even know if this day, and those halfhearted prayers, will be our last. We count ourselves lucky if we can shove these dreaded thoughts aside and go about our business.

M A R C H 2 9 , A D 3 3

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The difficult thing for us about Holy Week is that we think that we do know all about the journey that Jesus and his disciples make from Palm Sunday to Easter. We believe we know how the journey ends; at least we’ve heard the story many times. Why do we have to hear it again this year? Why go through yet another round of Holy Week liturgies and celebrations?

To experience Holy Week requires a great leap, not only of faith, but of imagination. We are asked to suspend our belief in a scientific method, which replicates experiments in order to replicate results. Our goal in Holy Week is different: we go through the familiar readings and rituals as we’ve done for years, but we’re hoping that something new will emerge from those ancient stories. We are seeking something more than what’s on the surface, and in order to find it we must begin by seeking something less, the humble but thorough joy of children.

On Palm Sunday we stand with the glad crowds who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem shortly before the annual Passover rituals, marveling that our ordinary day has turned extraordinary, with a homegrown parade and singing, dancing in the streets, and the enthusiastic waving of Palm branches. Even if we can barely recall the joyful faith of our childhood, we might recall the wonder of what the author of “Amazing Grace” calls “the hour I first believed.”

We will need all the certainty of that faith, for Palm Sunday quickly brings us to the heart of suffering. At the beginning of the week, we are celebrating. By mid-week we are hearing the story of Jesus’ condemnation and death.

Palm Sunday reminds us that our world can turn on a dime, that sudden changes in our circumstances can take us straight from praise to pain. But in exercising our God-given imagination, we might also allow God to help us turn our most painful lament into praise.

This is the journey of Holy Week; this is the journey of our lives.2

P R A Y E R F O R P A L M S U N D A Y 3

Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews, may your reign become real through the works of our hands and your love become alive in our hearts.

Amen.

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P A L M S U N D A Y

I D E A S F O R C E L E B R A T I N G T H E D A Y

• CROSS. As with the early church, today is the perfect day to place a cross as the focal point for the week. Consider fashioning one out of found items around your house and then setting it up in your front yard. Alternative ideas include putting a cross in your front window or in the center of the table at which you eat. Today, if you wish, you may decorate your cross with draped purple (or red) cloth and/or palm fronds (real ones from your yard or construction paper cutouts). You might even hang balloons around to signify the day’s celebration.

• FAMILY RE-ENACTMENT. If you have a large family with young children, put together costumes and act out Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem. Begin with a reading of Matthew 21:1-12. Consider making it a parade around the neighborhood!

• PLANT SEEDS. Seeds offer a clear message of the power of new life, especially to children. Rest eggshell halves filled with soil in an egg carton. Plant a marigold, petunia, or grapefruit seed in each (or even grass seed for fastest results). Place in a sunny windowsill.

Don’t miss:RESURRECTION EGGS A WAY FOR THE ENTIRE FAMILY TO CELEBRATE AND LEARN TOGETHER EACH DAY THIS WEEK.PAGE 37

Don’t miss:THE HOLY WEEK CENTERPIECE A UNIQUE TWIST ON A TRADITIONAL ADVENT WREATH THAT COUNTS DOWN THE DAYS TO EASTER.PAGE 38

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P A L M S U N D A Y

On Monday, the early church spent the day continually singing songs and hymns, as well as reading passages from the Scriptures that were appropriate for that day of the journey through Holy Week. These songs and readings were continually interrupted with prayers.

This day of Holy Week is traditionally referred to as “Fig Monday” because it is the day on which Jesus had an unlikely encounter with a faulty fig tree.


Mark 11:12-19


Monday morning. Jesus leaves Bethany headed for Jerusalem with his disciples. After the celebrations of yesterday, the disciples felt like princes next to the King who was about to take his rightful throne... little did they know how this week would end.

On the short walk to the capital city, they passed a fig tree that should have been bearing fruit but was not. Shockingly, Jesus curses it! The disciples were completely confused by this, “Why did the fig tree deserve this?!” Though they had difficulty making the connection, to us it is clear. Jeremiah 8:13 presents the fig tree as a representation of Israel itself. In this final week, God is unveiling a difficult but very real truth—his very own people (the Jews) have lost their way and deserve judgment and death for their sins... but someone else will be taking the punishment and death in their place.

Jesus continues on, walking the remainder of the two miles from Bethany into Jerusalem, a daunting, steep, rocky road. Even rockier was the reception he got from the religious leaders: he waltzed right into the temple, and in a rage that startled onlookers, drove the moneychangers out of the temple.

Was he issuing a dramatic memo against Church fundraisers? Hardly. He was acting out, symbolically, God’s judgment on the temple. The well-heeled priests, Annas and Caiaphas, had sold out to the Romans. Herod had expanded the temple into one of the wonders of the world—but he pledged his allegiance to Rome by placing a large golden eagle, symbol of Roman power, over its gate. The people were no better: a superficial religiosity masqueraded as the real thing. Within a generation of Jesus’ Holy Monday, that seemingly indestructible temple was nothing but rubble...

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Jesus was not the first to denounce the showy façade of a faked religiosity among God’s people. Through the centuries, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Micah, and John the Baptist had spoken God’s words of warning to people whose spiritual lives were nothing more than going through the motions, assuming God would bless and protect them even though their lives did not exhibit the deep commitment God desired. God’s prophets who spoke this way were not honored, but mocked, arrested, imprisoned, and even executed. Jesus was courting disaster.

On that Monday of the first Holy Week, Jesus shut down operations in the temple and forecast its destruction. No wonder the authorities wanted to kill Jesus! In a way, Jesus would himself become a kind of substitute temple. The temple was the place, the focal point of humanity’s access to God. Jesus, like the temple itself, was destroyed, killed - and his death, and then his resurrection on Easter Sunday, became our access to God.4

P R A Y E R F O R F I G M O N D A Y

While we sit in darkness, Lord Jesus Christ, you interrupted us with your life.

Make us, your people, a holy interruption so that by your Spirit’s power we may live as a light to the nations, even as we stumble through this world’s dark night.

Amen.


• JOURNAL. Though we are just beginning our journey, there are many emotions present on this day: the anticipation and fear over what is to come, the longing for Easter, the celebratory high from Palm Sunday, and confusion over Jesus’ actions on this day. How do all of these things hit you? Journal your thoughts.

