Category: holy week

Posted in holy week, Jesus

Some Good Friday thoughts

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Paul Keiffer on Unsplash

I’m going to ramble a bit on this Good Friday. My mind is filled with an assortment of thoughts and memories.

First, I doubt that many, if any, of us can imagine what Jesus suffered at the hands of the priests and the Roman soldiers. The physical violence started with the high priest, teachers of the law, and elders who punched and slapped Jesus. After Pilate handed Jesus over the to the soldiers, they beat him with a staff, flogged him, put a crown of thorns on his head, drove nails through his hands, and crucified him.

When one fighter overwhelmingly beats and bloodies the other in an MMA octagon, the referee stops the fight. With Jesus they don’t stop, but dish out more and more punishment. We wince at the “little pinch” of a flu shot, make sure we’re numbed up before the dentist fills a small cavity, and groan when we get up after sitting too long. Jesus has the flesh on his back torn open with a whip, spikes driven through his hands and feet, and is left to hang by his arms to slowly suffocate . The bell never rings ending the round. There no pain relief, other than the drugged wine Jesus refused. There’s no time out. There’s no tapping out. The pain only stops when Jesus dies.

No painting, drawing, or representation of the crucifixion captures the gruesome horror of Good Friday. Crucifixion was a public execution. Some of those who saw it loved Jesus. Others hated him. I wonder if any of us could watch Christ suffer and die. I would turn away.

We gather for worship on Good Friday, at noon, in the afternoon, or in the evening. Our services are adored with beautiful music, encroaching darkness, descriptive words, and silent exits. The only reason it’s not so bad (good?) for us is because it was terrible for Jesus.

A Good Friday Tenebrae (“shadows” or “darkness”) service will conclude in darkness as the last candle is extinguished. The only way out is through the shadow of death, a valley Jesus traverses with us.

I remember my last Good Friday as a pastor because one grandson lit and another extinguished the candles, surrendering the room to the darkness. I took the huge family King James bible my mom gave us at our wedding, raised it high over my head, and slammed it down on the altar with all my might, to remind all of the stone settling into place, sealing Jesus in the tomb.

It’s a powerful worship moment. Everyone who’s been there before knows what’s going to happen. Yet everyone still gasps when it does.

That book was only called into duty once each spring. But it took a beating, the binding barely holding together when I handed it over to my son to use at his church on Good Friday.

The apostle Paul wrote, “We preach Christ crucified.” This is our message. It’s terrible. And yet it’s wonderful. It illustrates how bad we are and what we deserve. It also proclaims how much God loves us anyway.

Posted in holy week

Thoughts on Holy Saturday: resting and thinking

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash

It was the Sabbath. As God’s people had always done, they rested. Jesus rested, too. God had rested on the seventh day when the work of creation was finished. Now his son rested the ultimate rest of death after proclaiming “It is finished” from the cross and breathing his last. His sacrifice for sin was complete.

It is Saturday. The tomb has been sealed. Soldiers stand guard in the garden. There’s nothing you can do.

This is when you start second-guessing. Maybe we should have done something differently. Maybe we should have kept an eye on Judas. Maybe we shouldn’t have let Jesus go to Gethsemane. Maybe we should have brought more swords and fought harder when the mob showed up. Maybe we should have stayed in Galilee, fishing.

A lot of life is like Saturday, isn’t it? Dealing with loss, asking questions, second-guessing ourselves, and second-guessing God. And sometimes there’s nothing you can do.

So it’s good to have time to rest, to think, and to remember what he’s done.

Posted in holy week

Thoughts on Good Friday: not much to say

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Thays Orrico on Unsplash

None of the gospel accounts have much to say about Jesus’s crucifixion. All simply state, “They crucified him.” (Matt. 27:35; Mark 15:24; Luke 23:33; John 19:18)

The evangelists recorded conversations that took places at Jesus’s arrest, trials, and conviction. They recount seven things Jesus said while on the cross. But the description of the crucifixion is minimal: “They crucified him.”

Artists, writers, and film directors spend a lot more time depicting the driving nails through flesh, screams of agony, and the struggle to breathe.

Maybe it was too horrible to write about. They had seen too many crucifixions and just couldn’t stomach saying anything more than those few words. Or it could be that the word “crucified” said it all. There was nothing more that needed to be said.

Posted in holy week

Thoughts on Thursday of Holy Week: the hardest prayer?

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Thursday is a busy day. After he eats the Passover and institutes the Lord’s Supper, Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane.

“And going a little farther [Jesus] fell on his face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as you will.’” (Matthew 26:39)

Sorrowful and troubled, Jesus prays one of the hardest prayers anyone could speak: “Father…your will be done.” (Matthew 6:9,10)

We pray those words without hesitation or struggle anytime we speak the Lord’s Prayer. Do we consider the gravity of those words? Is that what we really want? Are we willing to set aside our desires and let God map out our future? Are we willing to let the Lord fill up our calendars?

