Holy Week – Holy Jesus – Holy You and Me

We commemorated Jesus’ victorious ride into Jerusalem on Sunday. Shouts of “Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” (John 12:13) were the outcries.

Just a few days later, Jesus was led out of Jerusalem, in agony, to the sneers and jeers of people who didn’t know they were slandering God’s Holy Son. How could so much change take place in such a few days’ time? How could we manage such UNHOLY, diabolical events and still stay holy? Is it even practical to imagine holiness that went to the nth degree and beyond?

There are things that we can learn by walking with Jesus during this Holy Week. I’m not sure if I would have been able to handle all that was lived out by Jesus’ followers. But I do know that the lessons I have learned in the intimacy of my relationship with Christ are what have sustained me in my own walk of faith.

Staying awake to Jesus’ passion during Holy Week is a challenging invitation. It is one thing to learn how to be like Christ during the triumphs of the Palm Sunday experience when everything is as we hoped it would be. It is easy to follow Christ then — to enjoy the pomp and circumstance and be caught up in the revelry and limelight. It is quite another to learn how to be like Christ during betrayal, violence, pain, struggle, and death.

I am serious when I sing: “To be like Jesus. To be like Jesus. All I ask is to be like Him. All through life’s journeys from earth to glory. All I ask is to be like Him.” Oh, yes. I am serious.

Every year at this time, I am reminded how much I want to soldier-up to be like Jesus, or the very least, to be one of His disciples. As best I can, I want to deepen my friendship with Christ by staying close to Him and communing with Him, learning from Him as we walk each step of the way.

How can I get closer to Jesus this week? I am reflecting on the old song written by Fanny Crosby:

I am weak but Thou art strong;
Jesus keep me from all wrong
I’ll be satisfied as long,
As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.

Just a closer walk with Thee,
Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,
Daily walking close to Thee
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

That’s it. If we want to also be bold and brave with an audacious “no-quit” mindset, the key is staying close to Jesus in our walk, our talk, and our daily living. Like the first disciples, we can choose, as best we can, to deepen our friendship with Christ by communing with him and learning from Him, as we walk each step of the way. Jesus showed us the way to be holy and stay holy.

So this was a centering gift to me this morning to get out of my own head and get myself back into the story of pointing others to our resurrected Savior, our King of Kings and Lord of Lords. AND, to rest easier because I know how this week turns out.