• DRIED FIGS. People traditionally eat dried figs on this day to commemorate the miracle of the fig tree. Fig Newtons may suffice for those who have difficulty finding figs.

• WRITE. Author a poem or a prayer for this day. Share it.

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F I G M O N D A Y

In the early church, the celebration of Holy Tuesday was much the same as Fig Monday, in that the congregation would gather again for songs, hymns, readings, and prayers. This day, though, the bishop would take up the book of the Gospels, and while standing, read the words of the Lord which are written in the Gospel according to Matthew where Jesus says, “Take heed that no man deceive you!” (Matthew 24:4).


Mark 11:20 - 14:9


Jesus was relentless, fearless, clearly on a mission from God, ready to lose anything to attain everything. After the drama of Palm Sunday and the ruckus of Jesus’ Monday morning rampage through the temple, Jesus probably should have stayed home in Bethany, or fled during the night to safety in the north where he’d come from.

But instead, Jesus walked right back into the temple to face shocked, mortified, angry clergy and laity, and began talking... at length. He didn’t win any friends by foretelling a day when not one stone of the temple would be left upon another. The crowd had to laugh: Herod’s masons had built a seemingly indestructible temple, with flawlessly cut, massive blocks, the largest measuring 44 feet long, 10 feet high, 16 feet wide, weighing 570 tons. His words seemed ridiculous – but still caused offense.

He was only getting started that Tuesday. Matthew shares 212 verses of Jesus talking (chapters 22-25), including some of his most famous teachings. And don’t his words carry a much heavier freight since we know he was in the final couple of days before his death?

That Tuesday, he exposed the faked religiosity of the pious Pharisees, he wept over the Holy City which had lost its way, he warned the disciples of the perils of living into the Truth. Jesus clarified that our salvation depends on whether we feed the hungry and welcome the unwanted. Devious men tried to trick Jesus with a question about a woman with several husbands: to whom would she be married in heaven? For Jesus, the glory of hope is too large, too wonderful to be shrunk to earthly proportions, or limited by the way we do business down here...

H O L Y T U E S D A YM A R C H 3 1 , A D 3 3

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We can picture him moving about within the temple precincts, stopping under a portico, then strolling down the large stone staircase, standing for a while near the gate, probing, questioning, listening and yet ruminating at length.5

P R A Y E R F O R H O L Y T U E S D A Y

Savior of the world, save us from our sin, our sadness, and our self-deception.

Give us courage to live in a world we cannot fix with hope that it has already been redeemed.

Amen.


• THE FUTURE. On this day, Jesus predicted the future that would come (Mark 13:1-37). Write your predictions for the future... for yourself, your family, your church, the world. Notice, are they more hope-filled or despairing? If they learn heavily one way or the other, make a second list, opposite in tone and tenor.

• TAKE A WALK. These first days of Holy Week, Jesus spent a great of time traveling from his home away from home (Bethany) to the Temple in Jerusalem. If there is a place of worship within walking distance of your house, walk to it today. Spend some time praying and singing outside of the house of worship before you leave.

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H O L Y T U E S D A Y

The early church celebrated this day in much the same way as Holy Monday and Holy Tuesday, except that the bishop read the passage where Judas went to the Jews to set the price they would pay him to betray the Lord (Matthew 26:1-16; Mark 14:10-11; Luke 22:1-6). Early reports of these gatherings write that “while this good passage is being read, there is such moaning and groaning from among the people that no one can help being moved to tears in that moment.”

This day has traditionally been known as “Spy Wednesday” in reference to Judas’ betrayal.


Mark 14:10-11


Today’s reading in Mark is a prelude to the horrifying betrayal of Jesus by Judas. How appropriate then is the sometimes used phrase of, “Spy Wednesday,” for this period before our celebration of the Sacred Triduum (Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday). The events that lead Jesus to the cross are filled with intrigue, suspense, and an impending sense of disaster. Clearly, the powers of good and evil, light and darkness, sin and salvation are poised and ready to exhibit themselves at the place we call Golgotha.

John’s account of Jesus’ betrayal seems to show Jesus’ deep understanding of his role as the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies surrounding the Messiah. Judas in his interrogatory and somewhat cynical half-statement of, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?,” provides the catalyst for the process of darkness to unravel. What is so significant about this ”Spy Wednesday” is that it ends up reflecting all of the daily struggles that we endure in order to accept a relationship with the Jesus Christ.

To live the life that Jesus intended for us is a perpetual struggle on a daily basis with good and evil. Sometimes when we are questioned about our sin, we sometimes answer back: “It’s not me, Lord.” But the peacefulness Jesus shows in this moment of painful betrayal should give us hope in the days to come. Rather than provide a discourse to the Twelve, Jesus calmly recalls the Old Testament references to Him and even shares a piece of food with Judas, simultaneously dipping a morsel into the bowl. We should remember that the act of sharing a meal with others is a deeply rooted Jewish sign of love,...

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intimacy, and close relationship Jesus is sharing the meal, not with strangers, but with intimate friends... even Judas.

Often, we break bread and share food with those we love; we break bread with those we don’t love too, feigning intimacy and even deceiving one another. When was the last time that you ate with a “frenemy?”

Jesus is not blind to the events that Judas set in motion in exchange for 30 pieces of silver. Judas has turned on Jesus’ friendship and love, and Jesus knows it.

In our lives, we too are sometimes turned against Jesus’ love through our own unloving and sinful activities. In this story of Judas, there is a very real message to be found in Jesus’ tranquil resignation to the events that are coming. Faith in the love and power of God is on display, even in the midst of Judas’ unloving and sinful activities.

As believers in the power of God’s love and goodness, Spy Wednesday should be spent in self-reflection and introspective prayer. We should spend this day deeply examining our own lives and looking for the moments that we, like Judas, have falsely shared intimacy with our brothers and sisters in faith.

More precisely, we should spend time today contemplating the lack of true “communion” in our lives. With Judas’ false response to Jesus—“Surely, it is not I, Lord?!”—he reveals his true self: Betrayer.

Jesus sees right through Judas’ false piety and friendship, and Jesus sees right through our own appearances when we falsely present ourselves as holy and faithful followers. Our frail human spirit is reflected in our sinful acts and lack of faith. Jesus recognizes this and offers new hope to Judas... and us. The “morsel” which Jesus offers to Judas is an offering of friendship and love.

