Our journey towards Easter Week Beginning Monday 26th March 2018 Holy Week 2018 Our journey towards Easter

Monday 26th March 2018 Yesterday, Christians all over the world celebrated Palm Sunday. In his gospel, Luke wrote of Jesus being carried into Jerusalem on a colt which no-one had previously ridden. It is a clue to Jesus’ identity as the Messiah – Israel’s saviour. It recalls the prophesy of Zechariah in the Old Testament: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on colt.” What do the words ‘victorious’ and ‘humble’ suggest about the kind of king Jesus will be?

It would have been a crazy scene – a man on a donkey with a few disciples who hail the triumphant entry of a ruler, but the city swarming with troops. At the beginning of Holy Week, we celebrate the triumphant entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem but we also think about the journey that Jesus will make to the cross at Golgotha. Mention of a colt is also ominous. In Genesis, Jacob tells his sons how the future king will ride and colt and wear garments washed in “the blood of the grape”. Although Jacob was thinking of the blood of enemies destroyed by God’s anointed, it will turn out to be the blood of God’s anointed which is shed by his enemies. Think… How must it feel to be strong in faith but know that you might be attacked or persecuted for your beliefs?

Response: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? This Holy Week we will share a psalm and use this to help us reflect on Jesus’ journey to the crucifixion. As we read the psalm, think about all those who are unable to celebrate and share their faith due to religious persecution. Response: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Leader: All who see me deride me. They curl their lips, they toss their heads. He trusted in the Lord, let him save him; Let him release him if this is his friend.