Growing up in a Baptist church, my family observed Good Friday and Easter Sunday. I remember loving the Good Friday service especially…it was dark and somber. The shades in the sanctuary were drawn. The worship team wore all black. There was a black piece of crepe fabric draped across the Cross.
And every year, at the end of the service, we watched a video. I would leave the sanctuary in tears and covered in goosebumps, embodying Paul’s exhortation to “mourn as those who have hope.”
As an adult, I fell in love with Ash Wednesday for the same reasons I love Good Friday, and it made me wonder. Are there other parts of the Lent and Easter narrative that I am missing?
Insert Holy Week.
Every moment of Jesus’s life – recorded or not – was intentional. Everything He said and did had purpose and a meaning deeper than we can ever humanly comprehend. And the week leading up to His death – an event He knew was coming – is saturated with more significance than I have words to convey.
I can’t give you every intent contained in the last week of Jesus’s earthly life. But I can do this for you – I can give you this guide, and pray it helps you discover more in this week than you knew existed.
So grab your Bible and a notebook, or just set aside a minute or two of time to read the Scripture here – it’s all linked for you! Each day will be published separately and early each morning. Hop onto the email list, if you want it delivered straight to your inbox!
Blessings on your Holy Week, dear one. It is meant for you.
Today is Wednesday, and Jesus is resting.
The Biblical record says nothing about what Jesus was doing two days before His death. Most speculate He was finding refuge and respite in Bethany, where He was staying.
So let’s talk about Judas, Mary, Martha, Lazarus, and Simon the Leper, and let’s talk about rest.
Read: Mark 14.3
Simon the Leper. Identified by his disability and living beyond it. That will always be stunning. See, due to the nature of leprosy, a leper cannot live in a house or around community. They would infect all others.
Simon was most certainly healed! And it was most definitely Jesus who had healed him. And though, his name still reflected his disease and disability, it did not stop him from living as his Savior enabled him.
Read: Luke 10.38-42
This is the first of three encounters with these two sisters. Martha is the older sister, and her preference for being in control and handling the details will resonate with many an older sibling!
And her life mirrors what Jesus taught on Tuesday. As she got swept up in the details and the mundane day-to-day tasks before her, she forgot why she was doing those things. She was watchful, certainly! But she forgot what Mary exemplified.
Rest.
The spiritual discipline of being still.
The soul’s deep need for silence and the chance to listen to God.
Martha was so busy she neglected her Savior. In a culture that defined women by their ability to play host, Mary sat down.
Read: John 12.4-6
Lazarus reclined at the table with Jesus. On earth as it is in Heaven. Remember, Lazarus had died (John 11.38-44)! He was buried and had been for four days. Jesus showed up, commanded the stone be rolled away, and told Lazarus to “come out!” Lazarus reclined at the table with Jesus. Alive, physically and spiritually.
Martha and Mary are present again, their third appearance. The only one, we should note, in which Martha was quiet. Perhaps she had learned the beauty of listening to her Lord, instead of lecturing Him.
And Mary. Oh Mary! What an evolution of faith, all centered on being still and listening! From sitting at her Savior’s feet to taking her most precious gift and anointing His feet, her stillness moved her to worship.
This is the kind of leadership Jesus exhorted His disciples to only the day before.
And then there’s Judas. A man who had seen all that the Lord had done. A man who had spent the last few days watching his Teacher dismantle perverted religion and corrupt authority! A man who was robbing Jesus (corrupt authority) and berating women for their worship (corrupt authority AND perverted religion) and still had the gumption to walk in-step with Jesus.
Ah Judas. Our proximity to the Lord is not salvation.
Read: Hebrews 4.9-10
Special rest – sabbatismos. A blessed rest from toils and trouble for true worshippers of God. From the primitive Hebrew word sabat. To cease, rest from, put away.
Cease work. Rest from worrying. Put away the never-ending chore list. Stop putting yourself together. Quit covering yourself in leaves. Be done with pretending you are okay.
There is Sabbath-rest for you.
Cease living in the identifiers the world has given you. Put away the definitions that keep you in bondage. Stop talking. Quit moving. Be done with busyness.
This is worship.
Simon the Leper lived in his healing. That is rest.
Martha learned to be silent. This is worship.
Mary sat when the world told her to be busy. This, too, is worship.
Lazarus reclined in his new life. This is rest. Literally.
And Judas? Despite being the closest to Jesus, he missed it. Over and over and over.
Don’t be Judas.
Lord Jesus,
Thank You for naming Yourself. For blatantly reminding me of what I forget the most. This day of silence ties together so many of the threads You were weaving during Holy Week, Lord. Thank You for never leaving me hanging. Thank You for continuing to reveal Your heart, Yourself, and Your desires for me.
“Stand at the crossroads and look,” You say. “Ask Me for the ancient paths, and listen for Me to answer. I am Immanuel. God with you. Walk in what I say, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Jeremiah 6.16/Isaiah 7.14)
In the last days of Your life, You took time to rest. To worship. To be still and listen, and You surrounded Yourself with those who did the same.
Lord, I confess to choosing busyness over stillness. Forgive me.
I confess to forgetting that rest is a spiritual discipline. Forgive me.
I confess that like Martha, I perform to the world’s expectations first. I put my family and my church over You, and I complain to You about that. Forgive me.
I confess to talking at You more than I listen to You. Forgive me.
I confess to forgetting that like Lazarus, I am living a new life, and I choose not to recline with You who gave it to me. Forgive me.
I confess to hoarding my time, my talent, my energy, and my resources, refusing to pour them out on the feet of You or anyone else. Forgive me.
I confess that I am more like Judas than I’d like to admit, Jesus. Forgive me.
On this day where You exemplified rest and point us to pictures of human rest and worship, write it in my heart, Lord. You are El Shaddai. You are my Sustainer. You are Jehovah Jirah. You will provide.
Convict me where I need to rest more, Lord. Teach me that what I cannot rest from, I am a slave to. You lived this last week, and You breathed Your last so that I may never be a slave to anything (1 Corinthians 6.12). Remind me of this when I am busy ignoring You.
I don’t want to miss You, Lord. Hosanna, save me!
See you tomorrow 🖤