Judas does not partake of the meal with Jesus, but he was invited just the same.

There is a sense that Jesus recognizes Judas’ confrontation with the powers of evil. Jesus does not rebuke him or deride him, but Jesus instead permits Judas to engage in this struggle and reveal the implications of his actions and unfaithfulness. There is hope for conversion. There is hope for grace. There is hope in Jesus’ acceptance of God’s plan. There is hope for Easter glory.

As preparations begin for the Church’s celebration of our Resurrection, this Wednesday before the three great holy days of Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday invites all of us to share in, “Spy Wednesday”, not to pursue darkness and evil, but to progress on the path of light and life.

Spy Wednesday is an invitation to spy within ourselves any unfaithfulness to God or brother/sister that stands in the way of our progress...

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S P Y W E D N E S D A Y

This is a day set aside for personal preparation. Unlike Judas, our preparations should be motivated by the promise of new life in the risen Christ and not a rejection of the “morsel” which Jesus offers to us in friendship and love.6

P R A Y E R F O R S P Y W E D N E S D A Y

Merciful Lord, you revealed your glory humbly serving the one who would betray you.

Shower us with your mercy, Lord, and grow us up to be merciful. Amen.


• HOUSECLEANING. On the day before Passover, the Jews have a traditional custom of cleaning the house. This tradition continues in Christian homes across the world today. Take time to cleanse the home, especially taking care to put away anything that might distract from the journey through the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.

• REST, CENTER, and JOURNAL. On this day of Holy Week, there is little recorded as to Jesus’ activities. Perhaps, Jesus rested and centered himself for what was to come. Take time to rest and center yourself. Don’t miss the opportunity to find a quiet place and journal.

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S P Y W E D N E S D A Y

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread,

and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.

Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup,

you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

1 CORINTHIANS 11: 23-26

There are several plausible explanations as to why this day is referred to as “Maundy” Thursday, but the most likely explanation is that the word “Maundy” is a derivation of the Latin word, “maund,” which means “to command.” It was on this night when, during the supper, Christ gave his disciples a “new command:” that you would “love one another; as I have loved you, you should love each other” (John 15:12).

Though the early church gathered together almost all day every day of Holy Week (some days they even met throughout the night), on Thursday evening the congregation dispersed to their own homes in order to eat. This meal would be their last meal before Easter Sunday, since the days between Maundy Thursday and Easter Sunday were traditionally fast days.

Later that evening, after having eaten their fill, the congregation would gather again in order to worship together through the night. During the night hours, they would reenact the gospel accounts of the Last Supper and events that followed it. Ancient observers also write that they would “continually sing hymns and antiphons and read the Scripture passages proper to the place and to the day. Between these, prayers are said.”

While this celebration came to be known as a remembrance of “The Last Supper,” that later designation of the day doesn’t really reflect the tone of the original meal at which Jesus and his disciples celebrated the Passover.

The original meal would have been joyful, fun, and festive!

The joy of the day is why, around the world, church bells are traditionally rung loudly during the Maundy Thursday services and then remain silent until Easter Sunday. The ancient ceremony of foot washing is also still practiced by many on this day. During the time of Christ, people wore sandals, which were unable to keep out the accumulated dust from traveling place to place. Because it was considered in poor taste to enter a house wearing shoes, servants would wash the feet of guests upon arrival. During this unique meal, Christ turned the tables on tradition, taking the role of servant and showing his deep love for the disciples by serving them himself.


Mark 14:12-42

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Maundy Thursday engages us in deep remembrance. Looking at Moses and Aaron as they prepare the first Passover meal in Egypt (Exodus 12:1-14), we better understand what acts of remembrance can mean for a people, and a religion. The Passover seder is still, even today, at the heart of Jewish faith and tradition. And in that Passover support in Jerusalem, we witness the birth of our own Christian communion meal.

But I want us to pay attention to what happened not in Egypt or Jerusalem, but in the desert of the Exodus, depicted in Psalm 78. God had worked many wonders for the people fleeing slavery in Egypt: parting the Red Sea, leading by fire and by cloud, drawing water from hard rock to quench their thirst. Still, as time goes by and hardships continue, their faith in God’s provision fails. In their hunger, they doubt, and ask, “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?” In response, God sends them manna, bread from heaven.

Apparently, the answer was an emphatic, “Yes, I can.”

We have been given so many great gifts in our lives, and in the lived traditions of our faith communities. The opportunity to gather in worship with others at the communion table is a blessing beyond compare. But we often take it for granted, and when we face a desert journey—through illness, divorce, job loss, or any welcome change—we are still capable of asking if God can provide enough nourishment to see us through.

Even worse, we may be so distracted, enslaved by a desire for worldly goods, that we, like Jesus’ disciples, fail to comprehend the gifts that are right in front of us. Any meal shared with those we love, whether it be at the church altar or around a kitchen table, can be a foretaste of the heavenly feast to come, if only we will heed the words of the traditional Maundy Thursday hymn, “Ubi Caritas,” which asks us to set aside our bitterness and arguing and remember that “where charity and love are found, there is God.”

Maundy Thursday is a time to remember what time spent with our loved ones truly means. Memory will give a glow to a meal shared with a friend or relative that turned out to be our last visit with them before they die. Our time with them is more precious now that they are gone. Jesus’ disciples still don’t seem to realize that this is their last night with him and that within a few hours he will be dying on a cross.

But on this night Jesus incarnates the patience and steadfast love of our God. Betrayed, and with his fate unacknowledged even by those closest to him, he does not respond with anger or threats of retribution. He offers the gift of himself, his body and blood, asking only that we continually remember him. God has prepared a table for us, now and forever. Communion is a past, present, and future reality, meant to nourish and sustain us.

Manna, indeed.7

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M A U N D Y T H U R S D A Y

P R A Y E R F O R M A U N D Y T H U R S D A Y

Lord Jesus Christ, you knelt to wash from our feet the dirt out of which you made us.

Teach us to humbly serve one another so that the world may know we are your disciples.

Amen.


• EPIC FAMILY DINNER. Whether or not you have a family, dinner on this day should pull out all of the stops! Use the fine china, light the candles, cook your favorite fare, and celebrate relationships, family, and friendships with all of the joy, fun, and festivity that would have been present at the original meal.