It depends. Do you trust him? Do you trust that he cares about you and will take care of you? If so, then go for it. Pray these words boldly.

If not, then consider Jesus’s prayer that night. He yields to his father’s will because of his great love for you. There is no greater expression of love than Jesus giving up his life for us. Yes, he cares.

Just pause before you pray, “Your will be done.” Think about Jesus’s words. Think about how much he cares. Think about how much he wants you to live.

Posted in holy week

Wednesday of Holy Week: the let down

Posted on by William Douthwaite

In the middle of Holy Week, Judas makes a deal to betray Jesus.

Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?’ And they paid him thirty pieces of silver.” (Matthew 26:14-16)

Jesus knows Judas is going to do this. If you’ve been through a season of Lent or two, you know Judas is going to do it.

But the other disciples didn’t. They had no reason to not trust Judas. They even trusted him with the money purse. In our world, I guess he would have their Venmo on his phone.

I think the hardest lesson from Wednesday is the reality that people close to us will let us down. Some of you have already experienced this from people in your own family, in the church, or at work.

And guess what? You’ve hurt them, too. They thought they knew you. They thought they could trust you.

But something else got in the way. What was it? Money? Pride? Selfishness? Busyness? Suddenly someone you cared about wasn’t important anymore.

Ok, enough of that. Who can you trust? Jesus. Other stuff doesn’t get in the way. He gives it all, his life, for you.

Posted in holy week

Tuesday of Holy Week: Trick questions

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash

Do you like trick questions? Riddles like these are fun to think about and figure out:

  • What goes up but never comes down?
  • How can someone go twenty-five does without sleep?
  • What has a head and a tail, but no body?

(See the end of this post for answers.)

On Tuesday of Holy Week, Pharisees, Sadducees, and a lawyer have trick questions for Jesus. Their questions are fashioned to embarrass Jesus, to cut into his popularity by getting him to say something they can use against him.

  • Should we pay taxes to Caesar?
  • Who are you married to in heaven if you’ve had more than one marriage in this life?
  • What is the most important commandment in God’s law?

Jesus is good at this game. He should be. He wrote the rules. His listeners were impressed. Jesus knows what he’s talking about.

  • Pay your taxes and give to God, too.
  • Don’t worry about it. Marriage is for this life, not the next.
  • Here is a short list of commandments to worry about: Love God and love people.

Lots of people have told me they are looking forward to that day when they get to ask Jesus some questions. Questions like

  • Why didn’t you prevent bad things from happening?
  • Why didn’t you answer my prayer?
  • Why did you create insects I don’t want in my house?

From what we know about Jesus, he’ll probably answer your question with a question like:

  • “What did I tell you?” (That is, “What’s in the bible?”)
  • “Don’t you trust me?”
  • “Who do you think I am?”

Those are not trick questions. And I’ll bet you already know the answers.

Answers: Your age; people sleep at night; a coin.

Posted in holy week

Thoughts on Monday of Holy Week: Can you believe he did that?

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

So what happens on Monday of Holy Week? Jesus returns to the temple in Jerusalem where he heals and teaches, overturns the tables of the moneychangers, and spends the night with Lazarus.

When Jesus was twelve years old, his parents found him in the temple. Back then the he impressed the teachers of the law with his questions, knowledge and understanding. I wonder if any of those teachers were present that day when Jesus drove everyone out, including the animals.

I often hear people describe Jesus as being angry that day, even though anger is not mentioned in the bible. With a whip of cords in his hand, chasing man and beast out, he may have been angry. He certainly was passionate.

I think of this scene when I walk into church buildings. On the way to worship, I pass offering kiosks, donation boxes for mission offerings, and youth selling tickets to a fund-raising event. Not much has changed.

What do you think happened after Jesus left the temple that day? Everyone gathered up the money, set up the tables, rounded up all the animals, and got back to work. After all, it’s the week of Passover. The city is packed with people from all over Israel. It’s similar to race week or bike week in Daytona Beach. This is when businesses make most of their money for the year.

So what’s going on here? I don’t think the temple was restored to a house of prayer for all the nations. At least not until Pentecost. Jesus’s actions and stories provoke the religious leaders to get serious about getting rid of him. It’s like lighting the fuse on a stick of dynamite.

And that’s exactly what Jesus intends. He is not caught up in a chain of events over which he has no control. He’s written the script. He’s playing the lead. He’s poking the bear. And everything is going according to plan.

Imagine a visitor to your church deliberately bumping the snack table hard enough to scatter donuts and coffee cups everywhere on a Sunday morning. That would stir things up, wouldn’t it?

Welcome to holy week.