This Holy Week as I reflect on all that Jesus did for me, I am forever grateful, but I won’t camp under the empty cross.
This week’s blog by Katherine can be found here: Be Grateful but Don’t Camp Under the Empty Cross
Holy Week
Dorothy L. Sayers
Perhaps [the critics are right and] the drama is played out now and Jesus is safely dead and buried. Perhaps. It is ironical and entertaining to consider that at least once in the world’s history those words might have been said with complete conviction, and that was on the eve of the Resurrection.
Henri J.M. Nouwen
I am looking to you, Lord. You have said so many loving words. Your heart has spoken so clearly. Now you want to show me even more clearly how much you love me. Knowing that your Father has put everything in your hands, that you have come from God and are returning to God, you remove your outer garments and, taking a towel, you wrap it around your waist, pour water into a basin and begin to wash my feet, and then wipe them with the towel you are wearing …
You look at me with utter tenderness, saying, “I want you to be with me. I want you to have a full share in my life. I want you to belong to me as much as I belong to my Father. I want to wash you completely clean so that you and I can be one and so that you can do to others what I have done to you.”
I am looking at you again, Lord. You stand up and invite me to the table. As we are eating, you take bread, say the blessing, break the bread, and give it to me. “Take and eat,” you say, “this is my body given for you.” Then you take a cup, and, after giving thanks, you hand it to me, saying, “This is my blood, the blood of the new covenant poured out for you.” Knowing that your hour has come to pass from this world to your Father and having loved me, you now love me to the end. You give me everything that you have and are. You pour out for me your very self. All the love that you carry for me in your heart now becomes manifest. You wash my feet and then give me your own body and blood as food and drink.
Ann Voskamp
“And on the night He was betrayed… He broke bread and lifted it up and gave thanks.” If Jesus can give thanks *in that*, I can give thanks in everything.
Katherine Walden
We need to pause and reflect on the period of time between the cross and the resurrection. The apostles and disciples had a choice. In their disappointment and confusion, they could have abandoned each other and ran for the relative safety of their former homes and lifestyles. However, they chose to stay together, even in the midst of their fear and disillusionment. Although they did not yet know the exultation of the resurrection, they knew the wonder of the cross.