• RITUAL FAST. Consider a ritual fast on Friday and Saturday, giving the time where you might normally eat to prayer (or something else) instead. If you are unable to fast from all food, consider fasting from a meal each day.

• STRIP THE HOUSE. Strip the house of all Easter decorations at sundown today. Put away the eggs and bunnies, the flowers and the baskets. Leave only your crosses and symbols of Holy Week. You may redecorate and celebrate the season at daybreak on Easter Sunday morning.

• FOOT WASHING. Foot washing was an ancient tradition and necessity, as travel on dirt paths left one’s feet quite dirty. But it was a servant’s role, not the one who was hosting. Read John 13, wrap a towel around your waist, and wash your spouse’s and/or children’s hands and feet. They will, as the disciples did to Jesus, resist the act. Do it anyway; your lives may never be the same as your family sees you serve them.

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M A U N D Y T H U R S D A Y

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?

O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.

Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.

To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

PSALM 22: 1-5

In the pre-dawn darkness of Friday morning—after having worshiped through the night on Thursday—early Christians would proceed to the Garden of Gethsemane. There, they would read the passage the described Jesus’ arrest within that very garden (Matthew 26:36-56). A writer from the third century reports that “there is such moaning and groaning with weeping from all the people that their moaning can be heard practically as far as the city.”

Then, they travel to the place of the cross where the words of Pilate were read (Matthew 27:2-26; Mark 15:1-15; Luke 23:1-25; John 18:28 & 19:16).

Afterward, the bishop would send the entire crowd home to meditate, instructing them to return around the second hour so that all would be “on hand here so that from that hour until the sixth hour you may see the holy wood of the cross, and thus believe that it was offered for the salvation of each and every one of us.”

On Friday night, the early church would acknowledge that cross as the instrument of salvation. A cross was erected on a table and the people passed by “touching the cross and the inscription, first with their foreheads, then with their eyes; and after kissing the cross, they moved on.”


Mark 14:41 - 15:47


Death tests our faith, whether we are mourning the loss of a beloved family member or contemplating the suffering of Jesus on the cross. We can well imagine the disciples on Good Friday, stunned and disheartened by all that has happened to the dear friend they had dined with just the night before: arrest, a trial on trumped-up charges, and a humiliating public execution.

Good Friday is a wake-up call, forcefully reminding us that suffering and death are real, and even that the son of God had to endure them. But Good Friday is also about our limited vision. When it comes to death, we are as shortsighted as Pilate, whose kingdom is built on power, the visible might of armies. He can’t comprehend the kingdom Jesus represents, one grounded in truth and love. To us, death seems like an end, but for God it is the beginning of our return to the great love from which we came...

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On Good Friday our faith in God’s love is a reminder that Jesus’ death continues the long story of salvation. The Jesus who dies on the cross is also the king who will lead us to new life with God.

In the fourth century a Roman woman named Egeria made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for Holy Week, and fortunately for us she kept a journal. Her account reveals that the faithful walked considerable distances each day, up and down the steep Jerusalem hills, to attend liturgies at sacred sites. Good Friday began with an all-night vigil at Gethsemane, followed by a long trek at dawn through the city to Golgotha. There the people assembled and listened to Scripture readings for three hours.

Egeria writes, “First, whichever Psalms speak of the Passion (suffering) are read. Next, there are readings from the Apostles... wherever they speak of the Passion (suffering) of the Lord. Next, the texts of the Passion (suffering) from the Gospels are read. Then there are readings from the Prophets, where they said that the Lord would suffer, and then they read from the Gospels, where He foretells his Passion (suffering).”

The purpose of this, Egeria says, is that “the people are taught that nothing happened which was not prophesied, and that nothing was prophesied that was not completely fulfilled.”

On Good Friday, God created a kingdom, and now we live in that new reality.8

P R A Y E R F O R G O O D F R I D A Y

While we were still your enemies, Lord Jesus Christ, you suffered and died for us, winning the victory over death for our sakes.

Give us grace to lift you up as we follow that way of your cross so that all people may be drawn into you.

Amen.

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G O O D F R I D A Y


• HOT CROSS BUNS. For over a thousand years, this roll with a cross has been traditional Good Friday fare for the family to make and eat together. Find a recipe on the next page.

• HOUSE CROSS. If you put up a cross at the beginning of the week inside or outside of your house, exchange the purple/red fabric for black on Good Friday and Holy Saturday.

• THREE HOURS OF SILENCE. During the final three hours of the crucifixion (Noon to 3:00pm) all was silent. Observe Good Friday by maintaining silence in the home for these final three hours of Jesus’ life.

• HOME OBSERVANCE. Rather than silence, you might observe the darkness of the last three hours of Jesus’ crucifixion (Noon to 3:00pm)by reading the biblical account together as a family. Consider including old hymns such as “Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?,” “The Old Rugged Cross,” and “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” These and others are easily found on YouTube.

• THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST. Watch Mel Gibson’s sweeping movie portrayal of Jesus’ final hours, “The Passion of the Christ.” (warning: graphic but realistic violence). Suitable for older, but not younger, children.

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G O O D F R I D A Y

H O T C R O S S B U N S

1. Prepare the dough: Whisk the warm milk, yeast, and 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar together in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook or paddle attachment. Cover and allow to sit for 5 minutes.

2. Add the brown sugar, butter, vanilla extract, eggs, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and 1 cup (125g) flour. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, then add the remaining flour and the raisins. Beat on medium speed until the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 2 minutes. Dough should be a little sticky and soft. If it’s too sticky and not pulling away from the sides of the bowl, mix in additional flour 1 Tablespoon at a time. *If you do not own a mixer, you can mix this dough with a large wooden spoon or rubber spatula. It will take a bit of arm muscle!*

3. Knead the dough: Keep the dough in the mixer and beat for an additional 2 minutes or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 2 minutes.

4. 1st Rise: Lightly grease a large bowl with oil or nonstick spray. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat all sides in the oil. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rise in a relatively warm environment for 1-2 hours or until double in size. (I always let it rise on the counter. Takes about 2 hours. For a tiny reduction in rise time, see my answer to Where Should Dough Rise? in my Baking with Yeast Guide.)

5. Grease a 9×13 inch baking pan or two 9-inch square or round baking pans. You can also bake the rolls in a cast iron skillet or on a lined baking sheet.

