Why Celebrate Holy Week?

It’s almost Easter! I have always loved Easter- what’s not to love? I love the reason we are celebrating, the joy of Springtime and the new life springing up all around at this time of year, and the simplicity of it all compared to other holidays. Over the past 10 years or so, I have grown to also love Holy Week and the build up of anticipation and excitement that it brings.

But what is Holy Week and why would you want to celebrate all week long?

Holy Week is not necessarily “holy” or something we are commanded to take part in. It is a week set apart as an opportunity to remember. It is an opportunity to pause, slow down, and dwell on the events that took place leading up to the triumphant celebration of Easter Sunday. It is an opportunity to remember God’s faithfulness and goodness.

It only takes a couple of glances into the Bible to realize that this practice of “remembering” is something that God is constantly calling His people to do. He graciously sets up reminders for His people of His faithfulness because He knows how quick we are to forget. Let me give you a few examples…

Remember the Exodus from Egypt? (Exodus 14-18) God rescued the Israelites from the oppression they were under in Egypt, they witness incredible miracles to make this happen including crossing the middle of the Red Sea on dry ground! Surely they would never forget what God had done for them, right? Well, just a couple chapters later they are grumbling that they have no food to eat. They even say that it would be better to be back in Egypt! How quick they are to forget how God powerfully saved them from an oppressive and awful situation. But are we much different?

As time passes, God continues to tell Israel to remember. He even sets up ways for them to remember and to pass on to the next generation all the great things He has done. In Deuteronomy 8, God calls His people to remember all He’s done- remember how He provided manna (bread) in the wilderness so that they could remember “that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (v.3). And in Joshua 4 after the Israelites cross the Jordan River on dry ground and enter the Promised Land, God tells them to take twelve stones from the Jordan River and make a memorial. This memorial was so that they wouldn’t forget God’s goodness and so that when their children and others pass by in the future asking “What do these stones mean?”(v.21), they could be reminded and proclaim “that the hand of the Lord is mighty” (v.24).

As we look to the New Testament, we see massive chunks of the gospels spent on the events of Holy Week- from Jesus’ triumphant entry on Palm Sunday to His death and resurrection on Easter Sunday. And then the rest of the New Testament is the apostles saying “remember what Christ has done and live this out in your day to day life!”

So, if we are to remember and create memorials so that we don’t forget about the goodness of God, Holy Week is a perfect opportunity to do this! It is a memorial so that each year as we “pass by” the Easter season, we stop, dwell, and remember the goodness of God to us through Christ.

There are a ton of resources out there to assist you in remembering and slowing down to dwell on Christ. You may choose to take a look at one of the gospels and read a chapter each day starting from Jesus’ Triumphal Entry to His resurrection. Matthew is a good book to use as it is eight chapters (Matthew 21-28), one for each day of the week.

You may also enjoy reading a daily devotional each day. There are some great ones out there if you check your favorite Bible app. My favorite is a Desiring God one called “Love to the Uttermost“. Check it out (here). Or you can find it on your Bible app too.

Another idea is to start traditions as a family that will point you to Jesus and all He has done. Check out my (post) about some of our favorite family traditions for Easter! Traditions are a way of remembering together and an opportunity to rejoice together in Christ. They are also a memorial that are set up to pass on the goodness of God, just like Israel did, to the next generation. Traditions are an extension of teaching our kids as we walk through our everyday lives, as we teach them to take special time out to remember and celebrate the grace and goodness of our great God.

Whatever is it is that you choose to do, bring people along with you to do it, whether it’s a friend, a spouse, your kids, or those you are discipling. Seek to be an encouragement to one another to slow down, to dwell on the incredibly miraculous and gracious events of Holy Week, and to treasure Christ above all things as we remember all that He has done for us. As we do this, we build anticipation for the excitement of Christ’s resurrection on Easter morning!

While Holy Week isn’t special in and of itself, we can take it as an opportunity to remember all Christ has done and set up memorials that will remind us each year about the goodness and grace of God. My prayer for us all in this upcoming week, especially in a time such as this with a pandemic continuing to move across the globe, is that it would be a time “that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.” Joshua 4:24. As we remember, set up memorials, and dwell on the grace of God through Christ, may all know that the Lord is mighty and fear Him forever and may our hearts be tuned to sing His praise all year long!