What is Holy Week Worship?

While the influence (both past and present) of Christianity on Western, and specifically American, culture is the subject of much debate, it is clear that Christmas and Easter have become something of official holidays (holy days) in our society. Both these days have secular traditions – Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny – as well as religious ones – Jesus’ birth, his resurrection. While we celebrate Christmas on one day, why do we have multiple worship services the week before Easter?

In large part this is because Holy Week was far more important to the early church than was Christmas. While the Bible offers no indication of when Jesus was born we are given a specific time for Holy Week since it happened at the same time as the Jewish Passover. And while it is only Matthew and Luke who give us details about Jesus’ birth, all the New Testament authors spend much time on the meaning and significance of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. In the four gospels we are given more details about Jesus’ last week than we are about the rest of his ministry, which tells us that Jesus’ death was not a mere tragedy, but that it was somehow the climax of Jesus’ mission.

The reason Easter is not held on a fixed Sunday every year is because Easter Sunday is held according to the ancient lunar calendar and occurs the Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox. Easter is held according to the lunar calendar because this is the calendar Jews used to mark the Passover festival, which was the time of Jesus entry to Jerusalem and his death and resurrection. But with various calendars out there, Western Churches (Roman Catholic and Protestant) rarely celebrate Easter on the same Sunday as Eastern Churches (those with roots in the Greek Orthodox Church) or at the same time Jews celebrate Passover.

Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday, when Jesus entered Jerusalem. It is called Palm Sunday because the crowds who welcomed Jesus waved palm branches in celebration – perhaps the ancient equivalent of a ticker tape parade. According to Matthew, Mark and Luke this was Jesus’ only visit to Jerusalem as an adult, which makes his travel to Jerusalem especially significant. Jesus entered Jerusalem as Jewish pilgrims from all over the Roman Empire came to celebrate Passover, a feast that remembered and celebrated the time when God stood against mighty Pharaoh and freed God’s people from slavery in Egypt.

Holy Week ends with Good Friday (or God’s Friday) when Jesus was crucified. What the Gospels make clear is that this week was clearly thought out by Jesus, and that while his disciples were surprised that the week ended with Jesus’ arrest and death, Jesus was not. Jesus was very intentional about how he entered Jerusalem (See Matthew 21:1-5), and about what he did in Jerusalem during the rest of the week. Post to follow will describe in detail the special worship services we hold during Holy Week