Stroll through Scripture for Holy Week, 2024

Holy Week is my favorite week of the entire church year. It’s got it all jammed into this week — unique services, a depth in the story we don’t get the rest of the year, quite literally facing death and Jesus overing it, intrigue, doubt, complexity, uncertainty, vulnerability, complicated relationships, the lowest of lows and the highest of highs. It has it all and more.

In this week’s Stroll through Scripture I’m going to briefly look at the Narrative Lectionary assigned texts for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. If no one has already said this, I invite you to go to these services (and especially the Easter Vigil if one is available to you). I think we miss a lot when we jump from the triumphant entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and skip over to the victory over death on Easter Sunday. Dining with Jesus and having our feet washed and told by Jesus to love one another all while he is about to be betrayed is powerful (Maundy Thursday). Walking with Jesus on his way to crucifixion and seeing what death attempts to do is disarming (Good Friday). Hearing the whole story of God’s love for creation in spite of humanity’s continual rejection since the beginning opens us to new possibilities and encounters from God (Easter Vigil). If we aren’t hearing and seeing what Jesus is conquering, then can we appreciate what resurrection is really about? Can we even scratch the surface?

Maundy Thursday — Mark 14:22–42

You can feel the weight in these readings. Jesus knows what’s going to happen. The Last Supper feels like a dinner with a convict who is about to be executed and he knows it. Jesus’ last wish for a meal is to be with his closest friends, to remind them of what it’s all been about, and to give them something which can bring them together and give them hope.

In Peter’s denial, we have Peter doing what he’s done before — disagreeing with Jesus. The last time that happened, Jesus called him Satan. The ball is in motion and Jesus knows it. The disciples think they are going to stand on principle, but Jesus knows that their rationalizing will fall away when it matters.

After the meal, Mark takes us with Jesus and his disciples to Gethsemane. While Jesus prays, the disciples fall asleep twice. In a way, their sleeping is a form of betrayal. All of them agreed with Peter and said similar things — “Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.” Yet, not long after those statements of…