6. Shape the rolls: When the dough is ready, punch it down to release the air. Divide the dough into 14-16 equal pieces. (Just eyeball it– doesn’t need to be perfect!) Shape each piece into a smooth ball, pinching it on the bottom to seal. I do this entirely in my hands and you can watch in the video tutorial for my dinner rolls. Arrange in prepared baking pan.

7. 2nd Rise: Cover shaped rolls with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Allow to rise until puffy, about 1 hour.

8. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C).

9. Add the cross: Whisk the cross ingredients together, starting with 6 Tablespoons of water. You want a thick paste that will pipe easily. Add remaining water if needed. Spoon paste into a piping bag or zipped-top bag. (No need to use a piping tip if using a piping bag.) Snip off a small piece at the corner. Pipe a line down the center of each row of buns, then repeat in the other direction to create crosses.

10. Bake the rolls: Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on top, rotating the pan halfway through. If you notice the tops browning too quickly, loosely tent the pan with aluminum foil. Remove from the oven and allow rolls to cool for a few minutes as you prepare the icing.

11. Make the icing: Whisk the icing ingredients together, then drizzle or brush on warm rolls. Serve immediately.

• 3/4 cup (180ml) whole milk, warmed to about 110°F

• 2 and 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast or instant yeast (1 standard packet)

• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar

• 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar

• 5 Tablespoons (70g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature and cut into 5 pieces

• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• 2 large eggs, at room temperature

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 and 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

• 3 and 1/2 cups (435g) all-purpose flour or bread flour (spoon & leveled)*

• 1 cup (140g) raisins or currants

Flour Cross

• 1/2 cup (60g) all-purpose flour or bread flour

• 6–8 Tablespoons (90-120ml) water

Orange Icing

• 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar

• 3 Tablespoons (45ml) fresh or bottled orange juice (or use milk and a splash of vanilla extract for plain icing)

https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/hot-cross-buns/

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And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock.

And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away.

MATTHEW 27: 59-60

The early church celebrated the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter. Some would say that, for them, it was the most important celebration of the week next to Easter itself. On this day, worship was conducted at the third and sixth hours. It was a solemn and somber occasion of remembrance.

After nightfall, the Easter Vigil was held. It contained a dramatic reenactment of the resurrection and centered around “light,” as Jesus was the “light of the world.” It culminated in the annual baptismal service, at dawn, just as the light of Easter Morning broke across the horizon. Converts were, in the light of the new day, baptized into Jesus’ dying and rising. This baptism by full immersion was a graphic enactment of burial and resurrection.


Matthew 27:62-66


The Saturday between the crucifixion and the resurrection was perhaps the longest day ever visited upon the earth itself. At least, it must have felt that way. Not only were the disciples gripped with fear, hiding for their very lives, but they were experiencing overwhelming trauma and grief at the hands of the events of the last few days. Soldiers had brutalized Jesus, carrying him off to his execution the day before, but now he is dead and they are left utterly and disastrously alone in their grief as it washes over them like waves.

This was not what they had signed up for. The plan was for Jesus to lead them to victory over Rome and re-establish Israel as an independent nation again. This pain and grief was decidedly not a part of the plan.

Perhaps you have felt like the disciples that dark Saturday. I know that I have.

While your despair may come from the loss of loved ones too soon, broken relationships that were supposed to last forever, or the tragic end to a dream job, all of us can relate to the current worldwide situation of loss related to isolation and quarantine. Literally and figuratively, it seems as if everything around us is dying. Doesn’t following Jesus mean victory and peace? This feels like neither! With the future uncertain, all of us waiver between numb denial and irritating doubt. Is God judging us for something? Or perhaps we have been tricked and the universe is really a cold, empty, and godless place...

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The disciples must have had these exact same feelings on that dark Saturday, as if all hope was gone. We feel this way because we forget an important truth. The way of Jesus is a way of pain, grief, and sorrow. Jesus suffered much of his life—even before his arrest and execution. As a child he had to be isolated and hidden in Egypt for fear of his life. He wept over the death of a close friend, Lazarus. He grieved over the blindness of his nation. He agonized to the point of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane. He screamed out as he hung on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?!”

Why, then, should we feel guilty for feeling abandoned by God?

Jesus told us that it would be this way. In Jesus’ final teaching, he said that God would prune the branches that clung to the Vine (John 15:1-17). Pruning hurts. To have large parts of your life severed is not a pleasant experience. Yet, as the Gardener knows:

Without pruning there is no life.

That is the way of God’s love and grace. God purifies us with pain. The disciples learned this and wrote to the churches about it. James said it is an opportunity for joy when troubles come because in the end it makes us complete. Peter told us that suffering refines our hearts like fire refines gold. Paul reached the climax of the whole process with one word—hope.

On Sunday the disciples became aware of a reality far deeper than Saturday’s grief. They met hope. Jesus plowed through pain and grief and came out on the other side. Saturdays will come, and they will be painful. But remember: without Saturday, we don’t get Sunday. Jesus’ love is our hope for today and forever. We will grieve, but with hope.9

P R A Y E R F O R H O L Y S A T U R D A Y

As you hovered over the darkness that covered the earth at the beginning of time, may your Spirit move among us in the silence of this day, preparing us for new life.

Amen.

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H O L Y S A T U R D A Y


• VISIT A CEMETERY. Walk to a local cemetery, taking time to stroll about. Look for inscriptions, sculptures, and things that seem out of place. Do you see signs and symbols that resonate with Holy Saturday?

• WEAR BLACK. Those who mourn have traditionally worn black. Wear dark or black clothes today as a reminder to mourn and sit in our grief.

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H O L Y S A T U R D A Y

But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.

He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.

Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” So they departed quickly from the tomb with

fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

MATTHEW 28: 5-8

At daybreak, on Easter Sunday morning, after participating all night in the Easter Vigil, the early church would baptize converts. A glorious worship service took place after the baptisms and celebrated the resurrection of Christ through readings, antiphons, preaching, and communion (at which the baptized were able to receive first communion).

Consider the involvement, the total immersion in the death and the resurrection of their Lord that the worshipers must have experienced. For weeks they had prepared for this service. Then, throughout Holy Week, they had been utterly exhausted by the intensity of participating in the events in Jesus’ life that led to his death. Now, after another night of vigil and anticipation, the moment of Jesus resurrection came. Because these people had entered the tomb with him, they were able to experience his resurrection—in a way that would never happen apart from the dramatic journey that they had taken.


