Holy Week: What is it and Why Observe it?
By Bruce Stoltenberg
Holy Week is the last week of Lent, the week leading up to Easter (or Resurrection) Sunday. While the observance of the week has changed over time, the week or particular days during the week have been a part of the church’s preparation for Easter for centuries.
Observing Holy Week was to remind Christians of all that Christ went through and shared during the final week of his life on earth. It completes Lent, a season of preparation. Here is a likely chronology of that week:
Palm Sunday is the day of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the time during his first coming when he was celebrated as the coming king (Matt. 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-44, and John 12:12-19).
Holy Monday was the day that Jesus cursed a fig tree and when he cleansed the temple, driving out the money changers (Matt. 21:12-22, Mark 11:15-19, Luke 19:45-48, and John 2:13-17).
Holy Tuesday is a day of confrontations with the scribes and Pharisees and Jewish leaders and a time of teaching on the Mount of Olives (Matt. 21:23—24:51, Mark 11:20—13:37, Luke 20:1—21:36, and John 12:20-38).
Holy Wednesday is a day on which we have no clear record of Jesus’ activity. He may have spent it in Bethany, possibly with Mary, Martha and Lazarus.
Maundy Thursday is the day of the Last Supper and the day that Jesus washed his disciples’ feet. Maundy comes from a Latin word for commandment and refers to Jesus’ command to his disciples that they love one another, just as He had loved them (John 13:34). It is often an evening for baptisms and first communions. Some churches also do foot washings. The current Pope of the Catholic Church has washed the feet of prisoners, refugees, and youth at a juvenile detention center as a part of his Maundy Thursday observance. Jesus prayed a lengthy prayer for his followers (John 17) and agonized with His Father in the Garden of Gethsemane over the events He was about to face. The day closed with Judas betraying Him and the other disciples abandoning Him. (Matt. 26:17-75, Mark 14:12-72, Luke 22:7-62, and John 13:1-38).
Good Friday is the day that Christ was denied by Peter, tried, convicted, mocked, executed and placed in a tomb. It is also the day that the Passover Lamb was being sacrificed in the temple (Matt. 27:1-62, Mark 15:1-47, Luke 22:63—23:56, and John 18:28—19:37).
Holy Saturday was a quiet one for the disciples because they were in shock, but also observing the Passover Sabbath. It has often been observed by a fast, beginning any time from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday, a fast broken at sunrise on Easter Sunday.
Holy Week provides Christians the opportunity to review and remember all that Christ taught and endured during those seven days as recorded in scripture. There are sometimes opportunities to physically participate in expressions of the triumphal entry, communion, foot washing, fasting, and the darkness of Good Friday. We love to jump to the end of the story, Easter Sunday, but Christ gave us more than that to participate in, and learn from, during Holy Week.