Blake Adams
For Catholics, Orthodox, and many Protestants, Holy Week is the most sacred time of the year. Traditionally, it is more important than Christmas, as it focuses on the central event of the gospel: the death and resurrection of Jesus. In the way it walks Christians as a believing community through the sequence of events leading up to the crucifixion, Holy Week is one of the most effective methods of spiritual–theological formation ever devised in the Christian tradition.
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The paschal mystery
Holy Week is an anticipation of the Lord’s paschal mystery. Pascha is an ancient way to speak of the events of Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection. It is a Greek word that corresponds to the Hebrew pesah, which means “pass over.” In the Jewish tradition, this word refers to the angel of death passing over the homes in Egypt that are marked with the blood of a spotless lamb, and also to God’s people passing through the Red Sea to escape Pharaoh’s army.
Both meanings are present in Holy Week: Christ is the Lamb of God who causes death to pass over those marked with his blood, and he passes through the “Red Sea” (i.e., the grave) to deliver us from death, thereby defeating death by death. We celebrate Easter on the Sunday after the Jewish Passover.
Holy Week: A journey through the Passion Narrative
Each day of Holy Week is significant. The Four Gospels, taken together, cover a period of about three decades. However, most of the text in each Gospel—up to a third—is focused on just a three-day period recounting the events immediately surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus. This series of events so preoccupies the Gospel accounts because they are the most significant events of Jesus’s entire life and ministry.
This season is about commemorating these key events which preoccupied the Gospel writers. Holy Week is also sometimes called “Passion Week” to refer to the suffering Jesus endured on our behalf. The English word passion comes from the Latin passio, “to suffer.”
Holy Week is also the last week of Lent, the penitential season comprising forty days of fasting. In the early church, Lent was the season set aside for catechumens to prepare for their baptism on Easter. Their preparation was seen as a communal responsibility, however—so everyone in the church, even those already baptized, participated in the fast. Just as it prepared the to-be-baptized for baptism, so it helped the already-baptized renew their baptism.
Holy Week starts on Palm Sunday and ends on Holy Saturday. So it begins at the high point of Christ’s earthly ministry and ends at the lowest point. Holy Week is followed directly by Easter (also called Resurrection Sunday), marking the beginning of Eastertide, which will continue until Pentecost Sunday.
1. Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday (also known as the Triumphal Entry) is the first day of Holy Week. It commemorates the day Jesus entered Jerusalem. He is astride a donkey. He is received with shouts and songs of joy. Cloaks and the branches of palm trees are spread in his path. This is a fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9, prophesied centuries beforehand: “Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey.”
It was practiced throughout the cultures of the ancient Near East to cover the path of someone as a sign of honor. At least one king from the Old Testament is reported to have been given this treatment (2 Kgs 9:13).
But why palm trees, specifically?
Palm trees frequently appear in the religious symbolism of ancient Near Eastern cultures, but to Roman onlookers, the use of palm branches were connected to notions of imperial authority. In Rome, the palm branch was a symbol of triumph and mighty deeds. During Roman victory processions, representations of palm branches were prominent. So by “triumphing” (Col 2:15) in this manner, Jesus makes his ministry something the Roman authorities can no longer ignore: Jesus is presenting himself no longer as a mere teacher or prophet, but as an heir of David. In short, by entering Jerusalem in this fashion, Jesus was declaring himself the king of Israel.
This moment is the height of his earthly ministry. The size and enthusiasm of his following is at its peak, and so he is positioned, from the perspective of the Romans, as a potential challenger of the Roman occupation of Palestine. So this day is also called Passion Sunday because it is the catalyst for the chain of events that lead to Golgotha. In fact, only shortly before mounting the donkey, Jesus had predicted his own death (see Matt 20:17–19).
On this day, you’ll find churches opening the service with a long procession—sometimes parading through nearby neighborhoods and towns—singing and waving palm branches. Children may weave these palms into the shape of a cross: A physical reminder that Christ’s ultimate triumph was over death upon the cross.
