Holy Week is an incredible, significant time of remembrance of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Holy Week starts on Palm Sunday, honoring the journey of Jesus from His triumphant entry into Jerusalem to His resurrection on Easter Sunday. It serves as a time of spiritual reflection as we think about what Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection mean to us personally. This also serves as a time to focus on the teachings of Jesus. Here are four ways you can reflect as you pause and enter this pivotal week:
1. Reflect on Palm Sunday
In ancient times, palm branches were a symbol of victory and triumph. They were often used to celebrate military victories or to welcome royalty. When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey in John 12, the crowds saw Him as a king, and they welcomed Him with palm branches as a symbol of His triumphal entry into the city.
As we reflect on Palm Sunday, we can consider the way we welcome Jesus into our own lives. Do we welcome Him as King, or do we sometimes push Him aside in favor of other things? Are we willing to follow Jesus wherever He leads us, or only when it is comfortable or convenient?
2. Reflect on Good Friday
One of the most significant events of Holy Week is the crucifixion of Jesus on Good Friday. This event serves as a reminder of the suffering that Jesus endured for our salvation. Take a few moments on Good Friday to remember the sacrifice Jesus made and His great love for us.
When Jesus hung on the cross, He prayed for His persecutors, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) We can use Holy Week as a time to make peace where there is strife, seek to love others like Jesus loves us, and also reflect on the forgiveness He offers to us.
3. Pause on Saturday
We attend Palm Sunday services, Good Friday services, and even Easter services, but we don’t often stop to consider the significance of that silent Saturday. Saturday is that middle day when God occupied a grave in a garden outside of Jerusalem. Saturday is a day to reflect on the in-between moments of our own lives. It’s a day to sit, to wait, to hope, even when we’re unsure of what tomorrow will bring.
We can look back and know now that Easter comes on Sunday, but Jesus’ followers didn’t know that back then. When we feel hopeless, lost, confused, or grieving, we can remember that Jesus’ followers know exactly how that feels. Saturday is about the hard and uncertain days that God still calls holy.
4. Celebrate Easter
Holy Week culminates in the celebration of Easter, which commemorates Jesus’ resurrection and the triumph of life over death. It is a time to celebrate the hope and joy that comes from knowing that death is not the end and that there is life beyond our earthly existence.
Easter is also a time to celebrate the new life and resurrection power that’s available to all of us and all of our circumstances. Jesus can turn any impossible situation around, and we can trust that when all seems dead and lost, God is always writing a redemption story.