Mark 16:1-8


Earthquakes, angels, women running to and fro, a strange command. A highly unlikely tale? Yes, indeed, and that’s the point. Nobody thought in the first century, and nobody should think now, that the point of the Easter story is that this is a quite reasonable thing to happen, that dead people really do rise if only we had the wit to see it, that it should be quite easy to believe if only you thought about it for a few minutes.

No.

It was always a strange, crazy, wild story. What else would you expect if, after all, the ancient dream of Israel was true? If God who made the world had finally acted to turn things around, to take all the forces of chaos, pride, greed, darkness and death and allow them to do their worst, exhausting themselves in the process? If Jesus of Nazareth really was, as the centurion (greatly to his own surprise, no doubt) found himself saying three days before, ‘the Son of God’? What else would you expect? A calm restatement of some philosophical truths of sage old graybeards to ponder - or events which blew the world apart and put it back in a new way?

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The unlikeliest bit of the story is the bit that really does show they weren’t making it up. Women were not regarded as reliable witnesses in a court of law in those days, and everybody knew it. Even the early church, where women played an important part, formulated the first official statement of resurrection faith in such a way that the women were quietly removed from the story (1 Corinthians 15:3-9), It is a thousand per cent more likely that the women were in the story at the start and then airbrushed out, rather than that they were never there in the earliest forms of the story and then inserted, in different ways, by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. How to ruin a good story for public use! Everyone would surely say, and many skeptics did indeed say, “How can you believe a crazy tale on the evidence of a few hysterical women?”

But, as Paul put it elsewhere in that same letter, God chooses what is weak in the world, what the world counts as foolishness, to put to shame the power and wisdom of the world. That is part of what Easter is all about. God is doing a new thing, and, as Jesus said earlier in the story, the first shall be last and the last first. Easter is a day to put everything upside down and inside out. Maybe we should have Easter processions with the young, the weak and the stranger in pride of place, letting the normal sink into oblivion somewhere. Maybe we should let the children’s band lead the worship and send the professional choirs into the congregation for the day. Maybe the women should lead the entire service and then, at a certain point, go and tell the men that it’s time they joined in. Giving the women pride of place in the story makes exactly that point. Instead of men getting the message and then solemnly informing the women later on, the women are in on the action from the start. It is they who have to go and tell Jesus’ ‘brothers’ (Matthew 28:10).

But the main thing is that, once more, they are told not to be afraid. What is there to be afraid of, if Easter has dealt with the greatest monster of all, death itself? Why should you be afraid of anything, if Jesus has been raised from the dead, if the old world has cracked open and a new world has been born?

And Easter always looks outwards. From the very start, the news that Jesus is risen contains a command: ‘Go!’ Go first to Galilee; go back to where it began, back to your roots to meet the risen Jesus there and watch him transform everything, including your oldest memories. And, as you obey the command of the angel, Jesus himself may perhaps meet you in person (Matthew 28:9).

Take hold of him.

Worship him.

This is his day, the Day of Days.

Make it yours too.10

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E A S T E R S U N D A Y

P R A Y E R F O R E A S T E R S U N D A Y

Lord, you have risen!

We praise you.We worship you.We give thanks.

Alleluia!


• DAWN. Rise just before dawn, go outside, and read today’s Bible passage as the first light breaks across the horizon. For an extended reading, see Luke 24:1-43.

• RESURRECTION ROLLS. These rolls are an easy cooking project with young children that also help young ones grasp the power of the empty tomb.

• DECORATE FOR EASTER. At daylight, redecorate the house for Easter, replacing all of your normal decorations to celebrate the season. Return the baskets and bunnies, flowers and eggs, etc.

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E A S T E R S U N D A Y

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/84289/resurrection-rolls/

R E S U R R E C T I O N R O L L S

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet.

2. Separate crescent rolls into individual triangles.

3. In a small bowl, mix together cinnamon and sugar.

4. Dip a marshmallow into melted butter, then roll in sugar mixture. Place marshmallow into the center of a dough triangle. Carefully wrap the dough around the marshmallow. Pinch the seams together tightly to seal in marshmallow as it melts. Place on a baking sheet or in greased muffin tins. Repeat.

5. Bake in a preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

• 1 (10 ounce) can refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

• 8 large marshmallows

• 1/4 cup melted butter

• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

• 2 tablespoons white sugar

A great Easter recipe to do with the kids! Rolls with marshmallows wrapped inside, which become hollow as they bake, it represents the tomb of Jesus on Easter morning, when you break them open they are empty inside!

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Even though Easter Sunday is the day of celebration of the resurrection of Christ, soon Christian communities discovered that one day to celebrate such a great event wasn’t enough and extended the celebration of the resurrection to one week. The same celebratory tone is given to the liturgy and religious practices, and the events are considered to be part of one continuous ongoing day.

In the Eastern Church, Easter Sunday starts what is known as Bright Week, symbolizing the new light that came forth in their lives from the resurrection of Jesus. The second day of Bright Week, Easter Monday serves not only to continue the celebrations of Easter Sunday but also to slowly re-enter the rhythm of work and studies.

This tradition resembles that of Fat Tuesday before Ash Wednesday on which, before the period of fasting during Lent season, are celebrations and preparations for the following day’s more serious tone. So Easter Monday is a day to rejoice and come out from fasting and eat!


Acts 1:3-10


Many churches now hold Easter vigils, as the Orthodox church has always done, but in many cases they are too tame by half. Easter is about the wild delight of God’s creative power…we ought to shout Alleluias instead of murmuring them; we should light every candle in the building instead of only some; we should give every man, woman, child, cat, dog, and mouse in the place a candle to hold; we should have a real bonfire; and we should splash water about as we renew our baptismal vows. Every step back from that is a step toward an ethereal or esoteric Easter experience, and the thing about Easter is that it is neither ethereal nor esoteric. It’s about the real Jesus coming out of the real tomb and getting God’s real new creation under way.

But my biggest problem starts on Easter Monday. I regard it as absurd and unjustifiable that we should spend forty days keeping Lent, pondering what it means, preaching about self-denial, being at least a little gloomy, and then bringing it all to a peak with Holy Week, which in turn climaxes in Maundy Thursday and Good Friday…and then, after a rather odd Holy Saturday, we have a single day of celebration...

