Holy Week: Feel the Passion!

By Barry Howard


Next week is called Holy Week, not because we are to “act” holy, but because it is a most appropriate week for us to re-visit the passion of Christ. Around the globe, Christ-followers and other inquirers will be reflecting on the events leading up to the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. What is the significance of Holy Week and how can I probe its deeper meaning?

Our tradition of observing Holy Week seems to have originated in the East, emerging out of the practice of pilgrimages to Jerusalem. Each day of Holy Week is significant. For those of us whose faith was shaped in a Baptist tradition, at least four days call for guided reflection. Palm Sunday is a day to revisit the royal welcome extended to Jesus by the curious crowd as he entered Jerusalem. On Maundy Thursday believers recall the occasion when Jesus washed the feet of the disciples as he gave them a new mandate to love and serve. On Maundy Thursday evening, many faith communities re-enact “the last supper” when Jesus broke bread and shared the cup with his disciples by receiving the elements of communion. Good Friday is an occasion to feel the passion of Christ and to think on the enormity of his suffering. And Resurrection Sunday, or Easter, is a festive day to celebrate and proclaim that “Christ is risen; Christ is risen indeed!”

Because of the sequential significance of these events, Holy Week is best approached slowly, with an attitude of reverent exploration, a spiritual mood of sacred awe. In Weldon Gaddy’s book, The Gift of Worship, he describes our opportunity to engage in a more meaningful experience of the passion of Christ: “Holy Week services bring into focus dimensions of discipleship that are missed completely by a simple leap from Palm Sunday to Easter. Worship services which take seriously the truths of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday please God because they challenge a greater commitment and a more effective ministry among the people of God.”


This year as you begin your spiritual journey through Holy Week, open your senses and your imagination to both the tragedy and the triumph of this pivotal week in history. Take time to listen to the voices of the crowd as Jesus enters the city. Hear again the teachings of Jesus and contemplate his days in Jerusalem. Feel the water touch your feet, taste the morsel of bread on your tongue and the sip of wine rolling over your lips. Sense the disgust of his betrayal by a friend. Smell the stench of the scourge and hear the mocking sarcasm of the trial. Grieve over the cruel injustice of his execution and experience the passion of his incomprehensible suffering. And ultimately…consider the mysterious power of the resurrection and the hope generated by the notion that life invested in Christ cannot be extinguished, even by the reality of death.


The events of Holy Week invite and motivate us to follow Jesus, not out of religious obligation or fear of eternal damnation, but because we identify with his teaching and his vision, and we discover a sense of belonging in his cause and his kingdom. A slow and deliberate journey through Holy Week may re-energize your faith and inspire you to live and serve with passion.


The word “holy” means “belonging to a divine power” or “dedicated to God.” On second thought, maybe Holy Week is a week for us to “act” in a way that is holy.


(Barry Howard serves as senior pastor of the First Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida.)