Many churches will later collect these palms to burn the following year the day before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. (The day before Ash Wednesday is also called Shrove Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, or Pancake Day, because it is a last chance to stuff your face before the Lenten fast begins—but Shrove Tuesday is technically a popular holiday: It is not a liturgical holiday recognized in any official church calendar. No church calendar commends the observance of Fat Tuesday.) Those ashes will then be used to draw (or “impose”) the sign of the cross on the forehead of any attending the Ash Wednesday service with the reminder, “You are dust, and to dust you will return” (Gen 3:19).
Many other customs and observances surround the holiday.
2. Maundy Thursday
On Maundy Thursday, Jesus instituted the Last Supper with his apostles. During the meal, Jesus took a towel and a basin of water and washed their feet, saying, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another” (John 13:34). The Latin word for commandment is mandatum, from which we get “maundy.”
So the Maundy, represented by foot washing, is the command to love one another as Christ loves us.
Christians believe in the priesthood of all believers. Through the gospel preached by the church, the world meets Christ and gains an audience with the Father. Thus in foot washing, which is a sort of “chrism” or “anointing,” we most visibly exercise our vocation to be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exod 19:6). For this reason, many traditional churches will have a special service on this day where members of the assembly wash one another’s feet.
The new command is to do as Christ does. So it follows this does not end with literal foot washing, but extends to the cross itself. As Jesus says: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matt 16:24).
Maundy Thursday is the last day of Lent. What follows is actually its own three-day “season”: the Triduum, which forms a sort of bridge crossing over from Holy Week to Eastertide.
3. Good Friday
Good Friday is the day of Jesus’s agony in the garden, betrayal by Judas, trial, crucifixion, and death. It is the first day of the paschal Triduum, comprising Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday. While we today tend to treat these as three discrete days, for most of church history the’ve been seen as a single unit. Hence, they are referred to collectively as the Triduum (Latin, “three days”).
In the Old Covenant, the high priest would offer a lamb, kill it, and finally God would accept (or reject) it. In the New Covenant, Christ is acting as both high priest and sacrificial lamb simultaneously. He offers himself up to his captors on Good Friday, is sealed in the tomb on Black Saturday, and the Father shows his acceptance of the Son’s sacrifice by raising him from the dead on Easter Sunday.
Just as Christians commemorate the resurrection of Jesus every Sunday by gathering to worship (this is why Christians gather to worship on a Sunday instead of on the Jewish Sabbath, which is Saturday: It is because Christ rose on a Sunday, that is, the “first day of the week” [Luke 24:1; John 20:1; Matt 28:1; Mark 16:9–20; John 20:19]), many traditions since ancient times commemorate the betrayal and death of Jesus every Friday by setting aside that day of the week for fasting.
Significantly, the Gospel writers construe Christ’s crucifixion as a coronation. Christ is crowned with thorns, robed in purple, and elevated between heaven and earth on the cross (Matt 27:27–31; Mark 15:16–20; John 18:1–7). Pontius Pilate has written on a plaque above him: “The King of the Jews.” So the premise of Palm Sunday is strangely fulfilled: Christ is declared king and his throne is a cross. The worshippers throwing palms before his path weren’t expecting this sort of king, a king whose triumph is his own crucifixion!
From the cross, the Son of Man quotes the opening of Psalm 22: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” We are tempted to interpret this as a cry of despair, but it is not. His Jewish hearers know, even if they do not understand (not yet, anyhow), for they memorized this psalm as children and they know how it ends:
All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before you.
For kingship belongs to the Lord,
and he rules over the nations.
…
Posterity shall serve him;
it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,
that he has done it. (Ps 22:27–31)
Far from the cry of one abandoned by God, Jesus is declaring from the cross his future triumph. He will overcome both death and the world.