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Easter week itself ought not to be the time when all the clergy sigh with relief and go on holiday. It ought to be an eight-day festival, with champagne served after morning prayer or even before, with lots of alleluias and extra hymns and spectacular anthems. Is it any wonder people find it hard to believe in the resurrection of Jesus if we don’t throw our hats in the air? Is it any wonder we find it hard to live the resurrection if we don’t do it exuberantly in our liturgies? Is it any wonder the world doesn’t take much notice if Easter is celebrated as simply the one-day happy ending tacked on to forty days of fasting and gloom?

We should be taking steps to celebrate Easter in creative new ways: in art, literature, children’s games, poetry, music, dance, festivals, bells, special concerts, anything that comes to mind. This is our greatest festival. Take Christmas away, and in biblical terms you lose two chapters at the front of Matthew and Luke, nothing else. Take Easter away, and you don’t have a New Testament; you don’t have a Christianity; as Paul says, you are still in your sins…

If Lent is a time to give things up, Easter ought to be a time to take things up. Champagne for breakfast again—well, of course. Christian holiness was never meant to be merely negative…. The forty days of the Easter season, until the ascension, ought to be a time to balance out Lent by taking something up, some new task or venture, something wholesome and fruitful and outgoing and self-giving. You may be able to do it only for six weeks, just as you may be able to go without beer or tobacco only for the six weeks of Lent. But if you really make a start on it, it might give you a sniff of new possibilities, new hopes, new ventures you never dreamed of. It might bring something of Easter into your innermost life. It might help you wake up in a whole new way. And that’s what Easter is all about.11

P R A Y E R F O R E A S T E R M O N D A Y

God of power and might, you raised Jesus from the dead after you had raised Israel out of Egypt.

As we arise in the light of this new day, raise us to live by your power that only you can give.

Amen.

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E A S T E R M O N D A Y


• SECOND FEAST. Prepare a second great feast that rivals, equals, or exceeds the one that you prepared for Easter. Even better, continue feasting throughout the rest of this week in an ongoing celebration of the resurrection that keeps Easter alive.

• THE CELEBRATION CONTINUES. Build a list with your family of ways that you might keep the Easter celebration going... for the week... for the month. Could you make it 50 days? What might that list contain?

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E A S T E R M O N D A Y

R E S U R R E C T I O N E G G S

Resurrection Eggs are a tool to help children better understand the Easter Story. A set may be purchased online, or better yet, made! If you’ve never seen resurrection eggs, they are a simple set of a dozen plastic Easter eggs in various colors. But inside each egg is a symbol of the Easter story — a donkey for Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, a die to represent the soldiers casting lots for Jesus’ clothes, etc. The beauty of the set is that kids get so excited to see what’s in each egg, and it’s truly an interactive and concrete way to talk about things that are hard for them to wrap their minds around otherwise.

You can split them up into as many days as you wish, opening one a day or 2-3+ each day. Making your own set is actually really simple, and it’s not too late to make one for Holy Week!

Supplies:• 12 plastic eggs + egg carton• Marker to number the order of the eggs

The Eggs1. MARK 11:8-10—a small leaf to

represent a palm branch at Jesus’ triumphal entry

2. JOHN 12:2-8—a cotton ball soaked in perfume to symbolize the perfume Mary poured on Jesus’ feet

3. MATTHEW 27:3—Three quarters to represent the 30 pieces of silver that Judas Iscariot received

4. MATTHEW 26:17-19—a small piece of bread to symbolize the loaf at the Last Supper

5. MARK 14:32—a tiny piece of paper rolled into a scroll to represent Jesus’ prayer in the garden

6. JOHN 19:17—a small cross or two toothpicks tied together to represent the cross

7. JOHN 19:2-4—a tiny crown made from grass or a flower stem to represent the crown of thorns

8. JOHN 20:25-29—2 nails to represent the nails and the cross

9. JOHN 19:23—a die to represent the soldiers casting lots for Jesus’ clothes

10. JOHN 19:40—Spices to represent Jesus’ body being prepared for burial

11. MATTHEW 27:59-60—a rock to represent the stone rolled in front of the tomb

12. MATTHEW 28:6—an empty egg, representing an empty tomb.

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H O L Y W E E K C E N T E R P I E C E

Experiencing Holy Week by yourself, with family, kids, youth, etc. and even together online may be as easy as a simple daily activity. In preparation for Holy Week, here is a centerpiece and meditation you can create for yourself, your family, or even online via a video or on a zoom call with your community!

Each day there is an activity/response you can do on your own or with your family/group to retell the story of the last week of Jesus’s life. The centerpiece works a bit like a reverse advent wreath. Start with all the candles lit on Palm Sunday and Monday, and then you extinguish a candle each day, and thus the centerpiece is dark on Saturday. And all candles are relit on Easter!

Begin with a plate or dish for your centerpiece and 5 candles. I use a red candle for Good Friday and place it in the center, but you could also do the candles in a row. This could also be created for your coffee table rather than your dining table.

Remember you don’t have to do all of this, just start. Do a couple of days. Do what works for you and your family/group. Feel free to modify the questions for the ages in your group.

DAY 1: PALM SUNDAY

• Read today’s Bible reading.

• LIGHT ALL 5 candles.

• Read the story of Jesus entering Jerusalem, and talk about what it would be like to be in the crowd when Jesus rode into town. What do you see, hear, smell? Are you excited, scared, angry like the Pharisees? Talk about this.

• Add pieces of palm fronds or cuts of a fern to symbolize the entry into Jerusalem. If you have younger kids in your group or you are feeling artistic, draw/color/cut coats, jackets and palm branches out of paper, placing around the centerpiece plate.

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H O L Y W E E K C E N T E R P I E C E( C O N T I N U E D )

DAY 2: FIG MONDAY• Leave the Palm Branches around the plate for a couple of days and bring a bowl of

pennies/coins to the table.


• LIGHT ALL THE CANDLES and have someone blow out one of them.

• Pass around the coins and HOLD A penny/coin in your hand and think about the scene. What does it look like, smell like, what do you see? What do you notice?

