4/6/20 Reflections: Holy Week
By Dave Goffeney
Holy Week this year is unlike any we have experienced before, and hopefully something we will only be able to reflect upon and tell stories about in years to come. When we first kicked off this season of lent, on "Ash Wednesday", we didn’t think it would look quite like this, almost forty days later. Unlike years past (for most of us), the reality of sin’s effects on every facet of life, and the hope-filled celebration and proclamation of Christ’s victorious resurrection from the dead feels more real and necessary than normal. Here are two resources we put together to help reflect on the entire season of Lent, and particularly how it has been shaped this year by COVID-19:
- https://tucson.redemptionaz.com/preparing-us-for-lent/
- https://tucson.redemptionaz.com/monday-reflections-lent-god-stories-and-prayer/
The reality is that Jesus rising from the dead is no more or less real, necessary, and life-shaping today than any other day--but we find ourselves more aware of it. Perhaps we are a little more able to consider what Easter's of the past looked like during times of wars, plagues, and persecution for those who put their hope in Christ. Bright colors, fancy clothes, and sweet foods probably weren’t what shaped God’s people. The fact that Jesus put an end to sin and all its effects by dying and rising again, with the awaited promise that He will finish what He has started by returning one day to set all things new--that is what has carried and defined God’s people through every season ever since.
This Holy Week I encourage you to participate alongside brothers and sisters from Redemption Tucson, and from centuries past, by intentionally slowing down to take a closer look at the final week of Jesus’ life. How might each day of Jesus’ time in Jerusalem shed some light on what He would accomplish on the cross, and how that speaks into our lives today? A different leader from Redemption Tucson will post a video about the significance of what Jesus was doing on that day to help us better understand what Jesus was doing each day on his way to the Cross (Good Friday) and his resurrection from the dead (Easter Sunday). The Gospel Coalition has also put together a simple, and very helpful resource that walks through each day of Holy Week:
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/easter-week-in-real-time/
We will look forward to engaging together throughout this week and worshiping together over Livestream for the Good Friday and Easter services. Jesus is risen and He is coming again! May the hope we have in Him continue to shape you and your family, and drive us forward together as his people today and every day. Amen.