Dear Friends and Family of RRUMC,
It’s almost here. Holy Week 2022. It is the pinnacle of our Christian faith. It is the core of what we believe in. It is a week that sums up our sinfulness and our realization that we cannot save ourselves from those sins. My hope is that all of you will approach this Holy Week more intentionally than you ever have before.
It starts on Sunday, April 10, which is Palm Sunday. On that Sunday, we all line the streets in Jerusalem with all the other people gathered there for the celebration of Passover. We wave our palm branches yelling, “Hosanna”, which means “the one who saves”, as Jesus rides triumphantly into the city. We then spend the next three days wondering how a whole city can so quickly turn against him. On Thursday, we will join those 12 broken disciples around that table in the Upper Room to celebrate what will be Jesus’ last supper. Those 12 disciples were just like us. They had all made mistakes, made bad decisions, and had not been what Jesus needed them to be time and time again. We will be there when he is arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. I am pretty sure that all of us will fall into the crowd mentality and start yelling “Crucify Him!” as Pilate asks the crowd what he should do with this Jesus.
The hardest part for us will be the time that we spend at the cross on Good Friday. What have we done? What do we do now? Where do we go from here as he speaks his final words? Not knowing what to do, I am sure we will be hiding out with the disciples fearing the same fate as Jesus if anyone finds out we follow him as our Savior. Mary will burst through the door on Easter morning telling us that he is not in the tomb. EASTER MORNING!!
We miss a lot if we just celebrate Palm Sunday and Easter morning. The work of salvation was done all throughout that week and not just on Easter morning. Will you take that journey this Holy Week? Will you be there and be present throughout all of those scenes and all those worship services?
I am also asking you to join me in reading those Scriptures that take us on that journey through Holy Week from the Gospel of John. I have listed them below and I realize that chapter 17 is out of order but I want you to read and hear Jesus’ prayer from that chapter in the quiet of Saturday between his death and his resurrection. In John 17:20, Jesus is praying for you, today, right where you are. You were on his heart and mind as he was preparing to conquer death once and for all.
Sunday, April 10: John 12, Palm Sunday
Monday, April 11: John 13
Tuesday, April 12: John 14
Wednesday, April 13: John 15
Thursday, April 14: John 16
Friday, April 15: John 18 and 19, Good Friday
Saturday, April 16: John 17
Sunday, April 17: John 20 and 21, Easter Sunday
When you are reading these Scriptures, find your quiet place. Ask the Holy Spirit to move in you and in the readings. Ask God what He wants you to hear and feel as you read. Ask God what you are supposed to do with each text, and more importantly, ask God what He is going to do to you through those Scriptures.
My prayer is for you to have the most powerful, holy, and blessed Holy Week you have ever had. May God bless your Holy Week 2022.
Peace and Blessings,
Rev. Dan