• The Money Changers were blocking people’s access to prayer & worship, especially the Gentiles. What things block you from prayer and worship right now? What things keep you from worshiping Jesus? What things (like the tables of the money changers) keep you from being with God? News, texting, computer time, Facebook, Netflix, video games, busyness, fear, worry, lack of trust, what else?

• As you hold your coin, TALK to God about these things. Allow Jesus to hold these things for you and ask Jesus to take away these blocks. Then take time to talk about this as a group if you are with others.

DAY 3: HOLY TUESDAY• LIGHT ALL CANDLES and have someone extinguish two of the candles.


• The woman in the story gave Jesus her most valued possession. She honored him with this gift of expensive perfume. What is your most valuable possession? It might be a material thing. It might be a talent that you have. It might be your health or even your life today! Are you willing to give this to Jesus to honor him? Talk to Jesus about this.

• Are you willing to give up your most valuable, most precious possession in order to honor Jesus?

• Pass around some olive oil or perfume and a dab on your forehead as a symbol of your willingness to honor Jesus.

DAY 4: SPY WEDNESDAY• LIGHT ALL THE CANDLES and have someone extinguish 3 of the candles.


• This week, Jesus was betrayed by two of his friends, Judas and Peter. Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Peter denied that he even knew Jesus. Anyone betray you this week/month/year? Jesus said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Take time to pray for the people who have betrayed you or people or groups that are your enemies.

• What about you? Have you betrayed Jesus lately? With your actions or inactions? Bad attitude, lack of faith, etc. Talk to God about these things.

• Eat a Hershey kiss as a symbol of your willingness to forgive those who have betrayed you and as a symbol of your need for forgiveness, or write your Name on a piece of paper cut out into a Hershey Kiss shape and put it on the centerpiece.

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DAY 5: MAUNDY THURSDAY• LIGHT ALL THE CANDLES and have someone extinguish 4 candles.

• Read today’s Bible Reading: Imagine the scene. Picture the colors, the smells, the atmosphere of the room.

• Add a piece of purple cloth under the candles to form a cross. Have extra pieces of purple cloth, enough for each person in your group. (cloth pieces should be about 3x6 inches with cut in the narrow side ) You will use these on Good Friday.

• Placemat Print Out: Have a paper placemat for each person or have people create one before you begin.

• Consider that it was Jesus’s last meal with his disciples, his closest friends. If it was your last meal what would you be eating and who would be at your table?

• Take time to write out or draw your menu for your last supper and name the people at your table on your placemat. Take time to pray for the friends you have listed.

DAY 6: GOOD FRIDAY• Light only the red candle.

• Pass around pieces of purple cloth.


• Extinguish the candle. SAY “IT IS FINISHED.”

• Have everyone rip their pieces of purple cloth in half symbolic of the temple curtain being torn separating the holy of holies when Jesus died on the cross.

• When the candle has had time to cool, have someone cover the centerpiece with a cloth symbolic of Jesus’ burial.

• The curtain was ripped top to bottom! We now have direct relationship with God! Talk to Jesus about this.

• How does it feel to know that you are not separated from God even in death? How does it feel to know that Jesus knows and understands your suffering and pain? What things do you need Jesus to finish for you in your life?

• Talk to Jesus about this.

DAY 7: HOLY SATURDAY• All the candles are out. The strips of cloth are on the plate. The entire centerpiece

is dark and covered with “burial cloth.” Jesus’s disciples, his friends, have abandoned him and are hiding and afraid. His body is buried in a borrowed tomb.


• How are you feeling today about the death of Jesus? What if you didn’t know that Sunday was going to mean resurrection?

• Talk about this.

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• PASS OUT BAND AIDS. Take time to pray for anyone you know who is suffering or sick or feeling afraid.

• We have all lost something this crazy season…jobs, freedom of movement, security. Talk to God about this. Pray also for friends who have suffered a loss or lost a loved one in recent months.

• Place a band aid on your wrist as a reminder to pray these people in the next few days.

• We are all experiencing grief and loss in this crazy time. Take time to journal or talk about this with someone. What is the grief you feel today? Give this to Jesus to carry for you.

DAY 8: EASTER SUNDAY• You can do this at breakfast or around another meal on your own or with

housemates. Have all the candles lit before people sit down for the meal.

• If you covered your centerpiece, uncover and RELIGHT ALL THE CANDLES!


• Pass around birthday candles or other small candles.

• Light your candle from the centerpiece as a symbol of Jesus resurrection and the Light returning to the World. Now we can share that Light and his love with everyone we meet.

• Say together: CHRIST IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN INDEED.

• What are some ways you’ve seen or experienced resurrection and new life this week? Spend some time thanking Jesus for his love for you and all the good things that are in your world.

• Pray for places that need the Light and Resurrection of Jesus today. Hospitals, Places of conflict and poverty, medical workers and others on the frontlines.

• Pray for your community, your neighborhood, to see and experience more of the love of Jesus.

• Pray for specific needs you know about.

• Pick a country to pray for in the coming days. Pray that healing love and light of Jesus will be seen there.

• Use a map of the world, globe or map on line to pray with this week as we ask Jesus to shine his light and love in these places.12

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E N D N O T E S

1 Daily introductions edited from Robert Webber, “The Services of the Christian Year.” 2 Norris, Kathleen. edited from “God With Us,” 151-152.3 Daily prayers are taken from “Common Prayer: A Liturgy For Ordinary Radicals,” 208-223.4 Howell,JamesC.editedfrom“ReflectionsforEachDayofHolyWeek.”http://revjameshowell.blogspot.

com/2014/04/reflections-for-each-day-of-holy-week.html5 Howell,JamesC.editedfrom“ReflectionsforEachDayofHolyWeek.”http://revjameshowell.blogspot.

com/2014/04/reflections-for-each-day-of-holy-week.html6 McNichol,Hugh.editedfrom“SpyWednesdayOffersConversiontoEveryone.”http://www.bloggernews.

net/14551/7 Norris, Kathleen. edited from “God With Us,” 165-166.8 Norris, Kathleen. edited from “God With Us,” 171-172.9 Editedfrom“Saturday,”SteveThompson.MosaicStudyBible,121.10 Wright,N.T.,“LentforEveryone:Matthew.”11 Wright,N.T.,excerptedfrom“SurprisedByHope.”12 Lewin,Lilly.“HolyWeekCenterpiece.”https://godspacelight.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Ho-

ly-Week-Centerpiece2020.pdf

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