by Justin Wainscott
This coming Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week. But for many of us who have grown up in Baptist churches, celebrating Holy Week has not been a long-standing tradition that we have practiced. Sure, we celebrated Easter, and we may have had some sort of drama or choir cantata to remind us of Jesus’ death and resurrection, but we certainly did not order our schedules, our thinking, or our lives around these all-important days that commemorate Jesus’ redemptive acts.
Truth be known, if your experience was anything like mine, Palm Sunday was largely overlooked. Maundy Thursday was completely unknown to you. Good Friday was just another day off from work or day out of school. And Holy Saturday was nowhere on the radar. You gave very little thought to what those days were actually meant to remember. By and large, you ignored the most important days of the Christian year, writing them off as something that only “other” churches emphasized. And as a result, you came to Easter Sunday with no real sense of what you were celebrating, no real sense of the joy of the resurrection.
Personally, I’ve come to believe that our failure to celebrate Holy Week has been to our own detriment. We are missing out on commemorating the most important events in human history, and we are missing out on understanding what those events mean for us and for our salvation. So, if you want to gain a sense of the joy that the disciples had when they understood that Jesus had risen from the dead on that first Easter Sunday, then walk with them through the sorrow, pain, fear, confusion, and darkness of that Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
To remind you of the significance of these days, below are brief descriptions of what is commemorated and celebrated on Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday.
Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday commemorates Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem as the long-awaited Messianic King. But the scenes of coronation set the stage for his crucifixion later in the week, since the King of the Jews isn’t placed on a throne but hung on a cross.
Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday commemorates Jesus’ last meal with his disciples, where he institutes the Lord’s Supper. The term “Maundy” comes from the Latin mandatum (from which we get our English word “mandate”). The term is usually translated “commandment” in the account of this Thursday night in John’s Gospel, where Jesus gives his disciples a new commandment after they finish their meal together (John 13:34-35). It also commemorates Jesus’ agonizing prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Good Friday
Good Friday commemorates Jesus’ arrest, trial, suffering, crucifixion, death, and burial. It is a grave reminder to us of the cost Jesus had to pay to save us from our sins, and it is a day for us to “survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died.”
Holy Saturday
Holy Saturday commemorates the day Jesus rested in the tomb, and it commemorates the grief, the sorrow, the pain, and the confusion of Jesus’ followers as they come to grips with the reality of his death. It feels like darkness has descended, because the light of the world has been slain.
Easter Sunday
Easter Sunday is the day Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, celebrating the joy and hope and victory we have through the risen Christ!
I hope you will take the time to consider the significance of these events. If your church has Holy Week services, attend them. But even if your church doesn’t have services to commemorate these events, you can spend time each day reading the appropriate Gospel passages that recount them so that you can reflect on them and commemorate them yourself. And if you do—if you walk with the disciples through the events of Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday—then Easter Sunday will be much more meaningful and much more joyful to you.