Many churches observe this day with a Tenebrae service focusing on the stations of the cross. During the service, the room slowly darkens. Often a loud noise will represent Christ’s death like a great beating heart going still. At the end of the service, the sanctuary is left in darkness and the worshippers stream out in silence. The dark night of the week has begun.
4. Holy Saturday
Holy Saturday (also called Black Saturday) marks the time that Jesus was in the tomb. He died yesterday and will rise tomorrow, but the interim is a time of uncertainty and agitated waiting. Most traditions that hold services for this day of Holy Week usually abstain from the Communion meal. Other churches have no service at all: A fitting response in its own way, since the One we worship (by appearances) isn’t there to be worshipped—he’s in a tomb! Holy Saturday is a seemingly endless night, for Hope has died.
Christ was buried just before sunset on Good Friday. On Black Saturday, at the request of Jewish leaders, Pontius Pilate grants a seal be set on the door of the tomb and a guard stationed. Meanwhile, the apostles tremble in their homes, bewildered by yesterday’s events.
As shame, fear, and confusion are the themes of Black Saturday, so the counter-lesson is the last lesson Jesus gave his disciples before his betrayal: “Watch and pray” (cf. Matt 26:41). Accordingly, many churches appoint all-night vigils to pray on Black Saturday until dawn. In a way, this imitates the restlessness of the disciples who, no doubt, were questioning if they had placed their faith in a false messiah.
5. Easter Sunday & Eastertide
Though not technically part of Holy Week, it’s important to mention Resurrection Sunday here, as it marks the final day of the paschal Triduum—the day Jesus rose from the dead.
Churches commonly begin this Sunday in responsive celebration, throwing back the cobwebbed curtains from the night before and letting in the dawn light. The pastor or priest declares, “The Lord is risen!” The congregation joyously responds, “He has risen, indeed!” Some congregations raise a “holy noise” by clanging bells and noisemakers, shouting and singing—and even dancing!
However, Easter Sunday is not a single holiday. It is the first day of Eastertide! This ends on Pentecost, which is the day the Holy Spirit descended on Christ’s disciples, appearing like many tongues of fire.
The first forty days of Eastertide commemorate the forty days between Jesus’s resurrection and his ascension. The number forty recurs in Scripture: It rained forty days and forty nights in Noah’s day; Moses spent forty years in the wilderness before he was commissioned by God to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt; he also spent forty days on the mountain with God; the Hebrews wandered in the wilderness for forty years before arriving in the Promised Land; the city of Nineveh was given forty days to repent in Jonah’s day; for forty days, the giant Goliath of Gath taunted Saul’s army until the young David accepted his challenge; the list goes on. This number seems to represent a time of testing or judgment followed by a great act of divine deliverance. It is a penitential number. So the fact that it is avoided during Eastertide is significant: The church is saying this is not a penitential season. This is a season for celebrating! Not to be outdone by the forty days of Lenten fasting, Easter Sunday commissions its own fifty-day season of paschal feasting!
Conclusion
Holy Week is a time to re-live the most important events of Christ’s earthly life, but to do so together as a church, not simply as a private study or exercise. Christ’s life is the most important story ever told, and the most important story of Christ’s like is his crucifixion. We cannot tell it too often, not even to ourselves. While it ought to be told every Sunday to some extent, it is beneficial to walk through its full breadth and contemplate every character, word, and turning point. Knowing this story and our place in it is essential to our formation as Christ’s followers.
The cycle of the liturgical year provides such a formation opportunity. With Holy Week, the passion of Christ is guaranteed a place of prominence where we can walk through the sequence of events, step by painful step, as a believing assembly that prays, fasts, and worships together. Holy Week is the ideal way to experience the Passion Narrative in its fullness, as it casts the whole church in the role of Simon the Cyrene, as it were: carrying the cross alongside Christ on the road to Golgotha.
Recommended books about Holy Week
The Final Days of Jesus: The Most Important Week of the Most Important Person Who Ever Lived
Regular price: $12.99
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