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HOLY WEEK
Those events changed people, history and, most of all, changed God's relation to
humankind. But how?
The people who first followed Jesus struggled to answer in familiar
terms this question: what had Jesus accomplished? During Holy Week you can discover the
answer foryourself through these descriptions from Scripture.
Jesus died on a ( cross and returned
The. savior-King Rescues His People On Palm Sunday Jesus rode
into Jerusalem. Its citizens hoped God would send a Savior to overthrow the
Romans. "Hosanna! Save us!" they shouted, throwing victory branches in his path.
Because Jesus knew they needed rescue from powers more deadly than the Romans, the
Savior-King bowed to the crowd's "Crucify him!" a few days later to rescue them
from the powers of sin.
The Reconciler Makes a New Covenant On Maundy Thursday
Jesus said he was making a new covenant-a new contract. The Old Testament covenant between
God and his people was sealed with the blood of animals. Through it God promised to take
care of the nation; the people promised to keep God's laws. But they failed to keep their
end of the covenant. At last Jesus brought together (reconciled) God and the people of his
old covenant, along with the Gentile nations, in a new covenant through his blood.
The Sacrifice Offers Himself for Our Sins On Good Friday
Jesus offered his body on the cross as a sacrifice. The ancient people of God sacrificed
animals to appease God. The Son of God gave his life for our lives-the only acceptable
offering before God that could purge us from our sinfulness and make us pure before the
Lord.
The Redeemer Gains Our Freedom On Holy Saturday before Easter,
we know that death released Jesus. But will sin and death continue to enslave us? Most of
us have never known slavery. But we do know about addictions and being victims of greed
and oppression. And we sense the power of evil everywhere to corrupt God's good creation.
Easter announces that Jesus' payment with his life frees us-even today-from such slavery
and futility. With him we can walk alive and free!
The Justifier Makes US the Innocent Party Consider
this description of what our Lord did for us: All humankind sits accused. Satan accuses
us; even our own hearts convict us. God sits in judgment. His verdict is death, and he
does not suspend the sentence. Instead, Jesus steps forward, takes our death sentence on
himself. For his sake, God declares, we are "justified" (made right again),
innocent, pardoned, forgiven.